FREE 30+ Different Types of Complaint Forms in PDF | MS Word

Businesses owners have to understand that no matter how perfect they think their business systems are, there’s always going to be at least one or more problems that could happen at any moment. And one of the best ways for them to find out is to receive complaint forms that are filled out by their customers and employees.

Those who understand the importance of complaint forms realize that it’s not something that should demoralize when received, rather it’s an opportunity to figure out what the problems are so that they can be seen to as soon as possible. So no matter what type of complaint form you receive, learning how to understand and deal with them is vital if you want to aim for success.

Reasons Why Businesses Should Welcome Customer Complaints

There are some customers who may have had bad experiences with your company, but would rather keep it to themselves. Instead of telling you about it, they decide to go over to your competition in the hopes that they get what they want. Your customers make your business stays afloat, and if you don’t give them an opportunity to voice out their problems, then chances are you won’t be hearing from them again.

This is exactly the reason why you have to provide them with one. Allowing them to fill out documents such as customer surveys or questionnaires will help you know if they’ve had any bad experiences. You can also give them easy access to customer complaint forms should they encounter issues that need to be addressed. So here are a couple of reasons why complaints from your customers can actually prove beneficial to your business.

• Complaints can help you identify any product that may have defects. Even when you try to check everything, there’s bound to be at least one or two faulty products that make its way into store shelves. So if your customers manage to get hold on any of them, then you can expect to receive product complaints where you customers can point out what product needs to be looked into, and what problem the product has that led the customer to complaint about it.

• It can help you find the flaws in your complaint management process. Knowing if the process is good enough can help you see if customers are able to voice out their concerns easily, or if there are things you need to change about the complaint process so that your customers will have an easier time in telling you what’s wrong.

• Whatever information you receive from these complaints, you must view it as an opportunity to improve what your business should do and how your business should do it. While the aim of a business is to get as little to no complaints at all, being able to accept them is just as important. By learning how to accept these complaints, those with authority can make the necessary adjustments that the business needs in order to improve.

• Complaints allow the opportunity for customer service recovery. With an effective customer service recovery program, you can be guaranteed that those who do business with you become loyal customers who can be sure that your business is more than willing to fix whatever problem they encounter.

Employee Customer Complaint Form

Complaint Investigation Form

Customer Product Complaint Form

Food Product Complaint Form

Customer Services Complaint Form

Customer Complaint Feedback Form

Tips on How to Handle Customer Complaint

Although there are customers who are still willing to do business with your company even after going through a couple of slip-ups here and there, they can only handle so much. It’s best that you do something about it before you lost them over to your competitors. So here are a few tips that will help you handle whatever complaint your customers give you:

• If your customer is expressing a lot of anger and frustration while handing out his or her complaint, then it’s best that you look past it and try to understand why the customer is acting this way. Just because the customer is behaving wildly does not meant that the complaint has no merit. For example, your customer has been screaming non-stop about your customer service being lackluster. Instead of ignoring this complaint, you look into it. There has to be a reason why the customer is acting that way, so it’s  your responsibility to make sure that other customers don’t experience the same thing.

• Train your employees to learn how to record and organize complaints that are relevant. While there are some problems that should be looked into the moment you learn about them, sometimes customers may just give you complaints in the hopes that they receive something for free. It’s best that you find a way to train your employees to identify complaints that mean something, so that you can easily identify which complaint deserves your attention and which can be easily discarded.

• Try not to sound passive aggressive when apologizing to the customer. One of the worst things a customer could hear is the phrase “We’re sorry that you’re having this problem”. It infuriates them, because it makes them feel as if they’re being dismissed and that you won’t even bother trying to solve whatever problem the customer has.  It’s best that you just apologize outright even if the customer is being very unreasonable. Then, ask the customer how you can resolve the issue. If you think that there’s no longer any way to solve the problem, then remain professional, and do what you can to satisfy the customer.

• Be sure to use supportive questioning. Don’t ask your customer questions such as “Is there anything wrong?” That’s the kind that will just lead to a negative answer. Instead, it’s best that you ask something like “What else can I do to help you?”. That kind of question connotes that you are more than willing to help and provide the customer’s wants and needs.

