1. What would a better complaint handling world look like? Professor Cosmo Graham School of Law www.le.ac.uk

2. What we know Complaint handling matters; consumers don’t want additional problems in making a complaint; service failures cost money and reputation; good complaints processes help to do the opposite; information from complaints is a valuable source of learning

3. Telecoms and complaints Large numbers of complaints –Australia – 230,065 TIO (08-09) –UK – 8,867 Customer service –Ofcom – 1,000 per month on CS –2006 Survey – UK telecoms complaint handling worse than retailers, banks and utilities –TIO/Otelo raise this as a problem

4. Principles - internal systems Accessibility Effectiveness Fairness and consistency Responsiveness Organisational ownership and commitment

5. Accessibility and effectiveness Accessibility –Easy access –Clear information –Free Effectiveness –Ability to respond to complaint –Organisational learning

6. Fairness and responsiveness Fairness –Objectivity Responsiveness –Dealing with the issue in a timely manner –Not moving the customer around

7. Organisational ownership and commitment Ownership by the leader –Sign that complaints matter –Front line versus higher ups –Relation to learning from complaints

8. Principles – external systems Accessibility Consumer support Fairness Effectiveness Redress Independence Accountability

9. Conclusions Complaint numbers too high Industry failure? Need to re-think regulatory arrangements? Devil in the detail