How would you deal with this complaint?

[Squidd]

I've dealt with a few complaints in my years in business and as a fast food franchise, we probably take a few more than the average business might. This one has stumped me a little on how to go forwards however. Was wondering how others would deal with it?

A bit of background:

The complaint is about the way one of my staff asked a customer to control their child.

We offer self service soft drinks and while the parent was ordering, the child had pushed a chair against the soda dispenser, climbed up onto it and onto the dispenser itself. The staff asked the parent to take the child down, as they were concerned there could be an accident. The parent's response was that it hadn't been a problem their child getting his own drink that way in the past.

Unfortunately, my staff's response to this was that the child had made a mess last time, and it was a health and safety issue. Poor response, and I have had words over it. Alas, the customer's response to this was "you're only saying that because he's black" (I'm not joking).

In their initial complaint to our head office, the customer did not mention the race issue, merely the facts of the incident. I apologised to the customer, asked for their address to send some vouchers, which they provided, and sent them vouchers for two free meals.

Today, I received an e-mail informing me of how insulted they were to have received only two free meal vouchers and that they wished to know full details of the internal investigation regarding staff conduct on that day. They also have said they are disgusted by the offer of free food given the racial discrimination that occurred and will be taking the matter further.

Now I see most of this as empty threats. I am confident there was no racial discrimination and I feel two free meals was fairly generous given there was no financial loss incurred. I am however, obliged to come to a resolution with the customer.

How would you respond?

 

[Christine Hough]

If it is a health and safety issue, I would stick with that. Your staff member seems to me to be right to mention that and the mess too if it was unreasonable.

Pity you sent an apology really. You are well within your duty and rights to stop children climbing on a dispenser. I cannot see they have any right whatsoever to demand to see internal documentation.

I don't know what pressure your head office is putting on you, but they are clearly milking a situation where the motivation to ask them to control their child had noting to do with race. discrimination.

 

[Deleted member 138423]

Well, a tricky one and the racial element could be very contentious but perhaps you could be further proactive and go see the customer personally and attempt to smooth things over. However, if that attempt is poo pooed, then you might wish to get HO to offer you back up advice as to your options. Could be tricky and let's hope you halt any escalation.

Good luck.

 

[OldWelshGuy]

The old race card, WHY? Why don't people realise that every time the race card is played it causes racial friction. Racism is one the most ugly things I have ever witnessed, yet some people throw it around as if it is nothing.

Personally I would write back and say that i am sorely disappointed that they have tried to make this into a racial issue when it certainly wasn't. I would calmly state that internal matters of discipline are private and confidential and would only ever be released under the strict protection of a court order to do so. I would explain that this is my legal obligation under my duties as an employer and also under the laws of data protection.

I would state that they can rest assured that every point in their complaint was dealt with fully, but that is as much as you are at liberty to say.

I would state that the offer of two free meals was an olive branch and not an offer of settlement as there was nothing for you to settle. I would state that you have done everything possible to deal with the matter to the satisfaction of all concerned, but that it appears she is not happy, and that you would welcome what she believes was wrong with the offer and what justification she believes has for this sentiment.

HUGE thing, did any other member of staff here the conversation, are you 100% certain there was no racist comment at all? if there wasn't then that is that.

It's because I am (black/White/Chinese?somali/indian add your own mix), is in itself a raciallly aggresive statement and completely unnacceptable. people of ALL races need to understand that racism is a dangerous thing, and bringing race into a conversation works both ways.

personally I would at that point have called security and said loudly 'it is NOTHING to do with your skin colour, and EVERYTHING to do with you allowing your child to behave badly.

Which is why I could never work in retail

 

[Deleted member 138423]

HUGE thing, did any other member of staff here the conversation, are you 100% certain there was no racist comment at all? if there wasn't then that is that.

That's the issue imo with this scenario, the OP cannot readily be 100% that the employee didn't say anything and there is no proof that they did/didn't!

