HANDLING CUSTOMER COMPLAINTS. APHC Ltd. Version 2 (September 2011) Page 1

Transcription

1 HANDLING CUSTOMER COMPLAINTS Page 1

2 (This page is left intentionally blank) Page 2

3 Customer Complaint Procedures Before we get into the detail of dealing with customer complaints, an understanding of the Sale of Goods Act is required as this determines key trading obligations when providing goods and services. Sale of Goods Act Whenever you sell services to a customer you have certain responsibilities. The Supply of Goods and Services Act, which applies to England, Wales and Northern Ireland, says that a person providing a service must do so with reasonable care and skill. It also requires the service to be carried out within a reasonable time and for no more than a reasonable charge unless there was prior agreement with the customer about these matters. If you have agreed a price for your service with a customer, it is not reasonable to change it without a good reason. For example, agreeing with the customer to provide additional services. Similarly, if a defined timescale has been agreed with your customer for the delivery of services, it should not be changed without good reason and agreement with the customer. Any goods you supply as part of delivering your service will be subject to the conditions covering goods. For example when installing a central heating system, you are also responsible for the goods you install, such as pipework, radiators and boilers. You could also be held liable for any damage, injury or death caused by the use of services or goods you supply. Page 3

4 The Rights of Customers When Purchasing Services Customers have a number of rights if they aren't satisfied with a service you've provided. If a customer justifiably believes that you haven't used reasonable care and skill, you must put the work right at no extra cost. Failing this, they can ask another supplier to put the work right and then claim the cost from you. If you charge a customer more for the service than was agreed the customer is only obliged to pay the price you quoted them. If no price was agreed they must pay you a reasonable price. If you don't complete a service by an agreed deadline, you're in breach of contract. In these circumstances the customer can claim compensation for any losses. If no time was specified in the contract, they're legally entitled to have the work done in a reasonable time. What to Do if a Customer Complains If a customer complains about goods or services they've purchased from you, it's essential to establish what your responsibilities are under the Sale of Goods Act or the Supply of Goods and Services Act. Ask yourself whether the goods are not as you described them, unfit for their purpose, or of unsatisfactory quality. Ask if the services you have provided have been delivered with reasonable care and skill within a reasonable time for a reasonable charge. If the customer does have a valid claim under one of the above conditions, then your next step depends on whether goods or services are involved and whether they are consumers or other traders. If faulty goods are involved and the purchase was made a reasonably short time ago, you could offer a refund, replacement or repair. Although they won't usually do so, the customer may claim compensation from you - either immediately following the sale or up to six years afterwards. Page 4

5 The six year rule doesn t apply to products which are subject to natural wear and tear such as central heating components e.g. a pump failure would only be expected to be dealt with on a free of charge basis during the manufacturer s warranty period. However if the pump failure could be attributed to faulty design or installation work on your behalf then he/she could make a claim for up to six years after the installation date. It s also worth noting that In the first six months after the installation, if a customer makes a complaint it s your responsibility to prove that the goods or services were supplied to contract and in a reasonable condition After the first six months it s the customer s responsibility to prove that there is a problem with the goods or services, so in order to make a claim against you for say the pump replacement out of manufacturer s warranty, the customer has to provide positive proof say in the form of a technical report to indicate that your defective design or installation resulted in the pump defect If neither repair nor replacement are practical options, you can offer a partial or full refund if this would be cheaper for the business. When you're considering whether to give a full or partial refund, you can take account of the benefits the consumer has gained since they bought the goods. If you want to dispute a claim by a consumer for a repair or replacement, remember that for the first six months it's up to you to prove that the fault was not present at the time of sale. However, after six months it's up to the consumer to prove that the goods were faulty when sold. More detailed guidance on the Sale of Goods is provided in the DTI document A Trader s Guide The Law Relating to the Supply of Goods & Services, this can be downloaded from the members section of the APHC website at Page 5

6 Handling Customer Complaints As a requirement of the APHC Ltd Licensing Scheme and the APHC (Certification) Ltd. Competent Persons Scheme, members are required to operate an effective customer complaints procedure. If the work is carried out correctly then customer complaints should be relatively rare. The following highlights the key principles to be adopted in handling customer complaints. 1/ Receiving the complaint Every business has to deal with situations in which things go wrong from a customer's point of view. When a complaint is received don t be dismissive of your customer's problem - even if you're convinced you're not at fault. Although it may not appear so at the time, a customer with a complaint represents a genuine opportunity for your business If you handle the complaint successfully, your customer is likely to prove more loyal than if nothing had gone wrong People willing to complain are rare - your complaining customer may be alerting you to a problem experienced by others who silently took their custom elsewhere Complaints should be handled courteously, sympathetically and - above all - swiftly. It s therefore imperative that your company has a procedure to follow in terms of dealing with customer complaints. At the very least it should involve listening sympathetically to establish the details of the complaint. Details of any complaint which may be verbally communicated to you or may be received in writing should be recorded in writing in your complaints system, even those of a very simple nature. This is in order that you have a permanent record of your actions and a log of events should the complaint escalate to say legal action. Your first action should be to initiate a complaints procedure form, this is used to track the complaint through from commencement to completion and closure, a sample completed complaints procedure form is shown overleaf. Don t forget it s vital that you obtain all relevant information about the complaint at an early stage so that you can make a decision on a proper course of action. Page 6

