How to Reply to Complaints for Business Debt Charges

Complaints about debit charges should be handled quickly

Positive interactions with customers helps to increase loyalty and can lead to strong word of mouth advertising.
Establishing a strong policy and method of handling customer complaints regarding debt charges can help to turn potentially contentious conversations into a rewarding consumer interaction.
Successful replies to complaints for business debt charges require a high level of professionalism and courtesy along with a methodical adherence to procedures on reviewing accounts and responding to customers.

Instructions

1. Obtain information from the customer regarding their business debt charge complaint.
   Determine the amount of the charges that are in question, when the problematic charges occurred and the full details of the customer's complaint.
   Ensure that the charges were made by your company, and briefly review the customer's account to validate complaints.

2. Provide immediate resolution for small charges or transaction problems caused by your company.
   If a customer claims they did not receive a service or product from your company and the charge is low, offer a refund or to re-send a new product.
   Establish a monetary threshold that is the point where providing a refund costs less than spending employee time investigating the complaint, and give customer service representatives authority for full refunds below the established threshold.
   Quick resolution and saving money is best for both parties.

3. Quickly investigate complaints for larger charges.
   Review transaction details available in your company's customer relationship management system and ask the customer for written proof of the complaint if necessary.
   For questionable transactions, obtain charge validation from your merchant account processor.
   If you determine that your company is at fault, process a refund and if appropriate, offer the customer additional compensation through extra products or a discount on future purchases for the error.

4. Discuss complaints without merit calmly with the customer.
   For complaints that are due to a customer misunderstanding, explain the circumstances and offer to assist the customer with any additional needs they may have.
   Take a harder line approach to customer complaints that are fraudulent or simply conducted to try to recoup money.
   If a customer is insistent about their claim, offer a secondary review from another manager within your company.
   Consider requiring customers to send written complaints after sufficient phone-based investigations have occurred.
   Send a written response to the customer to confirm your review and response to the claim.

5. Document all customer complaints.
   Regardless of the outcome, customer complaints regarding debt charges should be documented fully for reference on future customer interactions, for review by management and to use if further complaints or actions are taken by the customer.

Tips & Warnings

• Train customer service agents to listen sympathetically to calm customers and help obtain the full details of a complaint.

References

• Business Link: How to Deal with Customer Complaints
• Lisa Sim: Understanding the ROI from Effectively Managing Customer Complaints
• American Productivity & Quality Center: Complaint Management and Problem Resolution