Complaints Can Be a Gift

Complaints Can Be a Gift — 83% of Consumers Reward Businesses That Handle Them Well

Complaints are often seen as a headache, but new research shows they are an opportunity to build loyalty and trust. Research from Trust Alliance Group found that 83 per cent of UK consumers said that a well-handled complaint increases their loyalty to a product or service provider.

For those who had complained recently that figure rose to 90 per cent, up from 86 per cent the previous year, highlighting the impact of effective complaint handling in building or maintaining consumer loyalty.

For businesses these findings highlight an opportunity to not view complaints as a sign of failure, but as one of the fastest and most powerful ways you can build, or lose, consumer trust.

The research from the Consumer Behaviour Monitor, is part of the Trust Alliance Group’s annual assessment of the consumer behaviour, complaints and trust landscape. The report surveyed 4,000 British consumers and looked at various aspects of their behaviour.

John Kane, Group Strategy Director at Trust Alliance Group, said “These findings underline a crucial point that complaints are not just a customer service issue, they are defining moments for long-term consumer trust. This is especially critical at a time when consumers have more choice and loyalty is harder to hold.”

Consumers increasingly expect problems to be acknowledged quickly and handled with empathy. They notice which brands show up, resolve issues at pace and take responsibility, and they remember those that stay silent.

Many organisations still treat complaints as a cost to be minimised or an operational headache, rather than a strategic opportunity. That mindset is increasingly out of step with how trust and loyalty are actually earned in a fast-moving, highly visible marketplace.

Despite this shift, complaints remain dramatically underused as a source of trust, resolution, and insight for UK businesses. The research also reveals that on average just one in three problems experienced by a consumer result in a formal complaint, meaning most problems never reach the organisation responsible.

That silence is often mistaken for satisfaction. Many consumers stay quiet not because the issue is trivial, but because the effort of complaining feels greater than the likelihood of a meaningful outcome.

Difficulty finding contact details, limited opening hours, long waits, and repeated handovers all send the same message that ‘your time isn’t valued’.

John Kane added “The organisations that perform best often recognise complaints as strategic moments of truth. When complaints are easy to raise, quickly acknowledged, and handled with empathy, they send a powerful signal of accountability. Consumers don’t expect perfection, but they expect to be listened to, taken seriously, and shown that their experience matters.”

Turning complaints into a source of loyalty requires a shift in mindset for business leaders. Complaints shouldn’t be treated simply as a metric to manage, but as an opportunity to improve processes and generate insight that strengthens trust.

Responding at pace, making it easier for consumers to raise issues, and ensuring learning reaches decision-makers across the organisation are no longer “nice to have”. They are central to building sustainable loyalty.

John Kane added “The real opportunity lies not in eliminating complaints, but in reducing the effort required to raise them. When frustration is met with empathy, action, and real human engagement, it does more than neutralise risk. It turns moments of dissatisfaction into moments of trust and drives better outcomes for everyone.”

Trust Alliance Group was formed in 2022 and is comprised of several businesses including Energy Ombudsman and Communications Ombudsman. TAG purpose is to build, maintain and restore trust between consumers and businesses.