Every Customer Is A Complaint Department

By Tom Kline, Better Vantage Point | Tuck The Octopus^sm

Ten years ago, an unhappy customer might threaten, “I’m calling the Attorney General.”

Today, that same customer can ask AI: “Review these documents, tell me whether the dealership violated any laws, calculate what I might be entitled to, write a demand letter, and tell me every regulator, lender, manufacturer and review site where I should file a complaint.”

Thirty seconds later, the customer has created their own one-stop-shop complaint department.

AI has created a professional complaint department for your customers.

Historically, an unhappy customer had to decide whom to contact, figure out what to say, write the letter, research the issue, and determine where to send it. Most people never got very far.

Now, there’s AI.

AI will increase both frivolous complaints and legitimate complaints.

Higher Expectations

AI can create the complaint, identify potential legal theories, draft a demand letter, and tie those items back to any potential damages. (Whether any of these assertions are legal is entirely another matter to be discussed.) The monetary number at which the customer may be “satisfied” has increased as a (potential) result of this AI-generated information, so the customers are starting with higher expectations than ever before. After all, if someone sees it in writing, then it must be true, right?

AI can make a complaint sound more credible without making the complaint more correct.

Who To Contact

When a customer asks about where to complain, AI will retrieve the information about the agencies as well as the websites where the customer should submit the complaint. It can all happen lickety-split.

Educating The Customer Has Never Been More Important

Here are a few, select areas where customers can become confused or unsettled:

• Vehicle price and advertising
• Trade valuation
• Financing and credit
• F&I products
• Fees, if any
• Add-ons, if any
• Vehicle condition and disclosures
• Repairs and warranty work
• Privacy and customer data
• Titles and registration
• Salesperson representations

Any of these topics can be misconstrued, leading to confusion or mistrust.

Now, the customer can interrogate AI to find out how they might have been taken advantage of. This is a notable change.

Dealers should take particular care to educate customers during the sales process to ensure clear communication during the sale. At the same time, consider what channels of communication can be offered for after the sale concerns.

Professional Presentation

Going forward, complaints will be:

• Better written
• More organized
• More logical
• More authoritative sounding
• Filled with footnotes, to include statutory and/or regulatory references
• Copies of the complaints may be sent to:
• Other members of the executive team
• Manufacturers
• Lenders
• Motor Vehicle Dealer Boards
• Regulators
• Review sites
• Attorneys, perhaps

Be prepared for more noise. It’s coming.

AI Removes Friction

AI can take the same complaint and re-write it for a different audience. Now, each of these letters sounds more serious and is custom-tailored for the audience. Ultimately, this will be more effective for the customer and create more headaches for you.

Previously, this process was burdened with a lot of effort by the customer. No longer. It’s easy-peasy.

Big Mistake

Don’t immediately dismiss the complaint because the customer didn’t write it. Don't assume a regulator is going to referee every factual disagreement between you and the customer. The existence of the complaint itself can create work, scrutiny, expense, and risk for the dealership, even when the dealership ultimately has the better facts. The regulators are being bombarded by complaints and they are over it. (That’s what they’ve told me.)

Every problem, real or perceived, is a problem for the dealership. If you don’t have a system to satisfy these customers, it’s time to create one, right now. That said, I am not telling you to give away the store. You will have to get the customer to compromise (as you will have to compromise, too).

The System

Here’s a sample system to follow:

• Receive the complaint without being defensive
• Investigate and preserve all relevant information
• Determine the monetary (and PR) risk for this problem
• Escalate where necessary
• Invite the customer(s) back into the dealership for resolution
• Be professional and polite
• Document the resolutions (consider a Release of Claims document)
• Implement new procedures to prevent reoccurrence

Defensibility and Patterns

The strongest documentation will ultimately give you leverage to settle the dispute. If the customer signed it, you have the leverage. If it is a “the salesman promised me,” the customer has the leverage.

The dealership that can reconstruct the transaction has the advantage. For example, here’s a short list:

• Advertisement
• CRM notes
• Text messages
• Evidence the employees were trained on the relevant policies in question

Are you hearing the same complaint about the same process? If so, it’s time to create a better process.

Don’t Create Another Problem Trying to Solve the First One

Employees need rules concerning what customer information can be placed into public AI systems. Complaint handling should be part of the dealership's AI-use policy, privacy controls, and information-security training.

Wrong?

Can AI be wrong? Yes.

Settle the complaint.

Conclusion

Complaints are free risk assessments being delivered by your customers. Welcome the feedback.

AI isn't necessarily making customers right. It's making customers more capable. Dealerships need to become more capable, too.

Every dealership employee needs to understand that the customer standing in front of them may now have an AI-powered researcher, writer, negotiator and escalation assistant sitting in their pocket.

The answer here is for the dealership to develop better processes, better training, better documentation, and faster complaint resolution. Create a Better Vantage Point for yourself.