Customer Complaints Policy (Small Business)

This Customer Complaints Policy (Small Business) is designed for use by small businesses with at least one level of staff below management. Two levels of complaint are provided for, the second of which is designed as an appeal stage for those customers who are not satisfied with the initial outcome of a complaint.

While it should always be the aim of every organisation to ensure that no customer has a cause for complaint, mistakes – innocent or otherwise – and difficult customers are a reality in most cases. Having a complaints policy and complaints procedure in place not only helps to ensure the efficient and effective handling of complaints but also shows your commitment to providing (and improving) high quality service to your customers.

Written in consumer-friendly language, the policy is designed to be used in conjunction with a Complaints Handling Procedure. The former explains your complaints handling procedure to customers; the latter – using more formal and detailed terms – is designed for internal use to guide staff through the handling of a complaint. The Complaints Handling Procedure for small businesses is available via the related document links.

This template starts by explaining its purpose to customers before proceeding to define what is covered and what is not – in essence, defining a “complaint”. The customer is given clear instructions on how to make a complaint (each instruction is optional and may be removed or altered to meet the needs of your business) followed by an explanation of how his or her complaint will be handled. As noted above, two levels are provided for in this version of the policy – Level One, dealing with the initial complaint (to be handled, for example, by non-management staff); and Level Two, dealing with appeals from Level One (which might be more appropriately handled by management-level staff). An optional external level is provided for and may be particularly suitable for businesses who are members of a trade association or whose sector is subject to a particular regulatory body. Whilst the external level provisions do not expressly refer to an ombudsman, a suitable reference could be inserted at this point if there is an ombudsman relevant to your particular sector. Further provisions deal with confidentiality and data protection – of vital importance when dealing with customer complaints – and provide contact details for customers wishing to ask further questions about the complaints policy or complaints procedure.

Optional phrases / clauses are enclosed in square brackets. These should be read carefully and selected so as to be compatible with one another. Unused options should be removed from the document.

This Customer Complaints Policy (Small Business) contains the following sections:

1. Definitions
2. Purpose of this Complaints Policy
3. What this Complaints Policy Covers
4. Making a Complaint
5. How We Handle Your Complaint
6. Confidentiality and Data Protection
7. Questions and Further Information
8. Policy Responsibility and Review

This document is fully editable. The requisite details should be entered into the highlighted fields and you may also wish to adjust the wording to suit your purposes.

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