Complaint handling is an effective tool for public sector governance. Effective complaint handling improves relationships between organizations and citizens by fostering trust and accountability, helps address gaps in public service delivery, and supports innovation in public service design. Despite these benefits, complaint handling practices at the local government level in British Columbia (BC) is often ad hoc, poorly designed, or non-existent. This thesis asks: what are the drivers and barriers for effectively handling complaints at the local government level in BC? The thesis argues that complaint handling occurs within a context of limited resources, which informs the drivers and barriers for effectively handling complaints. The thesis explores the drivers and barriers of complaint handling through a reflexive thematic analysis of interviews with senior-level local government administrators. The analysis revealed that operating in a context of limited resources led to the emergence of creative practices for handling complaints, including preventing complaints before they arise and handling complaints informally. Additionally, complaint handling is characterized by a tension between its private sector roots and public sector values like equality and fairness. The thesis concludes by making recommendations to improve complaint handling at the BC local government level. / Graduate

Manufacturers are transforming their business model from being a product dominant to a customer centric organization, in order to maintain competitive advantage, as well as deliver customer satisfaction thereby to build a long-term relationship with them. The management of complaint handling is regarded as a crucial contributor to its business performance. To identify key factors that influence the efficiency of complaint handling in manufacturing industry, it is important to start with an investigation of a company's internal complaint handling management. A multiple case study has been carried out in the form of semi-structured, face-to-face interviews with managers from six different manufacturing companies. The studyreveals that four factors in complaint handling are to be paid attention to, which include complaint handling process, qualified complaint handler, complaint handling system and complaint handling policy. By comparing the companies' viewpoints as well as theoretical perspective on these factors, some differences and similarities are revealed. Finally, the study found that the complaint handler who possesses the adequate technical knowledge of the product and interpersonal skills is the most essential factor that affects complaint-handling efficiency. In the meanwhile, complaint-handling system is increasingly important in assisting companies with customer complaints.

Abstract Author : Alain Patrick Ngae a Njama Tutor : Peter Caesar Examiner : Pejvak Oghazi Title : After sales service: Complaint to Service Recovery Improvement Keywords : Service Recovery, Complaint handling, service failure, service process, Svetruck AB Background : It is real that everyday people purchase goods for their daily needs and satisfaction, but unfortunately it happen that some of those goods do not live up to the customer expectations. The reality when a failure occurred is something else because is the second chance giving to the service provider to show concern. Many research agreed that good recovery after a service failure can create a positive response from the customer side as example making them loyal and sharing their positive experience to others. Purpose: The purpose of this study is to look into how service recovery influence customer retention. Research question: How Does Company handles customer’s complaint in order to fulfill service recovery ? Method: Three respondents were selected within a heavy industry call Svetruck AB. Due to their position and number of year they have been working for this company. Many section of interview were organized in order to have a clear understanding of the inside out of the service handling process. Conclusion: Complaint handling appears to be very essential for each company willing to stay in the competitive word. Some will differ from the way they handle or treat their customer but the final issue for all companies will be to keep satisfies their customer for long-term relationship, also by reducing the cost of hunting new customers. Suggestion for further research : After the investigation of complaint handling from the service 3 provider side, we can think of other areas to investigate related to this topic. One of it will be to make an investigation on complaint handling from the customer point of view to find out how the customer perceived satisfaction after the service provider have handled their complaint. Another point may be to compare Svetruck complaint handling with the one of one of their mean competitor to see the point that differ them from the others. Further investigations can also be made on unsatisfied customers, those who have experience bad service recovery by then had chosen to switch to competitor.

