Customer Complaint Handling Checklist
Handle complaints about invoices, charges or collection conduct properly: acknowledge promptly, investigate fairly, respond clearly, and know when a customer can escalate to an external body like AFCA where relevant.
What this checklist covers
- Acknowledge complaints promptly and record them
- Investigate fairly and without defensiveness
- Respond clearly with reasons and any remedy
- Tell the customer about escalation options where relevant
- Learn from complaints to prevent repeats
5 min
Before you start
A complaint is a chance to fix a problem before it becomes a dispute or a regulator matter. Before responding, gather the account, the invoice or charge complained about, and the full history of contact, and make sure you understand exactly what the customer is unhappy about — the amount, the service, or the way they were chased.
- Record the complaint, who made it, and when.
- Pull the invoice, account and contact history involved.
- Identify precisely what the customer is complaining about.
- Check whether any external dispute scheme, such as AFCA, could apply.
This is general information only and not legal advice. External dispute resolution availability depends on your business and the product — confirm what applies to you.
Acknowledge and investigate
- Acknowledge the complaint promptly so the customer knows it is being handled.
- Listen to the substance without becoming defensive about the debt.
- Investigate the facts against your records and the contract.
- Distinguish a complaint about conduct from a dispute about the amount.
- Decide on a fair outcome, whether that is an explanation, a fix, or a remedy.
How a complaint is handled often matters more to the customer than the original issue. Acknowledging quickly and investigating fairly defuses most complaints before they harden into formal disputes.
Respond and escalate fairly
- Give a clear written response explaining your decision and reasons.
- Offer any remedy plainly, with what the customer needs to do next.
- Where relevant, tell the customer how they can escalate externally, such as to AFCA.
- Record the complaint, the investigation, and the outcome.
- Review recurring complaints to fix the underlying cause.
Being upfront about external escalation builds trust and is often expected. Treat complaints as data too — a pattern of similar complaints usually points to a process or communication problem worth fixing.
Common mistakes
- Treating a complaint as an attack and responding defensively.
- Confusing a conduct complaint with a dispute over the invoice amount.
- Failing to respond in writing with clear reasons.
- Not telling the customer about external escalation options where they exist.
- Ignoring recurring complaints instead of fixing the root cause.
If a complaint is tangled up with an unpaid invoice, a free debt appraisal can help you separate the recovery question from the complaint.
Key takeaways
- Acknowledge complaints promptly and investigate without defensiveness.
- Separate complaints about conduct from disputes about the amount.
- Respond clearly in writing and explain escalation options.
- Use complaint patterns to fix underlying problems.
Frequently asked questions
Do I have to tell customers about external dispute resolution?
Where a scheme such as AFCA applies to your business, informing customers of their escalation options is often expected. Confirm whether and how it applies to your situation.
How quickly should I respond to a complaint?
Acknowledge it promptly so the customer knows it is being handled, then respond substantively within a reasonable time. Prompt handling defuses most complaints before they escalate.
What if the complaint is really about an unpaid invoice?
Separate the two. Handle the complaint about conduct or service fairly, while dealing with the debt through your normal recovery process. Take advice if the two become entangled.
Work the checklist, then get paid
Use the free Invoice Generator, then let Merion recover anything that goes unpaid — commission-only.