Why Does the Same Customer Complaint Keep Coming Back?
Updated: Nov 2
You apologise, send someone back to fix the problem and reassure the customer that it will not happen again.
Two weeks later, a familiar email arrives.
The same issue has returned!
For Australian small businesses, recurring complaints can quietly consume time, reduce margins and damage client relationships. A missed cleaning task, an incorrect delivery or a maintenance job that needs another visit may look like an isolated mistake. When it keeps happening, it is worth looking beyond the individual incident.
The useful question is: what in our way of working allowed this problem to happen again?
Fixing the problem is only the first step
There are two different jobs to do when something goes wrong. The first is to deal with the immediate problem. The second is to decide whether changes are needed to reduce the chance of recurrence.
In quality management, these are commonly described as correction and corrective action. Returning to clean a missed area is a correction. Investigating why it was missed, changing the handover process and checking whether that change works is corrective action.
Both matter. A customer should not have to wait for your investigation before receiving a practical response. Equally, sending someone back every time is not a sustainable solution if the underlying issue remains.
Start by listening, then record useful facts
Australian Government guidance on handling customer complaints recommends listening, recording details, discussing a solution and following up. It also encourages businesses to use feedback to improve. That gives a small business a sensible starting point without needing an expensive complaints platform.
Record what was expected, what actually happened, where and when it occurred, the impact on the customer and the immediate response. Keep the wording factual.
“Customer unhappy again” tells the next person very little. “Agreed weekly floor detailing was missed on two consecutive visits” gives you something to investigate.
Bring complaints from different channels into one place. If emails, phone calls and messages stay with separate supervisors, the business may never recognise that several customers are reporting the same problem. Restrict access to complaint records to people who need the information.
Look for causes, rather than a convenient explanation
“Human error” may describe what happened, but it rarely explains enough to choose an effective action. Before deciding that someone simply needs more training, look at the conditions in which the task was performed.
Was the instruction clear and current? Did the employee have the right equipment and enough time? Was the customer’s request passed from sales to operations? Did a relief worker receive the same site information as the regular team? Was the service requirement understood in the same way by both parties?
Ask the people doing the work and compare their explanations with records. A simple sequence of “why?” questions can help, but do not force every complaint into one cause. A combination of unclear instructions, a poor handover and weak supervision may be involved.
An example from commercial cleaning
Consider this illustrative scenario, not a reported APIC client result. A cleaning contractor receives repeated complaints about bins being left in a meeting room. Each time, a supervisor arranges a return visit and reminds the cleaner to be more careful.
A closer look shows that the room is often locked during the scheduled shift. Regular staff know whom to contact for access, but relief cleaners do not. There is also no agreed way to report an inaccessible room before leaving the site.
Another general training reminder would not resolve those gaps. A more useful response could be to agree an access arrangement with the client, include it in site induction and provide a clear escalation step when access is unavailable.
The supervisor would then check subsequent shifts, including relief coverage, to see whether the arrangement works. The lesson is simple: choose action that addresses the cause you have actually found.
Make the action specific enough to complete
“Improve communication” is an intention, not a clear assignment. A practical action identifies what will change, who owns it, when it is due and how success will be checked.
For example: “The operations manager will update the site handover instructions by Friday, brief the regular and relief teams, and review access-related missed tasks over the next four weeks.” The review period is a business choice, not a universal ISO deadline.
Keep the response proportionate. An isolated low-impact mistake may need a simple correction and review. A recurring issue, a significant service failure or a complaint with safety implications deserves more attention. Escalate urgent risks promptly rather than leaving them in a routine improvement register.
Check the result before closing the action
An updated procedure or a signed training sheet shows that an action happened. It does not, by itself, show that the action solved the problem.
Decide what evidence would demonstrate improvement. Depending on the issue, that could be inspection results, fewer return visits, consistent handover records or feedback from the affected customer. Review enough relevant work to make a reasonable judgement, including the situations that previously caused difficulty.
Look at repeat complaints alongside service volume. Five complaints across a much larger workload may tell a different story from five complaints across a handful of jobs.
A fall in reported complaints also needs context: check that customers still have an easy way to raise concerns.
Where ISO standards fit
ISO 9001 provides a framework for managing quality and improving how a business meets customer requirements. A complaints process becomes more useful when it connects with training, service delivery, performance review and improvement, rather than sitting in a separate folder.
ISO 10002 provides guidance specifically on complaints handling, including analysing complaints and reviewing the effectiveness of the process. ISO lists ISO 10002:2018 as current, following its confirmation in 2023. It can support a broader quality management system; it is not a requirement to buy another certificate before improving your complaint handling.
Neither a certificate nor a well-designed register guarantees that mistakes will disappear. The value comes from managers and employees using information to make changes and checking the results.
A useful question for your next team meeting
Choose one complaint that has happened more than once. Ask: have we only repaired the immediate problem, or have we changed the conditions that allowed it to recur?
You do not need a large manual to begin. A clear record, a thoughtful investigation, an accountable action owner and a meaningful follow-up can make the next conversation with your customer more constructive.
How APIC Management Group can help
APIC Management Group supports Australian SMEs with ISO Certification, practical system documentation, staff training, internal audits and readiness reviews. We can help you connect complaints, corrective actions and performance monitoring with the way your business actually operates.