Following the call for further research on the organisational side of complaint handling, this research aims to explore actual firms’ complaint handling practices with a special focus on the role of politeness in firms-complaints interactions. This research is largely based on a dataset of naturally occurring exchanges obtained from the online public forum Les Arnaques – “The Scams” (www.lesarnaques.com). The setting is similar to a double-deviation scenario: the consumers had already complained once through the relevant company but were unsatisfied with the response. By lodging their complaint on the forum they seek mediation to obtain satisfaction in a second attempt.As a first step, an enhanced conceptualisation of politeness in relation to the concept of complaint handling was proposed and tested. Sociolinguistics theories were used (Goffman’s theory of face, Grice’s maxims) and a quantitative analysis was conducted, to discover how the consumer’s perception of a firm’s politeness is influenced. This conceptualisation, new for the marketing literature, led to proposing a more accurate framework to assess the politeness-related practices of firms when handling complaints.In a second step, this new conceptualisation of politeness was integrated within a larger framework to assess firms’ practices on several dimensions. Justice theory was used as a starting point to define practices within each dimension of justice: distributive, procedural and interactional. Literature from other disciplines (sociology, linguistics, psychology) was used to define precisely the different constructs belonging to the three dimensions. For instance the “empathy” construct was split, based on the literature in psychology, into cognitive and affective empathy, which allowed the precise identification of the occurrences of empathy in firms’ answers. The effects of 33 dimensions were analysed, using a sample of 523 exchanges archived from the forum Les Arnaques. A multinomial regression analysis showed that the most significant antecedent of post-complaint satisfaction was a new dimension, not previously found in the literature: the provision of evidence that the complainant’s problem had been, or was about to be, solved.In a third step, exploratory research was undertaken to investigate possible collinearity effects between three of the most often cited constructs of interactional justice: empathy, politeness and apology. Using the coding guide previously developed, and the exchanges coded, results showed some overlap between the constructs and high Cramer’s V, indicating a redundant concept. Recommendations were provided as to what should be measured, and how, so that researchers can avoid such effects in the future.The naturally occurring exchanges used for the first three steps revealed that firms’ answers were often impolite and littered with spelling mistakes. Two subsequent papers explored the phenomena of grammaticality and im/politeness.In a fourth step, the effects of grammaticality and politeness on customers’ perceptions and behavioural outcomes were explored. Specifically, a survey was conducted to determine the effect of grammar/spelling mistakes and politeness on the perception of professionalism and on repurchase intention. Results from a PATH analysis showed that politeness and grammaticality had low or no direct effect on loyalty. However, indirect effects mediated by professionalism were strong, indicating that consumers’ repurchase intentions depend on a firm’s perceived professionalism.Finally, in a fifth step, efforts were focused on impoliteness and on the role the communication channel plays in expressions of impoliteness. Impolite answers found on the online forum were compared with offline responses obtained in a field experiment. Unexpectedly, results from a discourse analysis showed that the highest levels of impoliteness were not reached in online exchanges, where users can hide behind anonymity, but in postal exchanges. In particular, we found that some companies returned the original complaint letter, riddled with insults. This led us to propose that impoliteness not only a matter of content (the words being used) but also of form. In this case, the letter seemed to act as a catalyst for conflict and was the trigger for verbal violence.In terms of marketing, the following work contributes to theory building by proposing a new conceptualisation of politeness, by defining a more precise framework to analyse firms’ complaint handling practices, and by uncovering collinearity effects that may have impeded previous results. The last two steps of this thesis bring exploratory insights by showing the effects of politeness and grammaticality on consumers’ perceptions.Besides contributing new academic insights, one goal of this thesis was also to serve the business community. The findings show that politeness matters: not only does politeness help reach short-term goals like post-complaint satisfaction, but it also contributes to long-term effort, like forging a professional identity and fostering customer loyalty. / Doctorat en Sciences économiques et de gestion / info:eu-repo/semantics/nonPublished

