Customer Opportunistic Complaints Management: A Critical Incident Approach

Keywords

opportunistic complaint, complaining behavior, unethical consumer behavior, critical incident technique

Abstract

Although customer complaints are valued in the hospitality industry in order to create service recovery opportunities and improve service quality, there are occasions when customers knowingly and incorrectly report service failures or make illegitimate complaints. The purpose of this study is to investigate how service employees handle opportunistic customer complaints in service encounters. By using the critical incident technique, we classify 346 incidents from hotel and restaurant services based on complaint source, evidence, compensation, handling, follow-up, and customer return. Managerial implications for these challenging situations are discussed and suggestions are made for improvement.

Publication Date

7-23-2011

Original Citation

Ro, Heejung, & Wong, June. (2012). Customer opportunistic complaints management: A critical incident approach. International Journal of Hospitality Management, 31(2), 419-427.

Number of Pages

419-427

Document Type

Paper

Language

English

Source Title

International Journal of Hospitality Management

Volume

31

Issue

2

College

Rosen College of Hospitality Management

Location

Rosen College of Hospitality Management

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