 

[HGSecurity]

Sounds as if you have been more than fair with them as far as I can make out, but these people sound as if they are a 'maximum compensation seeking playing the race card' family, and it has to be handled very carefully. Stick to the H&S angle that your concern was over the safety of the child, as long as you are 100% sure that no racial comments were made. True, the staff could have been a bit more diplomatic, but I know how a busy fast food environment puts you under pressure.
FWIW, I say stick to your guns, and good luck.

 

[Squidd]

HUGE thing, did any other member of staff here the conversation, are you 100% certain there was no racist comment at all? if there wasn't then that is that.

Yes there was and also, I know the staff as well as en employer can, and I am happy to say in certainty there would have been no racial element. The same thing would have been said no matter what the child's colour.

Incidentally, the customer is not claiming anything racist was said per se, merely that the child was picked on due to his colour.

It is however the customer's word against the staff as I wasn't there at the time.

Thanks for the replies.

 

[Maxwell83]

I don't know what the boundaries are that you are working in (i.e. what HO rules you need to follow), but the racial element is clearly unwarranted - can the customer provide any explanation as to how a child making a mess and creating a H&S issue is related to his race. Was there an inference that the same mess if made by a white child would not be a H&S risk?

How far are you expected to go? You offered an apology and 2 free meals. If you offer another free meal and he is still is not happy, what are you meant to do? Offer more?

Surely your HO must understand that not all customers can be appeased, and that if you have acted reasonable even in response to a baseless complaint, you have done as much as you can surely?

 

[Chris Ashdown]

I feel that you have handled the matter well and thoughtfull and little more can be done to pacify the complaintant

Therefore I would in your position hand the problem over to head office for advice, my reason being that if I was the head office I would want to be involved as it could potentially damage the groups image, and therefore better handled by proffessional staff in customer and public relations

 

[tony84]

I think youve been overly generous.

To be honest, i would be sticking up for my member of staff here. Your employee did the right thing by telling the parent to look after their kid. If the kid made a mess last time then whats wrong with saying so? The member of staff has potentially saved you from being a target for a trip, slip or where theres blame theres a claim court case.

If i was in your shop do you think i as a customer would want to sit there with a kid pushing a chair around and climbing up on furniture?
Firstly, id be keeping an eye on the kid incase it fell.
Secondly it would no doubt be making a noise and nuisance pushing chairs around.

I would be telling the customer that your employee did the right thing for health and safety reasons and for the benefit of your other customers.
i would also probably say something along the lines of - im sorry you dont think our staff should tell you when your child is not behaving in a way we expect in our premises.

Im not one for getting rid of customers but do you really want that?

If my kid climbed up the side in a shop it would only do it the once, but i would like to think i would bring it up with more respect than that kid/parent seem to have.

 

[ThomasBuckland]

I'm pretty new and have never had a complaint similar to this but the racial statement or "race card" gets played a lot more than you would think. Even in online businesses when I have never met the client, I reject the transaction because and I quote "there name is foreign" just shows that some people you cannot have a rational conversation with. So I would ignore the racial statement made by the customer.

As for the health and safety issue, if that child had then either a.) fallen from the chair or b.) got down and slipped on the mess that said child had created in the first place and injured themself, you would have still somehow been responsible according to health and safety rubbish, I mean rules.

So although I think the member of staff could have phrased the response better, I would have thought this was the correct way of dealing with a "more than difficult customer."

As for the response to the coupon, again I think you did the right thing.

And again for the response to the most recent email. If it was me I would politely say that the coupons were more than enough to cover the issue. But in a different more polite way obviously.

Tom.

 

[DavidAshdown]

I wouldn't have sent them free meal vouchers, I would have sent them a cleaning bill. It's your premises, what right have they got to mess it up recklessly !

 

[crphillips]

What a shame you feel you have to go any further with this. I'd stop it in it's tracks rather than sucking up any further. Any further gestures of good will would be seen as admitting fault.