Complaint handling encounters represent useful opportunities for retailers to rectify problems, salvage the relationship between the retailer and the customer, and increase customer satisfaction and customer loyalty. Service recovery (complaint handling) therefore becomes critical “moments of truth” for organisations in their efforts to satisfy and retain customers. The purpose of the research was to explore and describe complainants’ evaluations of appliance retailers’ complaint handling procedures in terms of their perceptions of justice. In addition, the relationships between perceived justice and emotions and perceive justice and post-complaint behavioural intentions were explored. The unit of analysis was consumers who had encountered an appliance failure and had sought redress from the appliance retailer where the appliance was originally purchased (within a oneyear recall period). This study used a cross-sectional survey approach to capture real perceptions of justice, emotions and behavioural intentions. Convenience sampling was employed in Tshwane, a major metropolitan area of South Africa. Data was collected via a self-administered questionnaire. A total of 198 usable questionnaires were collected. The results of the exploratory factor analysis showed that respondents had specific expectations about retailers’ complaint handling. Confirmatory factor analysis indicated that the respondents indeed judged complaint handling in terms of procedural, interactional and distributive justice. They experienced procedural justice when complaint handling personnel followed company policy and the correct procedures in handling their complaints, when the employees were competent, when they resolved complaints in a timely manner and made it easy for the dissatisfied consumers to voice their complaints. The respondents experienced interactional justice when complaint handling personnel treated them with respect (were polite), made it easy for them to determine where to lodge their complaints (i.e. to whom they should complain in the company), communicated clearly (with adequate use of language), were appropriately concerned about the problem, took great effort in resolving the complaint, and provided them with an appropriate explanation as to why the appliance has failed. Verbal communication about where to complain forms part of respondents’ perception of the fairness of the interpersonal communications used in settling complaints factor, rather than the procedural justice factor. The respondents experienced distributive justice when they perceived that the redress (i.e. compensation: free repairs, product exchange, refund, voucher etc.) offered by the retailers was more they expected, was fair, was what they deserved or was what they needed. Respondents perceived that retailers’ were fair concerning procedural justice and distributive justice, but unfair concerning interactional justice. The strongest positive emotions that respondents experienced were gratitude, happiness, being valued and joyfulness, while lower levels of warm feelings and pride were experienced. The strongest negative emotions that respondents experienced were anger, annoyance, being upset and being in a bad mood, while lower levels of guilt and sadness were experienced. Relationships exist between respondents’ perceptions of justice and their emotions, and between their emotions and post-complaint behavioural intentions (repurchase intentions, word-of-mouth intentions and third-party complaint intentions). The study has important practical implications for appliance retailers / Dissertation (MSc)--University of Pretoria, 2014. / tm2014 / Consumer Science / Unrestricted

Sammanfattning Syftet med uppsatsen var att undersöka hur pendlare på sträckan Västerås – Stockholm upplever SJ:s klagomålshantering i dagsläget och hur SJ hanterar klagomål. Vidare syftade uppsatsen till att ge förslag på hur SJ kan arbeta med klagomålshantering i framtiden. I uppsatsen presenteras hur SJ sköter sin klagomålshantering i dagsläget. Vidare presenteras teorier inom service recovery och klagomålshantering. Med utgångspunkt i teorierna skapades en bild av effektiv service recovery och klagomålshantering. För att ta reda på hurpendlarna upplever SJ:s klagomålshantering genomfördes en enkätundersökning på utvalda tåg på sträckan Västerås – Stockholm den 9-11 maj 2011. Totalt samlades det in 373 enkäter varav 299 stycken var korrekt ifyllda. Slutsatser Data från enkätundersökningen analyserades och följande slutsatser kunde dras; SJ bör alltidsträva efter att få in alla klagomål från pendlarna, det skulle ge SJ en bättre översikt avpendlarnas situation. SJ kan först då genomföra åtgärder och förbättringar. SJ måste lyssna till pendlarnas åsikter och visa att de tar till sig av åsikterna. Företaget bördärför arbeta med att förtydliga att klagomålen hanteras och att de leder till förbättringar. Vidare bör SJ implementera en mer användarvänlig process för pendlaren att framföra sin åsikt för att få in så många klagomål som möjligt. En slutsats drogs om att det finns utrymme för SJ att i ansökan om restidsgaranti applicera ett fält där resenärer kan framföra klagomål. Vid lanseringen av en mobil applikation föreslås den innehålla en funktion där pendlaren kan framföra sina klagomål. SJ:s personalutbildningar är i dagsläget bra men en slutsats drogs att de kan inriktas mer på klagomålshantering. Är de pendlare som stannar hos SJ på grund av att SJ är deras enda alternativa färdmedel till jobb eller studieort missnöjda, ökar risken för att negativ word-of-mouth sprids vilket är till stor nackdel för SJ. SJ måste bli bättre på att: åtgärda problem, ge garanti för att åtgärda problem, ta ansvar för problem och för sina kunder, visa förståelse och erbjuda en mer rättvis kompensation. Enligt pendlarna är en snabb handläggningstid av klagomål, enklare att framföra åsikter, en rättvis behandling och möjlighet till att påverka hanteringen av klagomål viktiga faktorer i SJ:s klagomålshanteringsprocess. Förslag Avslutningsvis gavs förslag på hur SJ kan anpassa sin klagomålshantering efter sina pendlare utifrån en indelning efter klagomålsbenägenhetstyperna Passiva, Frispråkiga, Ilskna och Aktivister. Det gjordes för att kunna anpassa klagomålshanteringen efter de olika typer av pendlare som reser med SJ och även för att göra det så enkelt som möjligt för pendlarna att framföra sina åsikter och klagomål till SJ. / Executive summary The purpose of this thesis was to investigate how the