What is a complaint? Resources An ability to communicate an unmet need/ problem/ opinion

By complaining the complainant is showing you that they trust you and consider you the person who is most likely to deal with a problem- feel honoured. People only complain if they feel comfortable to do so – respected, listened too and befriended.

Discuss in your group the importance of complaining and feed back to the group or discuss with your assessor.

The importance of complaining To improve service standards This helps the person complaining to off load a problem they may have or face. Listening and responding to complaints improves the relationship of people and gives power/ autonomy for people complaining Gives respect back and increases the individuals health and wellbeing Helps safeguard and prevent unsafe practice/ environment or objectives.

Complaint example hand out 3 I have a friend who bartends at a local restaurant. Sometimes I like to go and have a glass of wine while he’s working to catch up on life. Last week, while enjoying a nice Shiraz, I overheard the owner of the restaurant complaining to the manager about a customer. “I can’t believe that woman! She came up and complained about how we use too much butter on the vegetables. It’s a restaurant – of course there’s butter. If she didn’t want so much on there, she should have told her server.” This got me thinking. It’s easy for us, no matter which industry we serve, to complain about our customers who complain. Instead, I think we should be thanking them. A customer who complains has the guts and the brand loyalty to tell you exactly what you need to do to meet their expectations. Think of it this way…. That same woman could have easily walked out of the restaurant, not saying a word to the owner. Then, since her expectations were not met, she would have most likely spread negative word of mouth, bashing the restaurant and their butter-happy ways to 10 of her friends.

Hand out 3a Give some examples of a complaint Describe what you should do for these complaints.

Hand out 3b Now describe how this complaint could benefit either the service user/ the workplace/ yourself/ or others/ or any combination of these.

Your policy Homework task 2 Write an account of a service user commenting or complaining in your work place. Explain your procedures and policies.