A complaint register is the list of every complaint you receive and what happened to each one. Here is what to record, a sample entry, and a register you can download and start using today.
A complaint register is a record, one row per complaint, of who complained, about what, through which channel, who is handling it, and how and when it was resolved.
Service businesses, dealers, service centres and manufacturers use it to make sure no complaint is lost and to see patterns, such as the same product failing again and again. It can be a paper register, a spreadsheet or a CRM. The information is the same; what changes is how easily you can keep it current and search it.
Six groups of information. Together they answer: who, when, what, who owns it, what was done, and did we tell the customer.
The Excel file has a 500-row register, drop-down lists so entries stay consistent, and a summary sheet that counts complaints by status and works out your average days to resolve.
Counts open, assigned, in progress, waiting-for-part, resolved, closed and re-opened complaints, shows total logged and average days to resolve, and counts complaints past their target date.
Whatever the channel. A register filled in later is a register that is wrong.
Assign it and set a target date the same day.
Not at the end, when the detail has been forgotten.
Most escalations begin with a customer who has heard nothing.
Open complaints past their target date first, then repeats on the same product or customer.
They are how you spot patterns and faulty batches.
A register in Excel is a good start and works for a small team. It starts to strain when more people need to use it at once.
At that point the same register becomes tickets in a service CRM: each complaint has an owner, a status and a history, and the list is always current. The signs are in Outgrown spreadsheets and WhatsApp groups: 7 signs.
Simply C2's free Starter plan covers up to 10 users with no credit card. The customer complaint portal lets customers log complaints on your brand page or in the free app, and for a brand connected to Simply C2 CRM that creates the ticket in your CRM.
A record of every complaint received and how it was handled, one row per complaint.
At a minimum: complaint number, date, customer details, product, complaint description, who it is assigned to, status, and the date resolved. The groups above list a fuller set.
It depends on your sector and contracts. Some regulated businesses and some service agreements require one. Check what applies to you; this page is a practical format, not legal advice.
Keep them at least as long as the warranty and any contract or statutory period that applies to you. Ask your adviser for the exact period.
Yes. The free template on this page is an Excel file with drop-down lists and a summary sheet. It also opens in Google Sheets.
A register is the record. A complaint management system adds assignment, reminders, customer updates and reports on top of that record.
Start free with up to 10 users and see complaints as tickets with owners, statuses and history.
Start free