commuters travelling between Västeråsand Stockholm were experiencing SJ's customer complaint handling today and how SJ handles customer complaints. Furthermore, the thesis aims to give suggestions how SJ can work with customer complaints in the future. First the thesis present how SJ handles customer complaints today based on questions given directly to SJ. Moreover, theories in service recovery and complaint handling are presented. With starting point in the theories, a better understanding of effective service recovery and customer complaint handling was created. A survey was conducted on selected trains between Västerås and Stockholm, from the 9 th to the 11th of May 2011. In total, 373 surveys were collected from which 299 surveys were complete. Data from the survey was analyzed and the following conclusions could be drawn. Conclusions SJ should always strive to collect all the complaints from the commuters as it would give SJ a better overview of the commuters' situation. SJ needs to listen to the commuter’s opinions and show that they take them into consideration. SJ can only then take action and make improvements. The company should work to clarify that complaints are handled and that they lead to improvements. In addition, SJ should implement a more user-friendly process for the commuters to hand in complaints in order to receive as many complaints as possible. A conclusion was reached that there is room for a field on the application for travel time guarantee where commuters and other travelers can file a complaint. At the launch of a mobile application a proposition is made that it include a feature where commuters can file their complaints. The training of SJ's staff in the current situation is good but a conclusion was reached that it can focus more on customer complaint handling. If the commuters that have no other alternative transport to work or to school are dissatisfied with the service, it increases the risk of spreading negative word-of-mouth, which is highly disadvantageous to SJ. SJ must be better at: fixing problems, providing guarantees for fixing the problems, take responsibility for the problems and for their customers, show understanding and offer a more equitable compensation. According to commuters the turnaround time of complaints, easier to express opinions, a fair treatment in the process and an opportunity to influence the handling of complaints are important factors for SJ in their customer complaint handling. Recommendations Suggestions were given on how SJ can adjust their customer complaint handling after dividing the commuters into four types by their propensity to complain “passive”, “voicers”, “irates” and “activists”. It was made in order to adjust customer complaints handling by the different types of commuters who travel with SJ and also to make it as easy as possible for commuters to forward their opinions and to file their complaints.

O objetivo central deste trabalho é investigar os antecedentes e as consequências da satisfação do consumidor com o gerenciamento de reclamações sobre serviços de telefonia fixa. Para tanto, foi testado um modelo teórico desenvolvido por Santos (2001), que retrata os interrelacionamentos entre avaliações específicas sobre o processo de reclamação, confiança e lealdade do consumidor. Ainda, foram acrescidos os efeitos dos custos de mudança na lealdade devido à suposição de que tais barreiras à saída do cliente são relevantes no setor considerado. Foi feito um estudo de corte transversal com 200 clientes (pessoas físicas) reclamantes da GVT. Tais clientes registraram, nos últimos três meses, reclamações no Call Center da GVT, via telefone, e-mail, correio ou pessoalmente. De forma específica, a empresa pesquisada deveria concentrar seus esforços nos seguintes procedimentos: oferecer um pedido de desculpas sincero ao reclamante, explicações sobre o porquê do problema, acesso mais fácil aos canais de comunicação/reclamação e maior rapidez ao responder as reclamações dos clientes. Além disso, como já foi visto, o estudo traz os fatores que mais influenciam na satisfação dos clientes com o gerenciamento da reclamação, a confiança e a lealdade do consumidor, provendo uma informação gerencial valiosa de onde a empresa está desempenhando bem ou mal o seu papel e onde é essencial que atue melhor para manter os clientes e garantir negócios mais lucrativos no futuro. / The main objective about this work is to investigate the antecedents and consequences about the consumer satisfaction with the complaining management about fixed line. For that, it was tested a theoretical model developed by Santos (2001), that shows the inter relationship among the specific evaluations about the process of complaining, confidence and loyalty of the consumer. Further, it was added the effects of the costs of change in loyalty due the supposition that these obstacles are relevant in the considered area. It was done a study about a transversal cut with 200 clients (individual persons) complainers from GVT. Those clients registered, in the last three months, complains at the GVT Call Center, by phone, e-mail, mail or personally.In a specific way, the searched company should concentrate the efforts in the following procedures: offer sincere excuses to the complainer, try to explain the reason of the problem, provide an easier access to the communication/complaining channels and more quickness to answer the clients complaining. Besides, as it was written before, the study brings the elements that more impact the satisfaction with the complaining management, the confidence and the loyalty of the consumer, giving us a valuable management information, from where the company is performing, well or not and where it is essential that it performs well to maintain the clients and to guarantee profitable business in the future.

