Working at a credit agency. Working towards a solution?

Question

A customer contacts you at a call centre. They are very angry and upset about what they call "appauling service", what do you do as an employee to handle and resolve the situation?

What procedures do you take to work towards a solution?

Answer 1

First step is to get the to calm down ...

Start by being sympathetic that they are upset ...but NOT by giving them unfair expectations (i.e. 'I am so sorry YOU are so upset and I would really like to help you with YOUR problem' ... NOT "I am so sorry we upset you and I will sort out your problem").

Get their basic details .. this should give them a chance to calm down a bit ..

Then get the 'cold facts' .. what is the problem they would like you to help them with ??

Focus on the problem, NOT on who upset them & why ... if they refuse to explain what the problem is and only want to complain about other staff you should pass them onto your Supervisor (or who-ever deals with formal complaints) as soon as possible....

You need to get to the 'core' of the issue as soon as possible .. what is it they want you to do to resolve the actual problem ?

Don't make promises (eg about making refunds, reporting other staff for abuse, paying compensation or evne something as simple as checking details and phoning back etc.) they you personally can't keep ...

If you don't have the authority to resolve the issue, pass them on to some-one you does .

There are a lot of people with very unrealistic expectations when dealing with large companies ... for example demands for 'instant refunds' and 'immediate replacements' ... these can be very difficult to manage... (most organisations end up blaming 'the computer' :-) )

Answer 2

Thank them for calling and bringing this to your attention, ask them if they would mind if you took their number and called them back, "as this complaint deserves more investigation".
If the customer agrees, look into their complaint, and hopefully by the time you get back to them: 1. They will have calmed down. 2. You will be able to give them a satisfactory answer.
I have no solution if they won't let you take their number, sorry.