A Customer complains and cc's our registrar - What will registrar do?

[Cari Spears]

I may be wrong, but I think I remembered QS9000 requiring that you notify your registrar if you were placed on containment action. I've never heard anything to that effect for ISO, please help me out.

We had a problem with a first time customer. There is much to the story, but the bottom line is they shot off a letter of complaint to us and cc'd our registrar.

My question is, what the heck is our registrar going to do? Maybe I should ask, what is within the registrar's power to do?

I know there's not much info on the actual problem, but this is one of those times when I rethink using my real name here.

 

[tomvehoski]

Cari,

QS and TS do require you to notify your certification body if you are placed in Needs Improvment, Business Hold, etc. (each of the big 3 calls something different). There is no such rule for ISO.

Your registrar may be able to investigate it on their next audit, but I don't think they can do anything about it today. You should probably check your contract with them to see if there is any language about it.

Hope this helps,

Tom

 

[SteelMaiden]

right, QS and TS have some different rules than ISO. If you have a good working relationship with someone at your registrar, give them a call and ask them what they do with (about) complaints like this. Since this is a first-time customer (maybe a last-time, for crying out loud?) it seems that they've jumped the gun a little? I mean, it sounds like they didn't even give you the opportunity to respond to their complaint before they took it to your registrar?

Anyway, I'd follow your standard procedure for addressing the issue and go from there. I doubt that the registrar would do anything until they come in for your surveillance, and even then what could they do other than to audit how you handled the claim?

Gotta love the customer, cuz it's illegal to shoot them!

 

[Cari Spears]

...Your registrar may be able to investigate it on their next audit, but I don't think they can do anything about it today...

Thanks Tom, and I will check the contract. I'll let you know what it says. This is exactly what I thought they would do when I received the letter from the customer and saw that they had cc'd our registrar (it would be reviewed when the auditor looked at our customer complaint log at the next surveillance audit), but then I received an email from our registrar account manager asking me to contact him before he calls our Pesident/CEO. It just so happens that the complaining customer is also a client of our registrar's.

So I emailed our account manager and asked him: Why would he need contact us about this at all? What would their client have done if we didn't use the same registrar? and, What will they (the registrar) do?

He emailed back and asked me to call him, which I will, but I want to look over our contract first and I wanted to get information from people in the know here. I've never had this happen before.

 

[tomvehoski]

As a side note, I was told in our TS2 audit last month that if an automotive customer on our scope complains to the registrar, they will select that product/process for audit. Not sure if it could ever result in a 'special' audit or not.

Tom

 

[The Taz!]

right, QS and TS have some different rules than ISO.

They are stated in CSR's . . and Yes. . ALL Different

I doubt that the registrar would do anything until they come in for your surveillance, and even then what could they do other than to audit how you handled the claim?

Actually when I asked the Auditors that question, they explained that there was a bunch of stuff THEY had to do prior to ANY action at your place. . . Yes. . .They would be required to come in and review the issues.

I think you'd better look at taking THAT customer off of your Aproved Customer List!

 

[Al Rosen]

I may be wrong, but I think I remembered QS9000 requiring that you notify your registrar if you were placed on containment action. I've never heard anything to that effect for ISO, please help me out.

We had a problem with a first time customer. There is much to the story, but the bottom line is they shot off a letter of complaint to us and cc'd our registrar.

My question is, what the heck is our registrar going to do? Maybe I should ask, what is within the registrar's power to do?

I know there's not much info on the actual problem, but this is one of those times when I rethink using my real name here.

Cari:

Resolve the issue, respond to the customer and cc your registrar. Bottom line, don't sweat it and don't make more of it than it is. Just an isolated incident. My $.02.

 

[Cari Spears]

...Since this is a first-time customer (maybe a last-time, for crying out loud?) it seems that they've jumped the gun a little? I mean, it sounds like they didn't even give you the opportunity to respond to their complaint before they took it to your registrar?...

Gotta love the customer, cuz it's illegal to shoot them!

LOL - aw, do I gotta?!

Fortunately, I do have a good rapport with our account manager and a number of other functions at our registrar.

 

[The Taz!]

After numerous conversations over a number of days that ate up our lead time, they complained about late delivery.

Why do I get the feeling that your customer made some promises THEY couldn't keep, and may have dropped the ball somewhere and are trying to :ca: by blaming your company. . .

 

[Cari Spears]

Why do I get the feeling that your customer made some promises THEY couldn't keep, and may have dropped the ball somewhere and are trying to :ca: by blaming your company. . .

This was my immediate thought, and I did find out that their customer is also a client of our registrar, hmm....