60 Examples of Customer Complaints

John Spacey, June 21, 2023

A customer complaint is a customer statement that an order, situation, product, service or experience is unsatisfactory or unacceptable. These may be voiced to you directly via any channel that the customer has to reach you. It is also common for complaints to be published in venues such as social media and reviews. As such, handling complaints is viewed as an element of public relations. The following are common examples of customer complaints.

Billing errors and disputes	Complicated user interfaces
Damaged or defective products	Delivery delays
Difficulty canceling orders or services	Difficulty changing orders or service subscriptions
Difficulty in contacting customer service	Difficulty in reaching a person
Difficulty managing account	Difficulty using product or service
Difficulty with refunds or exchanges	Ethical concerns
Failure to honor discounts	Failure to meet customer expectations
Failure to respect customer status or tier	Hidden fees
Impolite staff	Inadequate follow-up to inquiries
Inadequate service environments	Inconsistent experience across channels
Inconsistent experience across locations	Inconsistent experience over time
Incorrect orders	Issues with loyalty or reward programs
Lack of configuration options	Lack of order or status updates
Lack of product information	Misleading advertising
Misleading pricing	Mismanagement of customer accounts
Out-of-stock items	Overcrowded services such as long waits in lines
Perceived changes to quality levels	Poor cleanliness or hygiene
Poor communication	Poor packaging
Poor product performance	Poor product quality
Poor service quality	Poorly trained staff
Pricing discrepancies	Problems with installation or setup
Product color not as depicted	Product not as described
Service incidents	Service outages
Shipping errors	Slow response time
Slow services	Technical issues
Unauthorized orders or changes	Unexpected charges
Unfriendly or unhelpful service	Unpopular changes to services or products
Unprofessional staff	Unreliable or outdated product information
Unresponsive support	Unsatisfactory customer experience such as the taste of food
Unsatisfactory return policy	Updates that are viewed as downgrades

Successfully turning dissatisfaction into satisfaction with complaint handling is known as service recovery. Strangely, this often results in more loyal customers -- a well known phenomena known as the service recovery paradox.

Next: Service Recovery

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