Customer Complaint Handling SOP Template
Ensure every customer complaint is acknowledged, documented, resolved, and followed up on within SLA — consistently across the team.
Scope
Applies to all customer-facing support agents handling inbound complaints via email, chat, or phone.
Step-by-Step Procedure
- 1
Acknowledge the complaint within SLA
Respond to the customer within 1 hour (email) or 2 minutes (chat/phone). Use empathetic language. Confirm you understand their issue. Example: 'I understand this is frustrating, and I want to help resolve this for you.'
- 2
Document the complaint in your ticketing system
Create or update the ticket with: customer name, complaint category, severity level, verbatim summary of the issue, and any screenshots or evidence provided.
- 3
Classify severity and route accordingly
Use your severity matrix: P1 (service down/data loss) → escalate immediately to on-call. P2 (feature broken) → senior agent. P3 (minor issue/question) → handle directly.
- 4
Investigate root cause
Check knowledge base, recent incidents, and product changelog. If the issue is known, link to the existing incident. If new, document initial findings.
- 5
Propose resolution to the customer
Offer a clear solution with timeline. If you cannot resolve immediately, set expectations: 'I've escalated this to our engineering team. You'll hear back within 24 hours.'
- 6
Execute the resolution
Apply the fix, process the refund, update the account, or take whatever action is needed. Document every action taken in the ticket.
- 7
Confirm resolution with the customer
Send a follow-up message confirming the issue is resolved. Ask if there's anything else you can help with. Example: 'I've processed your refund — you should see it within 3-5 business days. Is there anything else I can help with?'
- 8
Log learnings and close the ticket
Tag the ticket with resolution category. If this revealed a process gap or product bug, flag it for the weekly review. Close the ticket with a summary note.
Common Mistakes to Avoid
- ✗ Responding defensively or making excuses instead of empathizing first
- ✗ Forgetting to document the complaint — making it impossible to track patterns
- ✗ Promising a resolution timeline you can't guarantee
- ✗ Closing the ticket without confirming the customer is satisfied
- ✗ Not escalating P1 issues fast enough because of unclear severity definitions
Checklist
- Acknowledged complaint within SLA
- Ticket created with full details (category, severity, summary)
- Severity classified using the matrix
- Root cause investigated and documented
- Resolution proposed with clear timeline
- Resolution executed and documented
- Customer confirmed resolution
- Ticket tagged, learnings logged, ticket closed
Knowledge Check
Test your understanding of this SOP:
Q1. A customer reports they were charged twice. What should you do FIRST?
- Ask the customer to contact their bank
- Escalate to engineering
- Acknowledge the issue with empathy and confirm you'll investigate
- Immediately process a refund without investigating
Q2. What severity level is a complete service outage affecting all customers?
- It depends on the customer's plan
- P2 — assign to a senior agent
- P1 — escalate immediately to on-call
- P3 — handle directly
Q3. When should you close a complaint ticket?
- When your shift ends
- After 48 hours with no customer response
- As soon as you've applied the fix
- After confirming with the customer that the issue is resolved
Want interactive quizzes with scoring and tracking? Try DeltaLearn
This SOP will change. Will your team keep up?
SOPs go stale every time a policy updates, a tool changes, or a process evolves. DeltaLearn turns this SOP into a versioned microcourse — video, checklist, and quiz — and tracks who's completed each version.