Dealing with complaints
We talk a lot about striving for Waitrose-like customer service, our goal is to provide customer service that we would want to receive: being knowledgeable, helpful and timely in our work. However, it’s reasonable to expect that sometimes we’ll fall short of this goal, and this process is intended to manage when customers expectations aren’t fully met.
This process is based on the Institute of Customer Service Guidance Notes on Handling Complaints.
Our process
1. Acknowledge the complaint
When a customer is unhappy with the service that they have received and voices this to any of our staff, we’ll immediately acknowledge this and say sorry that the service hasn’t met their expectations.
To manage the process of the complaint, a new ticket will be raised in Freshdesk, by whoever receives the complaint, and it will be marked as a Complaint. The ticket will have the Director and the Account Manager added, and the Account Manager will be the owner of the ticket.
An acknowledgement will be sent by the Account Manager (usually within 1 working day of receipt of the complaint) outlining the next steps.
2. Investigate the complaint
The Director will investigate the complaint, usually over the space of a working week. We will always aim to put ourselves in our customer’s position, and assume that they have a valid point. The Director will usually have a call with the customer at the start of the investigation process to establish their point of view. The Director will also review other evidence that gives weight to the customers argument, such as reviewing email logs, tickets in Freshdesk and other communications such as in Trello and Slack.
3. Define a plan to resolve the underlying problem
Where we identify a problem that has caused the complaint, then we’ll identify a plan to resolve it. This might mean changes to our processes, or additional training, or new tools to improve our service.
However, sometimes the underlying problem may also be that the customers expectations weren’t in line with what had been agreed at the start of the engagement. The resolution to this may well be to discuss the Statement of Work and scope of our engagement and identify changes that may be needed to better meet the customer’s expectations.
4. Discuss the outcome of the complaint
We’ll always document the outcome of our investigations back to the customer, by email through Freshdesk, and we’ll always offer the opportunity to discuss the outcome on the phone or in a meeting.
Where we have seriously failed in our goal to deliver Waitrose-like customer service, we may offer some form of service recovery, in the form of service credits, or discounting future services.
Talk to us if you have a problem
If you're unhappy with the service we've provided, then do please let us know. We can't fix what we don't know about. In order to kick start the process for us please either give us a call and speak to either your Account Manager or Paul, the Director. Alternatively, send an email to support@carbonsix.digital and we'll start the process to understand your concerns and resolve the underlying issues.
