# Reply to a complaint: checklist Turn a customer's complaint and the facts on your file into a calm reply that acknowledges the concern, states only the facts on the record, says what will happen and when, makes no promise or admission beyond them, and waits for a person to approve it. ## Before you start - [ ] Have ready: The complaint Paste the complaint letter or email as it arrived. Leave out account, claim and card numbers unless your reply must quote them, and leave out private details the reply does not need. - [ ] Have ready: What the record shows Paste the facts from your file, such as dates, call notes, delivery or case notes. Include only what you can point to in the file. If a fact is not on file, leave it out. - [ ] Have ready: What will happen and when List the steps your team has agreed to take, with who does each one and by when, in your own words. The reply will promise only these. - [ ] Have ready: Who signs the reply (optional) The name, job title and a way to reach you, as you want them to appear at the end of the reply. Leave empty to end with a line asking the customer to reply to the message. ## Step 1: List what the customer says - [ ] Pick out each point in the complaint, quoted word for word, and mark whether it says what happened, what the customer wants or how they feel. - [ ] You have: A numbered table of the customer's points, each quoted from the complaint and marked happened, wants or feels. - [ ] Check: Each quote in the What the customer says (quote) column appears in the complaint, with shortened fragments in the same order. A plain rule you can check by eye. If not: Run the step once more, and add what was wrong to the end of the prompt. If it still does not pass, fix it by hand and make a note of it. ## Step 2: Match each point to the record - [ ] For each point about what happened, quote what the file shows and say whether it agrees, agrees in part, or is not on file. - [ ] You have: A table that puts a quoted passage from the record beside each point about what happened, with a result for each. - [ ] Check: Each quote in the What the record shows (quote) column appears in the what the record shows, with shortened fragments in the same order. A plain rule you can check by eye. If not: Run the step once more, and add what was wrong to the end of the prompt. If it still does not pass, fix it by hand and make a note of it. ## Step 3: Match each request to what will happen - [ ] For each thing the customer wants, quote the step your team has agreed to take and when, or say that none was agreed. - [ ] You have: A table that puts the agreed step and its timing beside each request, or None found. - [ ] Check: Each quote in the What will happen and when (quote) column appears in the what will happen and when, with shortened fragments in the same order. A plain rule you can check by eye. If not: Run the step once more, and add what was wrong to the end of the prompt. If it still does not pass, fix it by hand and make a note of it. ## Step 4: Write the reply - [ ] Write a short, calm reply that states the confirmed facts, says what will happen and when, and promises nothing else. - [ ] You have: A short reply to the customer that ends with the reminder line. - [ ] Check: The answer contains the text fragment "Check this reply with your manager or your compliance team before you send it." (including inside a longer word). A plain rule you can check by eye. If not: Run the step once more, and add what was wrong to the end of the prompt. If it still does not pass, fix it by hand and make a note of it. ## Final checks - [ ] Check: Every row of the table has one of "happened", "wants" or "feels" in the Kind column. A plain rule you can check by eye. If not: Run the step once more, and add what was wrong to the end of the prompt. If it still does not pass, fix it by hand and make a note of it. - [ ] Check: Every row of the table has one of "confirmed", "partly confirmed" or "not on record" in the Result column. A plain rule you can check by eye. If not: Run the step once more, and add what was wrong to the end of the prompt. If it still does not pass, fix it by hand and make a note of it. - [ ] Check: Every number in the answer also appears somewhere in at least one of "the complaint", "what the record shows", "what will happen and when" and "who signs the reply"; this does not check what each number means. A plain rule you can check by eye. If not: Run the step once more, and add what was wrong to the end of the prompt. If it still does not pass, fix it by hand and make a note of it. - [ ] Check: Read the reply. List each statement of fact in it about what happened, such as a date, an action or an event. Is each one shown by a row of the table below marked confirmed or partly confirmed? Does the reply state as fact anything marked not on record, or anything the table does not have? Answer FAIL and quote each statement that has no support. Checked by a second AI prompt. If not: Run the step once more, and add what was wrong to the end of the prompt. If it still does not pass, fix it by hand and make a note of it. - [ ] Check: Read the reply. A plain fact from the record, stated in neutral words, is fine. Does the reply go further and admit that the company was at fault, made an error, broke a rule or a promise, or is liable? Does it give a reason or a cause that the record does not state? Does it blame a named person, team or other company? Does it say sorry for a fault rather than for the customer's worry or trouble? Answer FAIL and quote each such phrase. Checked by a second AI prompt. If not: Run the step once more, and add what was wrong to the end of the prompt. If it still does not pass, fix it by hand and make a note of it. - [ ] Check: Read the reply. Does it promise or suggest any outcome, such as a payment, a refund, an approval, a decision in the customer's favor, or that something is or is not covered? Does it promise a step, a date or a person that the table below does not have? Answer FAIL and quote each such phrase. Checked by a second AI prompt. If not: Run the step once more, and add what was wrong to the end of the prompt. If it still does not pass, fix it by hand and make a note of it. - [ ] Check: Look at the customer's points below. For each point whose Kind is wants, does the reply give an answer, either the agreed step with its timing or a plain statement that it has been passed on? Does the reply ignore any request? Answer FAIL and name each request that has no answer. Checked by a second AI prompt. If not: Run the step once more, and add what was wrong to the end of the prompt. If it still does not pass, fix it by hand and make a note of it. - [ ] Check: Read the reply next to the complaint and the file. Check each fact against the file yourself, and make sure every step and date is one your team has really agreed to. Ask your manager, your compliance team or your lawyer first if the complaint is formal, mentions a regulator, a deadline or legal action, or involves an injury or a dispute about who is at fault. Only a person can decide what your organization says and does, and the reply must be one you are willing to stand behind. Checked by you. If not: Carry on, but write down the problem so whoever uses the result knows about it. ## You end up with - [ ] A table of the customer's points, each quoted and marked as what happened, what they want or how they feel. - [ ] A table that shows what the record confirms, confirms in part, or does not hold for each point. - [ ] A table of the steps your team has agreed to for each request. - [ ] A short reply that states the facts, says what will happen and when, and promises nothing else. --- From Logic Lab (logiclabhq.com). Free to use and adapt, with credit.