Customer Complaints
For service organizations an important role of the information system is recording any public request, feedback or complaint, preparing work orders arising and providing feedback from maintenance crews once the job is completed.
It is important to relate the complaint to an asset.
A computerised maintenance system for keeping track of work orders means that all sources of complaints will be investigated or attended to.
The complainant will be able to receive information on the current status of their requests instantaneously while the overall fault history can be monitored and analysed.
The system should also provide accounting breakdown of costs of each task and updating of records for design/analysis purposes. Information required includes:
- Customer details
- Property location details
- Assets that serve property
- Attribute details
- Capacity/utilisation
- Condition
- Performance (operations and maintenance history)
- Current levels of service
- Current cost of service
- Predicted level of service
- Predicted cost of service
- Customers expectations for cost and level of service
- Importance of customer to business - income generated
- Customer billing system (not dealt with further)
- Customer complaints (record and dealings).
In general, service organizations receive complaints related to their service provision from several sources, including customers and users, the public, staff and other service authorities.
The complaints relate to different aspects of the service authorities activities including:
- Administrative matters
- Financial matters (rates/charges, etc)
- Service delivery, related to infrastructure assets
- Staff issues (attitude and customer relationships)
- Other.
Organizations need to record and monitor their complaint levels and response performance, and be able to report on this data.
Where multiple complaints relate directly to the performance of the asset, the organization needs to actively investigate its ongoing ability to deliver to required service levels. A typical complaint process trail relating to infrastructure assets is shown below:
An electronic register will help monitor and report on complaints. A typical complaint register including performance-monitoring (response) indicators, is illustrated below.
| Suggested Fields | Information / Performance Measurement |
| Complainant Name | (May wish to be anonymous) |
| Address (For Complaint) | |
| Contact Details | Phone, Fax, Email, Address |
| Category of Complaint | Administration, financial, service delivery, staff, other |
| Complainant Source | Customers, the public, staff and other service authorities |
| Details of Complaint | 3 lines descriptive plus code |
| Time Received | Time and date |
| How Received | Mail, Fax, Telephone, Verbal |
| Asset Related Number | If asset related complaint |
| Department Responsible | Organizational Code |
| Officer Referred to | Staff Name and ID |
| Action Suggested | 3 lines descriptive plus code |
| Target Date for Completion | Date and time (if required) |
| Complainant Informed | Y/N and by what method and when |
| Work Order Number | If job linked to Asset or MMS Job Management System |
| Actual Work Completed | Time and date |
| Actual Work Done | 3 lines descriptive or reference to MMS |
| Complainant Notified | Date and time (if required) |
| Complainant Reaction | Satisfaction level |
| Performance Standard | Met/+20%/under 20% |
Performance monitoring is the critical element in this process.
Time periods must be specified for the various classes of complaint rectification, and asset related complaints must be closely monitored over time to ensure cost-effective remedies are implemented.