We get kids in our stove shop with their parents and they pick up the tools for the wood burners and start smashing them against the glass and the parents do nothing. We usually politely remind the parent that if they damage anything it will need to be paid for. They usually look at you discussed and shortly leave. I must say though that we don't really regret our actions or the outcome.

I know a guy that everytime he goes to KFC he phone to complain about something knowing that he'll send them vouchers for a meal. He does it everytime. He's the scum of the earth too and has barely worked a day in his life.

 

[DavidAshdown]

What a shame you feel you have to go any further with this. I'd stop it in it's tracks rather than sucking up any further. Any further gestures of good will would be seen as admitting fault.

We get kids in our stove shop with their parents and they pick up the tools for the wood burners and start smashing them against the glass and the parents do nothing. We usually politely remind the parent that if they damage anything it will need to be paid for. They usually look at you discussed and shortly leave. I must say though that we don't really regret our actions or the outcome.

I know a guy that everytime he goes to KFC he phone to complain about something knowing that he'll send them vouchers for a meal. He does it everytime. He's the scum of the earth too and has barely worked a day in his life.

I couldn't agree more. It seems to me that the majority of people in this country are good hard working decent beings but there are a number of less desirables who take the micky, yet we all (including me) complain about them but do very little.

It's about time we all stopped doing this and without being disrespectful to the OP, sending meal vouchers may appear 'politically correct' but is wrong and the sooner we all stand up to these 'low life' and stop pacifying them, the sooner life in this country will improve.

 

[cleaningstuff]

"Thank you for your email, the contents of which have been noted."

Then it's over to them.

If they take it further then you can respond appropriately, perhaps with professional advice. My view would be, if it happened to me, that communicating further with them, especially face to face, just helps them in their search for a lever to beat you up with.

 

[PDC]

That sounds good advice to me.

 

[Vectis]

..........Unfortunately, my staff's response to this was that the child had made a mess last time, and it was a health and safety issue. Poor response, and I have had words over it..........

Ok, I don't work in retail (fortunately!) but I really can't see what your member of staff said wrong? Why do you consider it a poor response? What would you have hoped they would have said or done? At face value, if I was your member of staff, I'd be really annoyed for being criticised over this incident. Unless, of course, something else was said that you haven't mentioned here?

 

[Christine Hough]

"Thank you for your email, the contents of which have been noted."

Then it's over to them.

If they take it further then you can respond appropriately, perhaps with professional advice. My view would be, if it happened to me, that communicating further with them, especially face to face, just helps them in their search for a lever to beat you up with.

If this goes to court the less you say now the better.

It is a very good point to make sure you do not give away anything they can use later against you.

An ex-solicitor told me that you can always tell how strong the other's argument is by the length of the letter. The shorter the letter, the more confident they are. Long letters are scratching around for arguments and show weakness and lack of confidence.

If you are a a member of FSB you will be able to get free legal advice.

 

[Firefly2008]

What a shame you feel you have to go any further with this. I'd stop it in it's tracks rather than sucking up any further. Any further gestures of good will would be seen as admitting fault.

We get kids in our stove shop with their parents and they pick up the tools for the wood burners and start smashing them against the glass and the parents do nothing. We usually politely remind the parent that if they damage anything it will need to be paid for. They usually look at you discussed and shortly leave. I must say though that we don't really regret our actions or the outcome.

I know a guy that everytime he goes to KFC he phone to complain about something knowing that he'll send them vouchers for a meal. He does it everytime. He's the scum of the earth too and has barely worked a day in his life.

Absolute agreement. Any further attempt to smooth things over will look like an admission of guilt.

I say 'well done' to your member of staff for saying something in the first place. I'm fed up with parents not controlling their kids and expecting other people to take responsibility for their child's safety.

 

[vvaannmmaann]

Too late now,but how about a sign on the dispenser along the lines of "This machine is only to be used by adults"?

 

[herewegoagain.]

