How do you resolve a complaint from an angry person (customer) in the workplace?

Question

Please give a real life example of how this was handled if you have one. thanks

Answer 1

always turn it over to the manager. to try and resolve it yourself could make it worse and cause you a job loss. customers are always right (shhhh. between you and me they really aren't but ya gotta amuse them with that rule anyway)

Answer 2

Since I no longer work directly with the public, I cant give you a real life example. The last time I dealt directly with customers was about 8 years ago. I have trouble remembering what I did yesterday. I have worked in food service, fast food first and now casual dining, for 15 years so I do have some experience ( I hope). First, and unfortunately, the customer is always right, even if they're wrong. If you are not management, have management deal with it. That's why they get paid more then you. If you are management, is there someone higher up than you? If so, have them deal with it. They make more than you. If you are the big cheese, you should know how to deal with it. That's why you make more money than your employees. Unless you own the company though, you are just a rung on the ladder. And each rung has a bigger number on it. Just be as patient as possible with complainee. If you can resolve their complaint, do it. If not, send them along the chain of command. A "I'm sorry sir I'm not able to take care of that for you, but I'll get you someone who can." People can be down right belligerent when they know they always right. And you should have been told how to handle those kind of people when you were hired.

Answer 3

There are multiple factors. If you assume every customer is right even when they are wrong then your business can fail unless your company is big enough to absorb the cost it will incur.

Example...

I had a trophy business and a customer had picked up her order of trophies and 1 day later its has a scratch on 1 of 12 trophies. She demands her money back and apparently wont be happy until she gets her money back.

I offer her nicely to replace the trophy free of charge but she tells me she just bought replacement trophies else where and if she doesn't get her money back she will let everyone know that my business and products are bad.

With that inside an anger builds up and I'm bigger then that so I nicely say to her. These trophies are custom made and cut especially for your order. We will always stand behind our product and will be happy to replace any of the defective ones. I am so sorry we cant accommodate your wishes because i would love to see you wearing that wonderful smile you had when you walked in.

If that doesn't change the customers tone, then I have to ask them to leave and do business with the people she is happiest with and then add a Thank you!

Well she left but then she came back with her next order. She realized after she left that we wanted to help and stood behind her purchase as far as quality. It also helps that she buys last minute and we are the only ones who would have her order done and ready the next day.Good service and a superb product is hard to stay away from.

Keeping customers happy and changing the tone of an argument or conversation is a skill. It can be learned but at the same time there are some people who can read the signs and quickly change the tone.

Answer 4

I'm in retail management, so I get plenty of customer complaints. The important thing is to listen to the problem, leave emotions out of it and stay calm, and retain a respectful atmosphere with that customer and the people around them (meaning if that customer starts swearing at me and other customers have to listen to that language, they either need to learn to behave like an adult or leave the store).

I had a customer that wanted to return a car battery. They were going on a trip in a few days and they were having a problem keeping a charge on their new battery. Well, we charged and tested the battery and all the cells were good.

The customer was very upset because we would not exchange his battery. I explained that it tested good on our machine and that many times there are other problems with the car that can place a drain on the battery... bad connection, too many devices (ipod, DVD players, etc.) drawing power from it, or something else. I welcomed him to take it to another repair shop and if he could bring me back a reading from them saying the battery was bad, I'd replace it. He left, still mad.

The next day I got a call back from the customer. He apologized for his behavior and then thanked me. He did take it into a mechanic and it turns out that I was right, there was a malfunction in his car. The garage was able to test his car and found a problem with his alternator, which they had him replace.

Answer 5

Calm the customer down by resolving the problem,replacing or by giving a credit, free shipping/service call, and apologize for the problem. Personally tell him you will call to assure everything is fine.
If this doesnt work either have your manager talk to him/her.
Sometimes that is all an angry person wants anyway is to talk to a manager....makes them feel better for some reason.

Answer 6

Assure the customer that he/she is right and that the problem will be fixed/handled. I had a customer that we had the wrong address for her Victoria's secret credit card, and she wasnt getting her statements, and she had over $100 lt fee and she was angry, cursing throwing a fit, and i calmly changed her address for her and offered to take all the lt fee's off the account b/c we had the wrong address and she set up a check for the full balance. Keep it calm and know that the customer is always right.

Answer 7

If they are yelling and screaming dont yell back... just listen to what they have to say. It depends on whether its your workplace's fault or the customers fault. If the client is being belligerent and difficult and WONT respond to you trying to appease him then maybe its ok to lose him and a customer. But if it was an error on your part, apologize and try to gie him a satisfactory resolution to his issue. some customers just want to be heard. But DONT tolerate belittling either. some customers can be real jerks sometimes.

Answer 8

normally people who are angry are actually frightened about something going on in their lives that they cannot control to their satisfaction. or they are control freaks at work because they control nothing anywhere else. response is much better than reaction. if the complaint is personal take them aside and gently ask them if they have any idea how thy would like to resolve it. if you need to have a mediator then do that anger is so sad and counterproductive

Answer 9

#a million is the grievance artwork appropriate? #2 is this a personal grievance? #a million i ought to pass to my manager, then if it became no longer resolved, workers branch. #2 even if it really is amazingly own, i ought to confront the fellow privately and get to the bottom of the grievance. each and every each and every now and then human beings like to work out conflict between workers and it really is in hassle-free words a rumor, and the fellow isn't conscious that their call became positioned into the project.

Answer 10

I left off an oil cap when I was changing the oil. I calmly explained that it was absolutely my fault and that I hope that I hadn't tarnished the company's good name. I asked if there was anything I could do for the customer and things turned out fine.