Need advise - we have one customer who is literally next door to us and expresses his concerns / complaints / grievance on a daily basis by all modes of communication like email, telephonic call and in writing. They have in fact instructed our Customer Service Manager to see them everyday so that they can give their "valuable" comments. They have also granted partial access to some of our employees so that they need not make "Visitor's Pass" when they come everyday.

Now, the problem is, this customer is not "Quality System" conscious and complains for any small issues that may not be really valid enough.

I need comments from you how to handle all these complaints ? I know that if we go by the definition of ISO 10002, all modes of customer complaints need to be tracked.

Any suggestions on how to track these complaints ?

Can you give some examples of what these complaints are, if your customer is not quality system oriented? Like are they complaining about non-product quality things, like "your tree is blocking our view"? Or environmental things like noise pollution? Why do they feel the need to have this constant back and forth with you? This sounds like the grumpy old lady in a neighborhood full of young families.:confused:

Can you give some examples of what these complaints are, if your customer is not quality system oriented? Like are they complaining about non-product quality things, like "your tree is blocking our view"? Or environmental things like noise pollution? Why do they feel the need to have this constant back and forth with you? This sounds like the grumpy old lady in a neighborhood full of young families.:confused:

Some of the examples are -

This customer has given us very poorly written specification that do not define the requirements very clearly. Even if we give parts that meet the specs, he will come up with a parameter that is not in the spec for the reason of rejection. :rolleyes:

There is no single voice at the customer end and representatives from different departments say different things. When we suggested to channelise all these voices through a "contact", they were not happy and bluntly reminded that we are the supplier and should hear to customer :mad:

The drawings are poorly controlled and this leads to lot of confusion :cool:

They do not respect the Contract Review and change the orders within few hours so adding to lot of pressure in planning the materials.

Fortunately nothing on the examples that you mentioned ;)

Definitely need a bit more information as to what the complaints relate to. If it is over some of your company's operations it may be that you are infringing on their property (from the sounds of it I doubt if that is the case).

As far as having a daily meeting with them, that would surely satisfy the need to address complaints (external communication) however it would make more sense to make this a formal monthly event. They can keep a list of issues they note and you can address them as necessary in a 1/2 hour meeting. It is not practical to do this every day and this alternate way of doing things places a degree of responsibility with them (having to maintain a list and go to a monthly meeting). That way meeting minutes can be held on record also.

I am unsure what the specific requirements are of 10002 ( I will read when I have time) but surely if you are seen to be addressing the fact that your neighbour has concerns, that would be sufficient for an external auditor (? hopefully). Production of monthly minutes would surely appease any auditor.

Also, how many complaints a day are you talking about?

So is the neighbour a client of yours? If so I would suggest revising any contract or terms of appointment/agreement to allow for stricter controls all over. Still not too sure as to what their complaints relate to though?

IS it a product you provide? I would have thought if you offered them one point of contact, "dedicated" to them, they should be more than happy, and if they are not, then they are definitely difficult people

Well, not being fully in tune with the business culture there....Changes in drawing/specification in jobs I have worked where these were an issue would result in a hefty change order fee. Yes, the customer is always right (except when they are wrong), but this case here seems to be using that as a weapon to bully you. Can your company afford to lose their business (probably for a short time until they come to their senses)? We've had customers that threw the "the customer is always right" thing in our face when making unreasonable demands. We've actually said "fine, since it is clear that we cannot provide what you want, we respectfully decline from quoting this order." In most cases we've not lost the business, but actually probably come out ahead in the game because those customers have quit looking for ways to nickle and dime us to death. In a case or two, we've lost the business entirely, in most cases to have that customer come back begging, we've just politely told them we have filled our order books, there is no capacity left for them. (nobody else in the industry wants to do business with them either).

So is the neighbour a client of yours? If so I would suggest revising any contract or terms of appointment/agreement to allow for stricter controls all over. Still not too sure as to what their complaints relate to though?

IS it a product you provide? I would have thought if you offered them one point of contact, "dedicated" to them, they should be more than happy, and if they are not, then they are definitely difficult people

Agree with you Peter that its high time for us to come in for stricter contract to avoid all these loose edges.

Yes, we make parts for them and the customer does a final assembly at their end. We had already suggested them the concept of one point of contact but they blatantly turned it down. :frust:

Well, not being fully in tune with the business culture there....Changes in drawing/specification in jobs I have worked where these were an issue would result in a hefty change order fee. Yes, the customer is always right (except when they are wrong), but this case here seems to be using that as a weapon to bully you. Can your company afford to lose their business (probably for a short time until they come to their senses)? We've had customers that threw the "the customer is always right" thing in our face when making unreasonable demands. We've actually said "fine, since it is clear that we cannot provide what you want, we respectfully decline from quoting this order." In most cases we've not lost the business, but actually probably come out ahead in the game because those customers have quit looking for ways to nickle and dime us to death. In a case or two, we've lost the business entirely, in most cases to have that customer come back begging, we've just politely told them we have filled our order books, there is no capacity left for them. (nobody else in the industry wants to do business with them either).

