Today I find myself having extra work generated for me due to a customer accusation made against one of my clients. The basis of the story is - customer buys product, customer gets sick (alleged), customer wants a response or some type of “reimbursement” or they threaten to go to the Health Department.
We have seen many times in the past that events like these can go one of two ways:
(1) The customer is satisfied with your response and that is the end of it or
(2) The customer causes heaps of stress and anguish to the food company (not to mention the QA representative).
So how do we deal with this situation?
Collect customer details and complaint information ASAP
If you can get the offending item back from the customer it is going to help your case in the long run (should it ever go to litigation). If the customer states that they have been violently ill, get them define what this actually means (vomiting, diarrhoea, chocking etc) and how long after consuming your product they became sick. Don’t forget to find out where they bought the offending item from and any date coding on the product.
Do a full and thorough investigation
Make sure you document EVERYTHING that has been done. This includes customer details to product production information. Record how many units were produced, who they were sold to, how many have you still got in storage and how many are still out in the market place.
Send product for testing
If the accusation is around micro or chemical contamination send the product for analysis. If possible, send the complaint product and 2 or 3 samples from the same batch and 2-3 from another batch.
Contact the local health authority
If you have nothing to hide, be proactive and contact your local health department if you think the allegation may lead to further action by the complainant. Let them know what has been alleged and how you are dealing with it.
Complete a log of events
Documenting all actions, conversations, investigations, testing results and outcomes will provide evidence that you have taken the initiative and been proactive in your handling of the issue. This log will prove invaluable should litigation ever result from the complaint.
If your food company is open and transparent about the process to all concerned parties (not just the customer) this should hopefully alleviate any future stress or costs around the complaint.
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