O objetivo central deste trabalho é investigar os antecedentes e as consequências da satisfação do consumidor com o gerenciamento de reclamações sobre serviços de telefonia fixa. Para tanto, foi testado um modelo teórico desenvolvido por Santos (2001), que retrata os interrelacionamentos entre avaliações específicas sobre o processo de reclamação, confiança e lealdade do consumidor. Ainda, foram acrescidos os efeitos dos custos de mudança na lealdade devido à suposição de que tais barreiras à saída do cliente são relevantes no setor considerado. Foi feito um estudo de corte transversal com 200 clientes (pessoas físicas) reclamantes da GVT. Tais clientes registraram, nos últimos três meses, reclamações no Call Center da GVT, via telefone, e-mail, correio ou pessoalmente. De forma específica, a empresa pesquisada deveria concentrar seus esforços nos seguintes procedimentos: oferecer um pedido de desculpas sincero ao reclamante, explicações sobre o porquê do problema, acesso mais fácil aos canais de comunicação/reclamação e maior rapidez ao responder as reclamações dos clientes. Além disso, como já foi visto, o estudo traz os fatores que mais influenciam na satisfação dos clientes com o gerenciamento da reclamação, a confiança e a lealdade do consumidor, provendo uma informação gerencial valiosa de onde a empresa está desempenhando bem ou mal o seu papel e onde é essencial que atue melhor para manter os clientes e garantir negócios mais lucrativos no futuro. / The main objective about this work is to investigate the antecedents and consequences about the consumer satisfaction with the complaining management about fixed line. For that, it was tested a theoretical model developed by Santos (2001), that shows the inter relationship among the specific evaluations about the process of complaining, confidence and loyalty of the consumer. Further, it was added the effects of the costs of change in loyalty due the supposition that these obstacles are relevant in the considered area. It was done a study about a transversal cut with 200 clients (individual persons) complainers from GVT. Those clients registered, in the last three months, complains at the GVT Call Center, by phone, e-mail, mail or personally.In a specific way, the searched company should concentrate the efforts in the following procedures: offer sincere excuses to the complainer, try to explain the reason of the problem, provide an easier access to the communication/complaining channels and more quickness to answer the clients complaining. Besides, as it was written before, the study brings the elements that more impact the satisfaction with the complaining management, the confidence and the loyalty of the consumer, giving us a valuable management information, from where the company is performing, well or not and where it is essential that it performs well to maintain the clients and to guarantee profitable business in the future.

