It is no luxury to have a complaints department
Recently I did have some problems with the
provider of glass fiber services (phone, TV, Internet). They had sent an offer
to check out HBO for free for 2 months. In that same mail, it was mentioned
that if I cancelled before February 6th, there would be no charges.
So, I did cancel by the end of January.
However, I was unpleasantly surprised, when
I saw my invoice. HBO was completely charged for the next months. Then I did
check my services online and it appeared that the HBO cancellation was not
processed at all, although I did have a confirmation. So, I did call them and
the finance department told me that there was one-month termination notice, so
everything was administered correctly. He was not open to my arguments. He
suggested contacting the complaints department, if I still disagreed.
Then I did write to the complaints
department. And I did receive a confirmation from “mr/mrs complaints”, that I
would receive an answer within 10 working days.
Finally they answered, saying that my claim
was correct and that they will reimburse the money.
The result is fine, but the process has
much opportunity for improvement.
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The mails from the complaints
department should be from a person, and not from an anonymous department
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They did not mention that they
would inform their finance department that they should respond differently. No
learning there.
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They did not mention anything
about my time and effort to correct this.
As lots of research indicates, a
well-handled complaint will make your customers more loyal and they will inform
their network about their (positive) experience.
Do you have a complaints department? And is
it seen as an opportunity to improve the customer experience and loyalty?
Enthusiasm drives Excellence!