Dealing with a complaint confidently

Speaker 1: Hi, there. How can I help?

Speaker 2: I'm pretty unhappy, to be honest, mate.

I got this bike off you guys, I'd say, about a year ago, and it's an absolute wreck now.

Speaker 1: OK. What sort of problems are you having with it?

Speaker 2: For one, the back brake doesn't even work, the chain, just heaps of noise coming off it, gears are always dropping out.

The whole thing's just in a bit of a state.

I just feel like it needs to be replaced.

Speaker 1: Where do you store it?

Speaker 2: Round the back of the house.

Speaker 1: OK. So it's outside?

Speaker 2: Yeah.

Speaker 1: Does it have a cover, or is it…?

Speaker 2: No, no, no cover.

Speaker 1: OK. When was the last time it was serviced?

Speaker 2: To be honest, I haven't had it serviced.

I only I got it a year ago, I thought it's brand new, doesn't really need one.

Speaker 1: Do you have your receipt with you?

Speaker 2: Yeah. There you go.

Speaker 1: What I can do is I can drop it down into the workshop and have our mechanic take a quick look at it and see what's going on.

Do you mind waiting for a couple of minutes?

Speaker 2: I kind of feel like it needs to be replaced, but yeah, yeah, have a look.

Speaker 1: OK. (TO AUDIENCE) Sometimes a customer will come in and they've got a bit of a problem.

They might be a little bit aggressive, a little bit confrontational, so in that situation what we like to do is keep them calm, be polite, get all the facts and resolve the situation as quickly and smoothly as possible for them.

Speaker 1: Hi, there.

Speaker 2: Hey.

Speaker 1: I've spoken to our mechanic, and he's taken a good look at it, and from all of the problems that you said you were experiencing, they're all sort of down to a maintenance issue rather than anything else.

Speaker 2: Surely it still needs to be replaced, though?

Speaker 1: I wouldn't replace it because it's actually a great bike.

It just needs a bit of a service.

So what we can do is we can give you a service on that and replace a few parts.

Cos you bought the bike with us, we can give you a bit of a discount on that service.

Speaker 2: OK. And could I get it back, say, tomorrow?

Speaker 1: We can squeeze it in and try and get it back to you as soon as possible, so that shouldn't be a problem at all.

Our mechanic's also offered that when you come and collect, he'll pop up and give you a few maintenance tips to keep it in great working order and…

Speaker 2: Sounds good.

Speaker 1: Is that OK?

Speaker 2: Yeah, that sounds good.

Like I say, I'll see you tomorrow.

Speaker 1: Thanks.

Speaker 2: Thanks a lot.

Speaker 1: (TO AUDIENCE) The best way of dealing with a customer in this situation is to try and build towards a compromise.

Even if it's an issue that wasn't our fault or if it was a maintenance issue or lack of maintenance, because we want to build and maintain that relationship with the customer that just keeps them coming back.