So you’ve sold a customer a product and, as far as you know, because you haven’t seen them since, they are happy with their purchase.

But what happens when something goes wrong?

AMDEA has a Spares and Service Panel which looks at the after sales aspects of selling domestic appliances. Last year they formed a sub-group to hold ‘customer care’ workshops to discuss the best ways to deal with customer queries. AMDEA already has a Code of Practice on Servicing Domestic Appliances but it was felt that this only set out minimum standards and we wanted to look at offering more.

Sometimes customers have unrealistic expectations of a product, and while you don’t want them to be disappointed, there may be a limit to what you can do for them.

But usually customers complain for a valid reason: the product has failed in some way and they want it sorted. They may not be too distressed that a product has developed a problem if it has been working well until recently, particularly if it is still under guarantee.

But there are some well known things that make customers unhappy: confusion as to whether they should go to the retailer or the manufacturer; what happens when the guarantee has expired; how long they have to wait for an engineer to call; and the availability (or not) of spare parts.

So how do you deal with these? Obviously a key element is to try and avoid as many problems as possible.

The course of action

Setting aside the widespread lack of understanding of consumer rights legislation, which we have discussed in previous articles, the first question is whether the product is covered by a (valid) manufacturer’s guarantee or an extended warranty.

If the product is correctly installed (and correctly used) it should work and many products now come with several years’ guarantee and any problems can be quickly sorted out.

But once the guarantee has expired is there an option to extend it? Do you have an engineer you can recommend for servicing? What can you do if spare parts are no longer available? At what point does the consumer’s expectations of how long a product should last become unreasonable?

Often the first step is to make it easy for the customer to contact somebody who can help. If a problem is urgent you need to respond quickly, if it is less urgent you need to explain any delay.

For out of warranty repairs you need to explain your charges – how much (per hour or per visit), when they have to be paid (before or after a visit), and ways to pay (eg in instalments).

When making appointments can you offer a smaller time slot than just am or pm, check if there are difficulties with parking locally, and even offer to call, email or text a reminder (or even to say that the engineer is on his way)? If you are going to charge for missed appointments, make sure the customer knows this and how much it is likely to be. Make sure that your engineer is going to be there, preferably on time, and if he is delayed for any reason call to explain, apologise and maybe offer a discount for the inconvenience caused.

Large domestic appliances are not something you can put in the post – they usually require a visit of some kind, whether it be to deliver, service, repair or replace. Ensuring that both parties are in the right place at the right time can be the difference between a satisfied customer and one who is going to vent their spleen on every social networking site they can access.

We want our customers to get more than just a good product; we want them to be pleased with our after sales service too. So we will continue to work with our colleagues in the retail sector to keep our customers happy.

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