DTC Competition: Reflecting on a Complaint with Priyanka Adatia

Next entry for my DTC competition is from Priyanka Adatia from Sheffield University...




Complaints form an important part of everyday life in many job sectors, be it fast-food services to hotels to high street retailers. In an ideal world, complaints wouldn’t exist but without these, self-progression in our fields of work wouldn’t be as pronounced. Complaints are essentially another form of feedback and so re-visiting and learning from them is essential.

One complaint I received was whilst working in a local charity shop, LOROS. At the time, the card payment machine wasn’t working; only cash payments were being accepted. The customer in question complained that she’d spent 30 minutes browsing only to be informed at the till that she wouldn’t be able to purchase the products with her card. At the time, I had apologised for the inconvenience and offered to reserve her products for the remainder of the day to be picked up later after she had visited a cash machine. Although the customer was unhappy with the situation, she decided this was an appropriate solution.

Throughout the day, having put myself in the customers shoes, I empathised with her frustration. So, when discussing the issue with the store manager, we decided actions needed to be taken to avoid reoccurrence. I had suggested measures ranging from a simple sign on the entrance door, to informing customers as they entered onto the shop floor. The next day, even with the non-functioning card machine, with the newly implemented measures, no similar issues arose.

Looking retrospectively, the situation is somewhat comparable to the discussion of risks + benefits for dental treatments. A patient wouldn’t want to be given these after consenting or midway through their treatment as this is key information that may influence their decision. Hence from this complaint, I was able to appreciate the importance of delivering influential information in a timely manner


Look out for more entries for the competition coming soon!

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