• Be sure to know how to prioritize these complaints. Lets say that you’ve received restaurant service complaints from two different customers. One customer says that the ambiance of the restaurant felt a little off, while the other customer said that one of your servers was acting very unprofessionally, and ruined the customer’s dining experience. It’s obvious that the server problem should take priority and should be acted on as soon as possible. Some problems can wait a day or two, but those that heavily affect the business have to be fixed immediately. All you have to do is understand the severity of each complaint.

• Try to verify the solution with the customer. You’d want to be absolutely sure that the resolution to the problem is exactly what’s needed to meet the wants and needs of the customer. You’re going to have to ask the customer regarding the situation by saying something like “Is everything set?” to show that you’re still willing to help if the customer has any more problems.

• Never forget to treat all of your customers with respect. There have been a lot of customer questionnaires that have results where customers point out that they haven’t exactly been treated well by employees or even by management.  If you don’t know how to properly talk to your customers, then there’s a huge chance that you’re going to lose a huge chunk of them. You have to show that you care about the customer’s experience by showing how helpful you are and that you genuinely care.

• Don’t drag out a customer that’s already a lost cause. If the customer would like to cancel a transaction, then don’t do anything to try and stop it. This won’t help the business out, but providing these customers with excellent service can definitely do it. If there’s a way to prevent the loss of a customer, then provide the solution. However, even when a solution is provided and the outcome is the same, then it’s best that you accept it. Remember that just because the customer doesn’t push through with something does not mean he or she is gone for good.

Customer Complaint Investigation Form

Blank Customer Complaint Form

Utility Customer Complaint Form

Bank Customer Complaint Form

How to Handle Employee Complaint

One shouldn’t just worry about the customers, but also the employees. If your business has gathered more than its fair share of employee complaints, then chances are that there are a lot of of problems that you don’t know about that have been disrupting your employee’s performance and productivity. So here are a few tips that can help you handle any employee complaints that came across your way.

• Listen fully to whatever complaint you may come across. This is very similar to handling customer complaints wherein all you have to do is to understand the employee’s problem as much as you can; no matter how frivolous or unfounded it may be. This will allow the employee to feel that his or her voice is heard.

• When asking questions, remember to ask the important ones regarding who, what, when, where and why.  If you’re planning on making an incident report regarding an employee’s complaint, then you’ll need to know the answer to those very important questions. Asking those questions is a great way for you to make sure that you get every detail that will help you understand as well as prevent any inconsistency.

• Make sure that the employee keeps the complaint to himself or herself.  A lot of employees enjoy gossip, so you have to make sure that details regarding a complaint reaches out to nobody else but the people involved. You have to remember that everything is strictly on a need-to-know basis, and it’s your job to ensure that only you and those involved are informed about the complaint being handled.

• Do not make any kind of comment regarding how you’re going to handle the employee’s complaint. You wouldn’t want to hold any sort of promise that you might not be able to keep. It’s best that you thank the employee for bringing up his or her concerns and that you’ll look into it. This way, the employee will know that you’re going to go further into the problem rather than ignoring it.

• If the complaint involves an incident that happened within the workplace, then you have to talk to all of the witnesses.You’ll need to gather as much as you can get from witness statements if you’re going to do an investigation to any employee complaint you’ll get regarding an office incident. Try to share as little information as possible so that these witnesses will provide you with as much information as possible and you won’t be able to accuse you of leading them.

• Try to obtain as much evidence as you can. If you’re going to verify a complaint, then the employee who made it has to provide you with any supporting documentation that will help prove whatever claim he or she has made. Anything from  computer information, files, and e-mails can be helpful when it comes to addressing the complaint.

• Look into all of the evidence that you’ve received. Although you might have all the incriminating evidence you need to help you decide on a verdict regarding an employee’s complaint, there might just be a piece of information that could change everything. So be sure to look through everything before you make the final judgement.

• After you have gone through all of the evidence, do a follow-up with the employee who originally made the complaint. Do a couple of follow-up questions that will help you see if there are any inconsistencies. It might just even help you clarify certain things that were once unclear, and open up new possibilities.

• You can always talk to your supervisor to help you reach a conclusion. Provide all the information you have gathered, so the two of you can decide on the best course of action to take. You can also take a look at the policy regarding how your company handles employee complaints to help you reach a conclusion.

• When you’ve reached a conclusion based on how you should act, then do it as soon as possible. If you need to report someone regarding a certain incident, then do so. If you need to change a certain policy, then notify the employees before you make the change. These should be done as soon as possible to prevent any future similar problem from happening.

