Extreme customer complaints wind you up? Lean in and be generous…

You should never be too grand to deal with your noisiest customers

“It’s illegal for us to clean the kitchen of the villa”. Things had reached a new low in relations with the manager of our rental house in Spain. With every passing day, she seemed more intent on escalating the situation. Luckily, this standoff was the only mini drama during our holidays but it did get me thinking about how best to respond to your customers. 

Lastminute.com was held together with string and sellotape for much of its early life. We had to deal with some stressful customer complaints and generally because of the regular screw ups we (actually mainly I) created with my processes. Understandably, emotions run very high when it comes to mini breaks, airports, hotels and romantic escapes. However I think that my most memorable customer interaction came out of a situation that was, for once, really not our fault. 

Picture this. It’s a warm Tuesday afternoon and Justin, our wonderful and newly appointed Head of Customer Service approaches my desk. “Ok clever clogs, you think you are so good at charming customers, try talking to this guy”. With that, he connects me to a man who could only be described as on the grumpier-than-Victor-Meldrew end of grumpy. It took me two or three minutes to work out that he was complaining about our recently-launched “fast buy” function. 

One of my co-founder Brent Hoberman’s many talents was always pushing the team to copy the latest web innovations happening in the US. He had worked monumentally hard to get a one click ordering button live on our site. It had not been easy but everyone was thrilled and relieved when it finally went live. Customers no longer needed to re-enter all their details, they could simply click this one button and the tickets would be sent to  the same address and charged to the same cars as before. Good, right? Turns out, not always. Fabulous if you’re taking your whole family on another holiday, less fabulous if you have plans for a couple of nights away with someone who can best be described as not your wife. 

The penny dropped, I understood why this man was blaming me for the chaos of his family life. All I could do was send a bunch of flowers to his wife and reimburse the holiday for him. We always tried to err on the side of generosity if complaints reached us.

Dealing with extreme customer situations can be an exhausting and thankless task. However, it is crucial to handle them with care and attention, as they can have a significant impact on your business's reputation and customer loyalty, especially in the age of instant social media reaction. In my opinion, you should never become too important to respond directly to customers, especially, but not only, if it escalates to you.

There are some great examples of bosses who adopt a hands on and creative approach to complaints. Jeff Bezos is renowned for still answering some customer emails and calls. He also gives out his own personal email address. I like this. It shows trust in your customer and realistically, is unlikely to generate any more spam or noise than the hell of your normal inbox. 

Stefano Dolce, one flamboyant half of the fashion duo, mended - by hand - a Dolce & Gabbana stiletto heel that had snapped and been sent to him in the post. He made sure the customer received it back within 36 hours. The story got so much press attention it became unexpectedly positive marketing.

I also think it's a good idea to be overly magnanimous. This is not just following ‘the customer is always right’ mantra but is going above and beyond what someone wants in order to change their mind completely about the company. When I was on the board, I remember walking around an Marks & Spencer store with Stuart Rose, who had just returned as boss. A woman who recognised him berated him about something to do with bras or strawberries, I am not sure which. He gave her all her shopping for free. She was gobsmacked. 

Even If you don’t fancy getting up close and personal with your customers in real life, there is no excuse for not searching out people with bad grievances on social media. It has never been easier to moan for sure, but it has also never been easier to connect with people. Some companies are masterful at this - finding and sorting out issues publicly which in turn  generates positive media and all at a relatively low cost. Unsurprisingly, Richard Branson is still very actively working this feedback loop.

Earlier in August, two Ryanair customers were charged insane fees for failing to download their boarding card at home and for requesting seats together. The remarkable part of the story to me was the official response. As the tale gathered significant media momentum, the airline put out a statement essentially blaming the customers. I think my Spanish sparring partner went to the same school of management. Surely it’s time  to pack up these ways forever and send them on  a long haul trip?