Resolve a customer complaint about a late and damaged delivery

What is going on

Coastline Homewares has complained that consignment CN-260904-0031 to Bendigo arrived three hours after the agreed window and that one carton of ceramic dinner sets was crushed. The complaint was received by phone on Monday and logged on the consignment board with the status Complaint open. The proof of delivery shows a signature at 3:10 pm against a window of 9:00 am to 12:00 pm. The fatigue log for that day shows driver Grace Oyelaran took a rest break at Kyneton and the fleet register shows no defect on the vehicle. The customer is a long-standing account and has asked for a credit and an explanation.

Your brief

Manage the complaint in line with the customer service and privacy policy: acknowledge it within one business day, investigate with road freight and the warehouse, establish what caused the delay and the damage, propose a fair resolution for the manager's approval, and draft a reply to the customer that is honest and professional.

Work through it

You do not need to do it all. Doing a few of these will show you what the work is like. Your ticks and notes stay on this device.

• Read the customer service and privacy policy and confirm the complaint timeframes and the information you are allowed to share with the customer.
• Review the consignment record, the proof of delivery and the notes for CN-260904-0031 and list the facts you can establish from the records.
• Check the fatigue log and the fleet register for the run on 4 September and ask Dale Cunningham what happened on the road that morning.
• Check the stock register for the quarantined Coastline pallet and the receiving notes to determine whether the damage occurred before or after loading.
• Send an acknowledgement to the customer within one business day, stating what you are investigating and when they will hear back.
• Prepare a summary of findings with the cause of the delay and the damage, and propose a resolution such as a credit or replacement for Kavitha Sundaram to approve.
• Draft the reply to the customer in plain language, without disclosing driver personal information, and record the outcome on the consignment record.
• Suggest one improvement to prevent a repeat and enter it as a note for the weekly freight planning meeting.

What someone in this role would produce

• Acknowledgement message to the customer
• Findings summary and proposed resolution for manager approval
• Draft final reply to the customer
• Updated consignment record with the complaint outcome and status