TACC news

Conflict in complaint handling

11 November 2021

Participants in the automotive industry will often find themselves in situations of conflict with either a supplier or consumer. The person charged with mediating these situations should be able to deal with conflict as part of their role.

Many conversations around complaints involve strong emotions. There is nothing inherently wrong with emotions/feelings, however strong emotions can interfere with listening, reasoning and communicating.

Values also influence attitudes and behaviour. People are unlikely to agree to an outcome they see as fundamentally compromising or conflicting with their values.

A common cause of stress in complaint handling is when the conflict becomes personal and, as a result, begins to escalate out of control.

Some common causes of this are as follows:

  • Dispute of the facts
    For example, what went wrong? A dispute about what happened and who was responsible is a common cause of conflict in the complaint handling context. Different people having different views about past events or circumstances is common. Another important objective to identify from the outset is whether there is any merit to be drawn from focusing on what happened in the past to cause the issue, as opposed to immediately moving forward to a solution. Of course, as an internal matter, analysis may be useful to determine if there are systemic issues involved which should be discussed with staff to ensure similar problems can be avoided in the future. In most complaint handling situations, the aim should be to identify and address problems with the view to finding what went wrong, rather than who did the wrong. When the focus is on the ‘who’, it can lead to defensive behaviour, which decreases the chance of a cooperative approach. In turn, it increases the likelihood of aggressively defensive behaviour and polarised positions. This will likely result in harm to the relationship between the parties
  • Failure to distinguish between actions and intentions is another common cause of conflict in a commercial setting. That certain actions or indeed lack of action can lead to problems or failures should not automatically mean such an outcome was intentional. It is an unfortunate human trait that some people assume if they experience a negative impact then that must have been the intention of the person they perceive to be responsible
  • Miscommunication of decisions or actions can trigger a conflict or result in the escalation of an existing conflict.

And as a final thought, any actions that could be perceived as an attack on the complainant’s sense of identity and importance should be avoided. By way of explanation, people can get very defensive or take an aggressive stance if they feel issues fundamental to their sense of identity and self-worth are being attacked or challenged. Complainants who are not treated with respect, whose allegations are not taken seriously or have their ethics or competence questioned, may quickly lose sight of the core issues resulting in the resolution of the complaint becoming that much more difficult. 

The above article identifies the main causes commonly experienced and it is hoped this knowledge will assist the industry in trade and commerce. 

Need support? VACC members have access to a dedicated Business & Consumer Affairs service. The department provides timely and practical non-legal solutions to the problems businesses face on a day-to-day basis.

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