O objetivo central deste trabalho é investigar os antecedentes e as consequências da satisfação do consumidor com o gerenciamento de reclamações sobre serviços de telefonia fixa. Para tanto, foi testado um modelo teórico desenvolvido por Santos (2001), que retrata os interrelacionamentos entre avaliações específicas sobre o processo de reclamação, confiança e lealdade do consumidor. Ainda, foram acrescidos os efeitos dos custos de mudança na lealdade devido à suposição de que tais barreiras à saída do cliente são relevantes no setor considerado. Foi feito um estudo de corte transversal com 200 clientes (pessoas físicas) reclamantes da GVT. Tais clientes registraram, nos últimos três meses, reclamações no Call Center da GVT, via telefone, e-mail, correio ou pessoalmente. De forma específica, a empresa pesquisada deveria concentrar seus esforços nos seguintes procedimentos: oferecer um pedido de desculpas sincero ao reclamante, explicações sobre o porquê do problema, acesso mais fácil aos canais de comunicação/reclamação e maior rapidez ao responder as reclamações dos clientes. Além disso, como já foi visto, o estudo traz os fatores que mais influenciam na satisfação dos clientes com o gerenciamento da reclamação, a confiança e a lealdade do consumidor, provendo uma informação gerencial valiosa de onde a empresa está desempenhando bem ou mal o seu papel e onde é essencial que atue melhor para manter os clientes e garantir negócios mais lucrativos no futuro. / The main objective about this work is to investigate the antecedents and consequences about the consumer satisfaction with the complaining management about fixed line. For that, it was tested a theoretical model developed by Santos (2001), that shows the inter relationship among the specific evaluations about the process of complaining, confidence and loyalty of the consumer. Further, it was added the effects of the costs of change in loyalty due the supposition that these obstacles are relevant in the considered area. It was done a study about a transversal cut with 200 clients (individual persons) complainers from GVT. Those clients registered, in the last three months, complains at the GVT Call Center, by phone, e-mail, mail or personally.In a specific way, the searched company should concentrate the efforts in the following procedures: offer sincere excuses to the complainer, try to explain the reason of the problem, provide an easier access to the communication/complaining channels and more quickness to answer the clients complaining. Besides, as it was written before, the study brings the elements that more impact the satisfaction with the complaining management, the confidence and the loyalty of the consumer, giving us a valuable management information, from where the company is performing, well or not and where it is essential that it performs well to maintain the clients and to guarantee profitable business in the future.

Railway is one of public transport mode on land transportation. Railways, as mass public transport modes, have unique characteristics. It has large capacity, high safety level, and free from traffic jam. Those characteristics make railway a primary public transportation. In  fact, even railway transportation has a lot of benefits for society life but they still faced by the problem. Service quality level of Railways transportation is still low compared with other transportation modes. At present railways operation is still colored with the delay, limited condition vehicle, and unclear train travel information that often disadvantage passengers, and many other services offered fail to attract passengers. These conditions result in decreasing the quality of services and insufficient railways operation. The objective of this research is to analyze the relationship between customer satisfaction towards provided service with the desire to do a complaint and to find the factor from service quality that has significant influences to customer satisfaction towards PT KAI services. From that data, and also comparison study between PT Kereta Api Indonesia and Statens Järnvägar (SJ) AB, Sweden, we can recommend the service standards design, service guarantee and complaint handling system that need to be adjusted with the interest of consumer. The data was collected via field survey in the station that located in Jakarta, Yogyakarta and Pekalongan. This research shows several findings. First, there are six factors of service quality attributes that have significant influences to customer satisfaction towards PT KAI services for commuter class (Information, Appearances, Service coverage, Tangible, Safety & security, and Cost), seven factors for business class (Travel time, Information, Scheduling, Comfort, Tangible, Safety & security, and Service coverage), and also seven factor for executive class (Appearances, Safety & security, Information, Comfort, Tangible, Travel time, and Cost). Second, while the commuter class passengers complain on the Safety & security attribute, for business class it is the information that influence the desire to complain. Meanwhile for executive class, passengers are mostly satisfied with the service given by PT KAI. Third, to decrease the number of complaints, some effective mechanisms to handle those complaints and learning from Statens Järnvägar (SJ) AB are necessary to take. Fourth, the service standards for PT KAI can be classified into 6 details of service, (safety and security attributes; comfort and appearances attributes; availability of information aspect attributes; tangible attributes; service coverage attributes; and the operations of train). For service guarantee design, this research focus on travel time guarantee. Learning from Statens Järnvägar (SJ) AB on Sweden service guarantee, PT KAI can adopt and use their system to increase customer satisfaction.