7 The complaints procedure form should be recorded on the complaints log, this is an index to all the complaints received and can be used as a reminder to ensure that you are following the complaints through to closure. The following page shows a sample of a completed section from an overall complaints log. Page 7

8 A template of the complaints procedure form and log can be downloaded from the members section of the APHC website at or a copy can be obtained from the Membership Services Department on Page 8

9 Under most membership based schemes operating in the plumbing and heating industry you ll be expected to keep a record of your complaints for review purposes as a requirement of your ongoing membership. On receipt of a complaint you ll need to advise the customer on the length of time you ll need to feedback, if it s an emergency then that could be as short as a few minutes, with complex complaints APHC recommends that findings should ordinarily take no longer than 14 days to be fed back to the customer. APHC Commentary We receive a relatively low number of complaints from customers about work carried out by APHC members, here s some of the key issues that can occur Members failing to respond to or take any action with the complaint these can escalate dramatically, with additional items often being added on as the complaint progresses here resolution of the complaint, due to the delay, can often cost sizeably more than tackling the problem in the first place and the reputation of the business can be affected by a totally dissatisfied customer Failure to provide information to the customer on the perceived complaint here we do encounter situations where members have investigated an unfounded complaint but have not closed it off by presenting their findings back to the customer here the complaint can again escalate and reputation can be affected by a dissatisfied customer Page 9

10 2/ The investigation phase Once you ve received details of the complaint don t be tempted to respond immediately unless it s a real safety issue or a problem with an essential service such as no water supply. One major failing in dealing with customer complaints is responding without sufficient information or having not undertaken an investigation or review into the complaint. Even if it s quite a simple complaint by phone it pays to say ring back in 15 minutes after you ve collected your thoughts and thought your response through. You should remain non-committal in your communication with the customer until you have investigated the complaint and proposed your findings and actions always stay polite, calm and in control of the situation, even when faced with the most irate customer. You should aim to carry out an investigation into the complaint within the timescale agreed on initial communication, if this timescale needs to be extended then make sure that it is communicated to the customer failure to respond within an agreed timescale will only add fuel to the fire. The investigation phase of the complaint should include pulling together all the relevant information related to the complaint such as The pricing documentation relevant to the job e.g. your terms of business Feedback from your staff if the complaint relates to something they have been involved with Any technical standards relating to the installation you ll need to ensure that the job has been installed to current standards if the complaint is of a technical nature Any further items of feedback required from the customer which are not clear in the initial contact this should preferably be in writing wherever possible Undertaking a site visit in some cases it may be necessary to undertake a site visit to further review the complaint this is particularly likely if one of your operatives has carried out the work, the site visit also emphasises your concerns in attempting to resolve the complaint. Again, unless it s a relatively simple matter, don t get drawn into providing a solution to the complaint there and then, if it s a more complex complaint you re more than likely going to need to consider a number of factors before feeding back Page 10

11 3/ Findings and conclusions Following the investigation phase you then need to arrive at your findings on the complaint bearing in mind Your obligations under the Sale of Goods Act The requirements to carry out work to minimum industry standards - Statutory legislation such as the Building Regulations - British Standards or other similar technical standards e.g. Water Regulations Guide - Manufacturer instructions Your findings should identify that the complaint is either Justified, or Unjustified If the complaint is unjustified then your findings should be communicated to the customer with an explanation of your reasons, dependent on the complexity of the complaint, communication could be by Telephone Direct meeting Writing Combination of the above It is best practice and good protection for your business to close the complaint in writing it s a permanent record of your complaint investigation and can be used to support your actions if any legal action ensues. If the complaint is justified then you should prepare to complete any remedial work or take the necessary action as soon as possible. If you deal with the problem pretty quickly most customers will not ask for compensation but be prepared for such requests to arise. On completion of any remedial work ensure that the customer is satisfied with the work, it also pays to follow-up with a letter of closure indicating that you now deem the matter closed, with apologies for any inconvenience. Page 11

12 4/ APHC and customer complaints In the event that you arrive at a situation where the customer is not satisfied with your complaint actions or does not agree with your complaint findings essentially no solution can be reached between both parties. As a last resort, APHC under its Licensing & Competent Persons Schemes operates a complaints procedure to deal with complaints arising from work undertaken by member firms. To initiate complaint investigation actions, the customer must be referred directly to APHC who will undertake an investigation into the complaint. Customers should be referred to the APHC Membership Services Department on in order to obtain details of the complaint procedure. Page 12