A Complaint is a Gift, so what price a Compliment?

Nov 22, 2024

Ever tried giving a compliment to one of your favourite brands, I tried last week with Hilton Hotels and the whole experience almost turned into a complaint.

Customer feedback is so precious, as my good friend Janelle Barlow told me many years ago – “A Complaint is a Gift” and her book by this title is still as relevant today as it was when first published almost 30 years ago. If handled well, a complaining customer can be made more loyal to your brand than if they had never complained in the first place.

So how do you think I felt when I spent 45 minutes trying to give positive feedback about a stay I made, wanting to ensure that management above the property in question were made aware of what a great job their team were doing. First I tried to find an email address other than the hotel front desk, given that I’m a ‘Diamond for Life’ member of Hilton Honors you’d think this was straight forward, think again.

Then I tried to find a telephone number, I called a number that promised a call back which was almost instantaneous. However, a fault with their systems meant I was cut off, having made three attempts, I called another number that was supposed to be a support line but that took me to central reservations. Central reservation offered a scripted response that did not cover my request, I think the agent was as frustrated with me as I was with her, she insisted I could only talk to the property’s front desk. So, I gave up!

What a shame. Perhaps I should complain, but I have better things to do with my time than chase around trying to find someone at Hilton who wants to listen.

Loyalty has its price and although my devotion to Hilton has not been irreparably damaged, it did make me think, ‘just how much do they really care’?

How does your organisation stack up when it comes to listening to customers?

Yet another example of how the greatest loyalty treatments can be completely undermined by the most basic of customer service issues.

Author: Mark Bergdahl, CEO Loyalty Consulting UK Ltd