All the pains that we are suffering with this customer is well known and acknoeledged by our senior management too but they want us to continue as its a big player and coming up in a very big way.

In fact this customer has poor quality systems only in this plant (our bad luck) while the other plants elsewhere in the world seem to be doing good :frust:

So we are hoping that there will be light at the end of the tunnel :yes: and until that time :bonk:

If you cannot get them to come to you from one person, can you get them to come to one person only at your location?

Good luck with the next step> Contract and TOA are the only way I can see it being resolved, unless you can take the risk as mentioned above and try and "handle" them.

It is a good idea to put your foot down and detail what they expect once and for all, and then put across your points e.g not having designs etc change at last minute, without allowance for more time to account for these changes etc.

As I guess these parts come and go quicker than a month that sort of devalues the monthly meeting, however it may still be a good way to show that you are taking account of their complaints and reviewing with them ways to improve (both your) operational ways (the way the business is carried out).

This sounds like the grumpy old lady in a neighborhood full of young families.:confused:

:lmao::lol: Not to HiJack Ajit's thread, but my mother in law came to mind. She's everywhere, and because she is everywhere, we here about everything.:tg:

Ajit, write a "Local Customer Complaint" procedure (and yes, I'm mostly serious). You can "spin" it as though its improving your services to them. Identify the level of risk (or severity) and how often things can be notified. Like SteelMaiden mentioned if it's that your trash cans are not in the right place, they can report such things once a month. If it's critical (and that would be proceduralized) then they can call this person or whatever.

Too, except for critical things, establish a written policy. I certainly am not speaking for your culture, but I would think your customer should be willing to partner more with you and create a better working relationship. It's hard to manage and measure complaints when bob gets a phone call, Ajit gets an e-mail, Jane gets visited by the customer rep, etc. Having one method of reporting may lower the irritation factor also.

Communication is one of the biggest problem-areas in marriage, and can be in business also. Set up a way that they can channel complaints and that don't wear you down to nothing.

Any ideas on eliminating certain type of customer complaints by terming them as "invalid" so that these need not be tracked :confused:

For example - if the customer has complained for product failure of a parameter that is not in the spec and likewise :rolleyes:

I would expect (and this is not based on any experience or factual knowledge) that if an external auditor noticed a complaint concerning a parameter, whether it was addressed in initial service agreement or not, they would look to have that complaint, acknowledged and acted on.

I was recently told it is find to do nothing when you note something, as long as you have considered its impact, the root cause, and have recorded your findings and reasoning for doing nothing. Tough one though. The client could try and have you jumping through hoops forever on that basis. :frust:

Any ideas on eliminating certain type of customer complaints by terming them as "invalid" so that these need not be tracked :confused:

For example - if the customer has complained for product failure of a parameter that is not in the spec and likewise :rolleyes:

Again.... Customer complaint procedure. If you have things coming in the same fashion, and compared the same, you can check them off the list.

I think you could spin this to make it appear you're improving quality (which, actually, you are) and not irritate your customer. Yes... the customer is always right:rolleyes:, but they can also tax your system where your productivity is being lowered a great deal.

We track even the invalid complaints. I think that doing that shows more about how dedicated you are to the system that only the ones that are going to cost you. It doesn't take long, if it is invalid you probably can tell right away. Just document why it is not valid and how you covered it with your customer:

The customer has stated that they wanted an orange model T, yet they are fully aware of the fact that Mr. Ford only produces black model Ts. The fact that there is only one color choice in ordering a model T was fully conveyed to the customer during the contract review stage (as evidenced in the attached contract review document and the subsequent acceptance).

Again.... Customer complaint procedure. If you have things coming in the same fashion, and compared the same, you can check them off the list.


I agree with Brad, I would do an internal NonCons form for Customer complaints. Then you can easily track the complaints and put your hand on the root cause, there must be a reason for that every day complaint:bonk:.

I suggest MS Access as an electronic template for that Non cons, if you are interest I could send you initial template as a start and you edit it to match your requirements.

I agree with Brad, I would do an internal NonCons form for Customer complaints. Then you can easily track the complaints and put your hand on the root cause, there must be a reason for that every day complaint:bonk:.

I suggest MS Access as an electronic template for that Non cons, if you are interest I could send you initial template as a start and you edit it to match your requirements.

Yes please send it :)

Yes please send it :)

for some reason I couldn't attaches the file by its own , perhaps coz of the size. However i zipped it and attaches it, you will need winrar or winzip to open it, its free online. :agree1:
The file is MS Access file for a Non Cons template for customer complaints, it cover noncons and corrective action . let me know if you need more clarification on the file.

Thanks gooofii :agree1: