What is a complaint? Resources 2 - 204

An ability to communicate an unmet need/ problem/ opinion

• By complaining the complainant is showing you that they trust you and consider you the person who is most likely to deal with a problem- feel honoured.

• People only complain if they feel comfortable to do so – respected, listened too and befriended.

Discuss in your group the importance of complaining and feed back to the group

or discuss with your assessor.

The importance of complaining

• To improve service standards• This helps the person complaining to off load a

problem they may have or face.• Listening and responding to complaints improves

the relationship of people and gives power/ autonomy for people complaining

• Gives respect back and increases the individuals health and wellbeing

• Helps safeguard and prevent unsafe practice/ environment or objectives.

Complaint example hand out 3• I have a friend who bartends at a local restaurant. Sometimes I like to go and

have a glass of wine while he’s working to catch up on life. Last week, while enjoying a nice Shiraz, I overheard the owner of the restaurant complaining to the manager about a customer.

• “I can’t believe that woman! She came up and complained about how we use too much butter on the vegetables. It’s a restaurant – of course there’s butter. If she didn’t want so much on there, she should have told her server.”

• This got me thinking. It’s easy for us, no matter which industry we serve, to complain about our customers who complain. Instead, I think we should be thanking them.

• A customer who complains has the guts and the brand loyalty to tell you exactly what you need to do to meet their expectations. Think of it this way….

• That same woman could have easily walked out of the restaurant, not saying a word to the owner. Then, since her expectations were not met, she would have most likely spread negative word of mouth, bashing the restaurant and their butter-happy ways to 10 of her friends.

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Hand out 3a

• Give some examples of a complaint

• Describe what you should do for these complaints.

Hand out 3b

• Now describe how this complaint could benefit either the service user/ the workplace/ yourself/ or others/ or any combination of these.

Your policy Homework task 2

• Write an account of a service user commenting or complaining in your work place. Explain your procedures and policies.