Hotel and Restaurant Food Service (Food and Beverage Services 2) Page 1 of 5

Handling Guest Complaint

IV. LESSON PROPER

LETS BEGIN!

HANDLING CUSTOMERS COMPLAINT

WHAT IS A COMPLAINT?

An expression of dissatisfaction made to an organization, related to its products or services, or the

complaints-handling process itself, where a response or resolution is explicitly or implicitly expected

WHY DO SOME CUSTOMERS COMPLAINT?

 Their expectations have not been met
 To release their anger
 To help improve the service
 Because of concern for others who also use the service

WHY DO CUSTOMERS COMPLAIN?

What proportion of unhappy customers complain?

 Generally 9% to 37% of unhappy customers make complaints to the firms.
 The rest never bother to complain

Why don’t unhappy customers complain?

 They think it is not worth the time or effort.
 They further think that no one would be concerned about their problem or solve it.
 They do not know where to go or what to do.

MOST COMMON COMPLAINTS

 Wrong Information
 Poor Customer service attitude
 Overpricing
 Lack of adequate information
 Delays
 Unresponsiveness of service provider
THE CUSTOMERS IS NOT ALWAYS RIGHT BUT…
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Handling Guest Complaint

1. The Customers is always the customer and this means simply that solving the problem is often
more important than who is right.
2. If you can solve their problem without blaming yourself or others
 You will reduce stress
 Everyone will feel better
 You will be on your way to attaining CUSTOMER SATISFACTION

HOW TO HANDLE CUSTOMER COMPLAINTS

 How do you react complaints about the way you do your work?
o Especially when you think you are doing your best
 People react to customer complaints in different ways
o Ignore complaints
o Become defensive
o Become angry or annoyed
o Are concerned about the loss of trade or damage to their professional reputation
1. Listen
2. Repeat
3. Apologize
4. Acknowledge
5. Explain Action
6. Thank
7. Follow Up
8. Remember not to take it personally
9. Remain Calm
10. Focus on the problem and not person
11. Turn unhappy people into customers
12. Address customers by name
13. All communication should be in the first person
Use “ I am sorry” not “ we”
14. Don’t make excuses or blame other in your organization
15. Give the customer your full attention and establish eye contact
16. Paraphrase their complaint in your own words to determine whether you have correctly understood
the situation
17. If you don’t know the answer to their problem, don’t lie
18. Call back when you say you will, even if for some reason, you have been able to obtain a
satisfactory answer by then
19. Make the customer part of the solution not part of the problem
20. Don’t be defensive
21. Be composed at all times
22. Don’t take criticisms personally
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Handling Guest Complaint

23. Offer an apology even if the disservice is not your fault

24. show empathy by using such phrases as: “ I can understand how you feel”, “ I appreciate what your
saying”
25. Tell them what you can do… not what you can’t do
26. Find out what it will take to turn their dissatisfaction into satisfaction
27. If they agree to that solution, act quickly before they change their mind
28. Follow up
29. And remember: You can never win an argument with a customer

STEPS FOR HANDLING COMPLAINTS

At the organization level, there is the need or a complaints handling system which will involve the following
steps as a minimum.
Acknowledge receipt of the complaint It is important that you acknowledge the receipt of
all complaints, verbal or written. Preferably allocate
a complaint reference number and provide the
customer with a contact point for further
correspondence
Accurately record complaint information and make it Make sure that your recorded version of the
accessible complaint matches exactly what the customer said.
Also make sure that the complaint record is
accessible by any branch of the organization that
the customer may contact.
Attach timeframes for resolution of complaint The company should attempt to resolve complaints
on first contact, but if this is not possible, then a
complaint should be finalized within a specific
number of days eg. 30 days
Customers must be informed about any delays in As soon as you realizes that they are unable to
resolving a complaint resolve a complaint within the given timeframe,
contact the customer, and inform advising him/ her
of the delay and set a new timeline
Make staff aware of complaint handling procedures The complaint handling procedures should be
known to all employees and be part of regular
training
Inform Customers Of Complaint Handling Posting your complaint handling procedures on your
Procedures office premises is a good way to inform customers.
Also these procedures may be incorporated in the
organization’s brochure
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Handling Guest Complaint

HANDLING DIFFICULT CUSTOMERS

TYPES OF DIFFICULT CUSTOMERS

 Angry
 Nasty
 Demanding
 Critical
 Non Stop Talker
 Indecisive
 Sarcastic
 Argumentative

WHY ARE THEY DIFFICULT?

 They are often expressing a need but chosen an appropriate and impolite way to communicate this
need
 They are difficult for their own reason, not because of you
 Tired or frustrated
 Confused or overwhelmed
 Defending their ego
 Unfamiliar with situation
 Feel ignored
 Under influence of drink or drugs
 Don’t understand
 In bad mood
 In a hurry

HOW TO DEAL WITH DIFFICULT CUSTOMERS?

1. Approach them professionally and not personally

 Taking things personally can damaged your professional reputation
 Listen for the signals that you are taking things personally

2. Check your customer service attitude

 Attitude is the key to success: Attitude is your mental position on facts or more simply the
way you view things
 Five points about attitude
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Handling Guest Complaint

 Your attitude towards customers influences your behavior. You cannot always
camouflage how you feel
 Your attitude determines the level of job satisfaction
 Your attitude affects everyone who comes in contact with you
 Toe and body language reflect your attitude
 Your attitude is not fixed. The Attitude you choose to display is up to you
3. Remind Yourself
 This is my job and I am going to do it professionally
 If it were not for these customers I would not have a job
 Every time I solve a problem I will better
4. Reinforce this saying
 “I like the job, not because its easy, not because there are no difficult people, not because
there are no frustrations but because people are part of any job and can make things
professionally.