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ttglive.com
complaints knowledge
claimants sometimes do not receive gives an example of when a hotel is adver-
Abta seminars How to prepare
adequate compensation. If an initial claim tised as five-star, but when the client gets
is dismissed, it can eventually be taken to there they discover it’s only three-star, the
court, although this is usually a last resort rooms are dirty and the staff are rude. Part of Abta’s
for the customer. “A company should hold their hands up complaints seminar
“There were two cases recently about and say ‘I‘m very sorry. It’s not a situation involves workshops
people who booked holidays with Thomson that we expect would happen but it did on dispute resolution
and Thomas Cook where there were and so here is your compensation because and arbitration. Jane
children’s clubs, but when they got there you have suffered as a result of it’,” she Sebuliba (pictured),
everything was in German. The judge says. customer services
awarded the clients in both cases because However, she also underlines the need manager at Kuoni Travel, helps run one of the
the holiday was not what was advertised,” for staff training in how to deal with workshops, advising on face-to-face, telephone
explains Turner. difficult situations. and written complaints.
Bruce Treloar, lead officer for Holidays & “When things go wrong on holiday they “We ask attendees to sit next to people
Travel, Trading Standards, adds: “Agents can go disastrously wrong and sometimes a they don’t know, separate them into teams
can’t mislead consumers. They have to lot of empathy is called for,” she says. and give them three different scenarios
make it clear to them what they’re buying dealing with aggressive unhappy customers.
and what they’re going to get. They need to WAYS TO HANDLE A. They have 10-15 minutes to complete each
make sure they don’t make mistakes inad- COMPLAINT. scenario and then give feedback.
vertently.” Do “By talking about the scenarios, we hope
■ Ask for complete details from the that those involved will exchange useful
Say sorry customer experiences. We want the teams to pick up
Treloar advises agents who receive a ■ Investigate this feedback thoroughly on certain points. For example, if you have an
complaint to listen to it carefully, deal with ■ Report back to the customer quickly aggressive customer, sit them down, and get
it quickly and apologise. with your findings them away from the shop front,” she says.
“Consumers will come back if their ■ Be honest Sebuliba says there is often no definitive
complaint is handled successfully,” he says. ■ Say you value their custom right and wrong way of handling situations,
“But the more antagonism you make ■ Offer compensation in the way of an but experience and training is key. “Some
for the consumer, the more likely they are apology or voucher people are very tied to their organisation
to come to us.” about what they can do and what kind of
When dealing with complaints, agents Don’t compensation they can give but one thing is
also need to ensure they have all their ■ Claim no responsibility true across the board: you don’t want to lose
facts correct and that they get as much ■ Take a defensive stance customers,” she warns.
information as possible from the claimant ■ Ignore a complaint ■ To register for Abta’s Dealing With
and tour operator. ■ Treat a complaint as invalid Complaints seminar on June 11 in London,
Substandard service, difficulty putting ■ Take too long rectifying the issue or on October 21 in northern England,
faults right and lack of information are ■ Let an issue escalate and become a contact events@abta.co.uk. Attendees
among the biggest complaint areas. Turner legal complaint receive three ATP points.
DEAL OR NO DEAL?
Role-play exercises
Work through these scenarios with your team
Whether or not agents should also deal with complaints excellent customer service and quicker resolution of issues,
to see how you might respond.
divides opinion. Thomson and First Choice recently decided these customers will return and book in store with us again.”
1. A customer comes into the shop to voice a
to give staff in 880 UK shops responsibility for handling Other agencies disagree with this approach. Christine
complaint – in front of other potential clients.
customer complaints in-store. In the past, they directed Francis, head of consumer and legal affairs at Cosmos says:
How could you minimise disruption to other
clients to a customer service centre in Manchester, but retail “People who can deal with complaint resolution are cus-
customers?
shops will now handle low-level complaints, both pre and tomer service people. Shop staff should be dealing with
post departure and the centre will only handle issues they booking holidays, not dealing with complaints. They are
2. You receive a letter of complaint from a
feel unable to resolve satisfactorily in shops. different skill sets.
customer. How would you investigate the
Nick Longman, distribution director, Tui Travel UK & Ire- “You need to employ people with the right mental
points raised? How quickly should you reply?
land, says: “Our agents have a strong relationship with their attitude, the can-do mentality, who treat every complaining
What is company compensation policy ?
customers and we underplay that ability to resolve issues in customer in a way which will turn them into a happy customer
3. You receive a call from an angry, shouting
the shop. Customers ultimately want to get a resolution as who will come back time and time again. People who
swiftly as possible and this change will encourage that to choose to work in sales might not necessarily want or be
customer. Would you document the call while
happen – fairly and quickly. We hope that by providing able to deal with complaints,” she says.
talking to them? How would you calm them?
01.05.2009 37
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