Marketing Management, 16th Edition

Dealing with Customer Complaints

Some companies think they’re getting a sense of customer satisfaction by tallying complaints, but studies show that even though customers are dissatisfied with their purchases about 25 percent of the time, only about 5 percent of dissatisfied customers complain. The other 95 percent either feel complaining is not worth the effort or don’t know how or to whom to complain. They just stop buying.49

Of the customers who register a complaint, 50 percent to 70 percent might do business with the organization again if their complaint is resolved. The figure goes up to a staggering 95 percent if the customer feels the complaint was resolved quickly. Customers whose complaints are satisfactorily resolved tell an average ...