• If the complaint was unfounded, try to turn it into a learning experience for the employee. If the employee lacked evidence or didn’t have the proper documentation to support whatever claims he or she made, then it’s best to tell the employee so that he or she will know what to do in the event that future similar problems arise.

Workplace Bullying Complaint Form

Workplace Violence Complaint Form

Workplace Discrimination Complaint Form

Workplace Respect Complaint Form

The Different Types of Complaint Forms

While there may be a variety of ways to make complaints, those in charge and with authority should learn that there are also specific types of complaint forms that’s meant to document each of them. It’s important to learn the purpose of each of these complaints forms so that managers are able to properly handle complaints and solve them as soon as possible. So here are a couple of examples of the different types of complaint forms.

Restaurant Complaint Form

This is the type of form that’s utilized by just about every person who wishes to complaint about something that ruined his or her dining experience in a particular restaurant. With restaurant complaint forms, diners are able to point out things that have either ruined their dining experienced, or things that need to be improved in order to enhance it. The information can help restaurant owners change or improve certain aspects of their restaurant such as the way their servers treat customers, the restaurant’s ambiance, the quality of the food and much more.

Guest Complaint Form

It’s a complaint form that’s used by any guest of a hotel. Guest complaint forms allow those who have stayed within any hotel to point out problems or concerns regarding their stay, so they may address things such as the cleanliness of the hotel, the quality of the service that was provided, how management is handling hotel operations and much more. This will show the hotel management what action to take that can further improve the quality of the hotel, thus insuring that more guests are more willing to stay.

Guest Complaint Form in PDF

Free Guest Complaint Form

Blank Guest Complaint Form

Installed Guest Complaint Form

Guest Complaint Form in PDF

Work Harassment Complaint Form

Employees who have encountered harassment within the workplace will benefit greatly from this form. Work harassment complaint forms can be used to report any kind of harassment that an employee encounters from either another employee or even his or her own manager or supervisor. So anything from physical harassment to sexual harassment can be reported with this form. One has to make sure to point out how he or she was harassed, who the oppressor was, where it took place and when.

Noise Complaint Form

Landlords tend to receive a lot of these forms, especially if they have tenants who tend to make a lot of noise. The point of noise complaint forms is to help people point out any kind of disturbance that could either ruin their living experience or disrupting their work flow. It’s best that one goes into detail as to who or what is making the noise and how loud it is. This way, investigation can go smoothly and a proper solution can easily be devised.

Student Complaint Forms

Student complaint forms are, as its name suggests, used by just about every student to make complaints regarding the way they’re being educated or anything that has to do with their school life. Those in charge of handling school operations can benefit greatly from the information contained within these forms as they’re able to figure out what students are having problems with. For example, most students feel that a particular teacher isn’t able to provide them with the necessary information on a particular subject. The proper action can then be taken such as either removing the teacher or putting that teacher through further training.

Patient Complaint Form

Used by just about every patient, this form allows them to make complaints such as how they’re being treated by either their nurses or doctors and if their needs and wants aren’t being met. Patient complaint forms can also be used by patients to complain about the medicare that they’ve received, raising concerns such as the doctor not knowing how to provide the treatment, or the equipment was both unclean and obsolete.

Health Product Complaint Form

Product Quality Complaint Form

Civil Complaint Form

A civil complaint form is what one make use of in the event that his or her civil rights have been wronged by another. For example, another person has destroyed your property and has not done anything to make amends. What you’re going to do is file a civil complaint form where you point out who has done you wrong and what that person did. The matter will then be taken up to court, along with any evidence submitted and witnesses that were present during the time of the incident.

Federal Civil Complaint

Civil Rights Complaint

Civil Complaint Form

Civil Complaint Form Example

Civil Lawsuit Complaint Form

Business Complaint Forms

This form can be used by either the customers or the employees of a particular business. With business complaint forms, people may point out things that they have found unsatisfactory within the business or anything that they feel the business should improve on. By gathering the information in these forms, business owners and managers can discuss the best course of action that will ensure that both customers and employees are happy with how the business is being run. This way, businesses are able to retain both customers and employees, as well as making sure that their experience with the business is something that’s praise worthy.

Business Customer Complaint Form

Business Customer Services Complaint Form

Customer Complaint Business Feedback Form

Student Complaint Form

If you would like to know more about other different types, then you may go through any of our available sample complaint forms that can help you get what you need.