The best thing about the getclosure! service is that getclosure! is ‘what it says on the label’ – the service is all about getting closure. This closure works both ways – for both the consumer and the supplier. That a consumer benefits from closure of an issue with a supplier is obvious. Suppliers benefit too. Respected research, and my own experience, provides evidence that consumers with a problem that is quickly resolved by a supplier are many times more likely to return to that supplier in the future.

My experience of this came when I bought a Sony computer mouse from a Sony store in the UK. The mouse was fine for a few months, then stopped working. I called the Sony help-line. After around 15 minutes on the telephone, a Sony service agent let me know that he was satisfied I had purchased a Sony mouse and that it was indeed broken. I received a new mouse by courier two days later. Several months after receipt of my replacement mouse, I needed to buy a new laptop. I went for a Sony. Why? Well, based on my mouse experience, I am confident that if I have a major problem with the laptop I can call Sony and if they can’t help me fix it over the phone they’ll send me a replacement. The resolution of my earlier complaint turned me from a casual Sony consumer into a committed Sony customer.

If you have had an experience of good complaints resolution in SA, let me know by posting a comment on this article so that we can add it to our examples of how to do things right.

Quentin is also one of the team who dreamed up getclosure! With a background in law, arbitration and business, he has gained extensive experience in technology transfer and IP exploitation and now serves as an advisor to leading hi-tech corporations in several countries. Click here to read more about Quentin .