I have to agree with 'old welsh guy' and 'tony84' - great advice, this customer is 'trying it on' and playing the race card, - I would not have offered any compensation, the member of staff said exactly the right thing - at the end of the day it is the parents responsibility to control their 'lovely' child that climbs over things -

Turn the situation on it's head... if the brat had broken your dispenser, would the parent have paid for the damage? - I don't think so, also the parent seems the sort that would have soon claimed compensation if 'little Keanu / Chardonnay' had fell of the equipment and grazed their knee !!

Go down the health and safety route, and lay it on thick, saying you are deeply concerned about keeping your child safe whilst they are visiting, - and get support from head office -

 

[DavidAshdown]

I have to agree with 'old welsh guy' and 'tony84' - great advice, this customer is 'trying it on' and playing the race card, - I would not have offered any compensation, the member of staff said exactly the right thing - at the end of the day it is the parents responsibility to control their 'lovely' child that climbs over things -

Turn the situation on it's head... if the brat had broken your dispenser, would the parent have paid for the damage? - I don't think so, also the parent seems the sort that would have soon claimed compensation if 'little Keanu / Chardonnay' had fell of the equipment and grazed their knee !!

Go down the health and safety route, and lay it on thick, saying you are deeply concerned about keeping your child safe whilst they are visiting, - and get support from head office -

Here here. 100% agree

 

[Moneyman]

Go further up the franchise chain and ask for a policy.
Get statements. Take a photo of the setup.
Relax.
What is it that they can sue you for? Nothing.

They have no complaint so bar them (or at least their child) once they have redeemed the vouchers.
If you talk to them make sure you have people listening in case they play the race card again.

 

[Christine Hough]

I have to agree with 'old welsh guy' and 'tony84' -

and nearly everyone else on this thread.
Just make sure HO is on board with what is happening in case it escalates and damages their image. Good (proactive) PR though will anticipate the complaint and turn it to your good.

 

[Blood Lust]

I've dealt with a few complaints in my years in business and as a fast food franchise, we probably take a few more than the average business might. This one has stumped me a little on how to go forwards however. Was wondering how others would deal with it?

A bit of background:

The complaint is about the way one of my staff asked a customer to control their child.

We offer self service soft drinks and while the parent was ordering, the child had pushed a chair against the soda dispenser, climbed up onto it and onto the dispenser itself. The staff asked the parent to take the child down, as they were concerned there could be an accident. The parent's response was that it hadn't been a problem their child getting his own drink that way in the past.

Unfortunately, my staff's response to this was that the child had made a mess last time, and it was a health and safety issue. Poor response, and I have had words over it. Alas, the customer's response to this was "you're only saying that because he's black" (I'm not joking).

In their initial complaint to our head office, the customer did not mention the race issue, merely the facts of the incident. I apologised to the customer, asked for their address to send some vouchers, which they provided, and sent them vouchers for two free meals.

Today, I received an e-mail informing me of how insulted they were to have received only two free meal vouchers and that they wished to know full details of the internal investigation regarding staff conduct on that day. They also have said they are disgusted by the offer of free food given the racial discrimination that occurred and will be taking the matter further.

Now I see most of this as empty threats. I am confident there was no racial discrimination and I feel two free meals was fairly generous given there was no financial loss incurred. I am however, obliged to come to a resolution with the customer.

How would you respond?

Let them.

The member of staff behaved correctly and at any tribuneral a child climbing over the counter is a reasonable excuse for a member of staff to ask the parents to control the child.

Let your head office know its somone trying it on and there is no evidence at all of racism.

 

[crphillips]

Unfortunately nowadays companies are far too big and far too wealthy and certain folk have got used to the idea that if they complain, whether right or wrong, they'll get paid out as it doesn't create any bad press and gets them off of their back.

This passes down to people trying it on with smaller businesses that can't afford to treat false complaints in the same manner.

