Run: Customer Complaint Escalation SOP

The agent records the complaint in the CRM or ticketing system immediately after receipt. Include: - Customer name or account identifier - Contact channel - Date and time received - Complaint summary in the customer’s words where practical - Product, service, order, or case reference - Any attachments, screenshots, or evidence provided Do not delay logging while investigating the issue.

The agent classifies the complaint using the approved severity matrix. Use the following decision factors: - Scope of impact - Customer safety or legal exposure - Financial impact - Number of customers affected - Service disruption - Reputation risk Assign the lowest severity that still reflects the actual impact.

The agent escalates the complaint without delay when the issue meets critical criteria. Critical criteria may include: - Customer safety concern - Regulatory or legal risk - Data privacy incident - Major outage or widespread service failure - Threat of public escalation or severe reputational harm Notify the designated manager, quality owner, and any required cross-functional responder using the escalation matrix.

The agent routes the complaint to the team responsible for investigation and resolution. Examples: - Billing issues to Finance or Billing Support - Product defects to Quality or Engineering - Delivery issues to Logistics or Operations - Service experience issues to Customer Care or the Team Lead Record the owner, due date, and required follow-up in the case system.

The agent acknowledges receipt of the complaint using the approved communication template. The acknowledgment must include: - Case or ticket number - Brief confirmation that the complaint was received - Expected response or resolution timeframe - Contact point for follow-up - Any immediate workaround, if available Use a professional and empathetic tone.

The assigned owner reviews the complaint details and gathers the information needed to determine the cause. Review: - Order history, account notes, or service logs - Relevant screenshots, photos, recordings, or documents - Prior related complaints or incidents - Internal process steps that may have failed Document findings objectively and separate facts from assumptions.

The owner determines the appropriate corrective action based on the investigation results. Possible outcomes: - Immediate service recovery - Replacement, refund, or credit - Process correction - Technical fix or defect correction - Escalation to quality review or management review - Non-conformance record creation Choose the action that resolves the issue and meets policy requirements.

The owner completes the approved corrective action within the assigned authority. Examples: - Issue a refund or credit - Replace the product or reperform the service - Provide a workaround or corrected information - Update the customer on the fix Record the date, action, and any customer response.

The owner submits the proposed resolution for approval when the action exceeds authority limits or requires policy exception. Include: - Complaint summary - Severity tier - Proposed remedy - Business impact - Deadline or service-level requirement Do not communicate an unapproved exception to the customer.

The owner creates a non-conformance, corrective action, or quality issue record when the complaint indicates a repeated failure, process gap, or systemic defect. Capture: - Problem statement - Affected process or product - Immediate containment action - Root cause investigation owner - Due date for corrective action Link the record to the original complaint case.

The owner confirms resolution with the customer and closes the case only after the agreed action is completed. Document: - Resolution summary - Customer confirmation or final response - Closure date and owner - Any follow-up commitments - Lessons learned or prevention actions, if applicable If the customer remains dissatisfied, re-escalate using the severity matrix.