The Customer Complaint System

Recently, I heard someone promoting a Customer Complaint System for businesses, meant to “resolve complaint issues in an expedited manner.” Sounds reasonable!

You might think, since I promote business systemization, that a customer complaint system would be right up my alley. However, before jumping in and implementing any new system for a business, I’ve learned that it needs to be WELL-considered!

It has always puzzled me that the airlines, for instance, will spend millions on systems to get lost luggage back to passengers—no matter where they are—yet, their rate of lost luggage is often so high, they seem to lack systems to address the problem of losing it in the FIRST place!

Every day, the airlines have fleets of vans shuttling back and forth to hotels, residents and businesses in order to return lost or misplaced luggage as quickly as possible. These vans are manned, I feel certain, with good folks making good salaries; also good benefits. In the meantime, the vehicles have to be parked, maintained, licensed, insured and purchased/replaced on a regular basis.

Now, if the owner of certain misplaced luggage has gone on to their next stop before the van can catch up with them (due to more bottlenecks or other inadequate systems), the Airline will then return the luggage to the airport, and schedule and fly the luggage to the next known destination. Again, they will send out a delivery van, in hopes the owner will still be there by the time the van arrives. Such luggage could end up in this loop for several weeks, racking up more cost, and more mileage than its owner!

If the owner cannot be found, the airline will log and store the luggage for a certain amount of time (I assume, required by law), and if time expires before it's claimed, another system would have to kick in, in order to dispose of the bags and their contents altogether. Of course, storing and disposing of luggage also requires more personnel with more benefits. Sound complicated? It is!