 

[MBE1]

The customer is simply hoping for further freebies by using the racial discrimination card, as suggested do not give them anything more to use against yourself, personally I would have backed my staff member, what do you think would have happened is the child had fallen whilst struggling to get the drink, who would be suing who then?

As suggested, get a sign up straight away if there is nothing up yet, only adults to use the machine.

 

[Talay]

The compensation culture has caused all this. Add in the "coz we is black" argument so often used as confrontational and racially aggressive by blacks against non blacks and they have concocted these lies after the fact in a blatant attempt to gain financially.

If it were my business, I'd just get their photo off the security cameras and ban then. I would also go to the police and report them for attempted fraud, blackmail and racial discrimination. Feel free to add in any other potential charge.

Unfortunately the OP has a head office without the necessary gonads and is stuck with a bend over backwards and get shafted corporate culture, driven by bean counters who know it is cheaper in pure financial and PR terms to settle rather than fight, even when the right thing is to fight these fraudsters.

Those more knowledgeable than I can advise of more mitigating ways of serving this game out but I would stand my ground and after reviewing the CCTV, I would ask head office to stand behind me and if necessary have their appointed or in house counsel write a letter to the would be claimant.

 

[Christine Hough]

Remember reading somewhere of a leader who said she would take personal responsibility and make apology/restitution if her business did anything wrong but she would never admit any fault in her staff. She always backed them, preferring to take the hit herself.


Don't let this incident intimidate your staff, especially if it pressures them to discriminate in favour of a race because of fear of getting into trouble, and never be pushed into compromising on H&S.

 

[Squidd]

Good discussion, thanks all for the responses.

 

[Bobb1979]

Some people will try anything to get compensation - what a complete joke and I sympathise with you but I would stick to your guns .

I personally wouldn't give any compensation or vouchers as this may imply you acted inpropper which you certainly didn't do.

I'm lucky to be a 'one man band' type business and have really cut out any nonsense complaints by not getting into big debate and/or ignoring where applicable.

When I first started I used ti get into long email too ing and throwing , not anymore .

Bad punters are not worth your energy so don't let them get you down!

Hope your business is doing well

 

[Squidd]

When I first started I used ti get into long email too ing and throwing , not anymore .

This was a mistake I used to make a few years back. I quickly learned complaints are usually better dealt with by means of a simple acknowledgement and apology. Whether the customer is right or wrong (always right of course).

I've always preferred to address complaints via snail mail, as this means there is far less chance of the complainant trying to enter into a dialogue. In my experience, people with genuine concerns telephone or speak to me in person, those after freebies e-mail head office. Unfortunately these days, many people e-mail and provide no other contact details making this the only option. Frankly, I don't get enough complaints to bother using an unmonitored address, plus we get compliments too that I do enjoy replying to!

 

[UKSBD]

Unfortunately, my staff's response to this was that the child had made a mess last time, and it was a health and safety issue. Poor response, and I have had words over it.

What will that member of staff do next time he sees some kid clambering over the equipment and making a mess, turn a blind eye?

It's the member of staff you should be apologising to and giving vouchers not some scammer looking for a free lunch.

 

[Squidd]

What will that member of staff do next time he sees some kid clambering over the equipment and making a mess, turn a blind eye?

It's the member of staff you should be apologising to and giving vouchers not some scammer looking for a free lunch.

They will do the exact same they did last time, only will use the correct wording. I haven't posted the full details here, but the member of staff worded their request to the customer very poorly and in violation of correct procedure.

They were congratulated for averting a health and safety issue and are aware the company is fully behind them.

 

[Maxwell83]

They will do the exact same they did last time, only will use the correct wording. I haven't posted the full details here, but the member of staff worded their request to the customer very poorly and in violation of correct procedure.

They were congratulated for averting a health and safety issue and are aware the company is fully behind them.

Can I just ask, did your employee use the term "monkeying around" or similar? That sounds like a natural thing to say if a child is climbing up things (and can be said with no racial overtone whatsoever), but would also explain the customer's response...