SERVICE RECOVERY A Study of the Complaint Handling Process at Hotel Gothia Towers

Abstract

The expansion of the service sector has resulted in an increased variety in customer demand as well as provided supply. Consequences of these developments are less predictable customer wants and needs, increased requirements to fulfil such needs on behalf of the service provider as well as a greater demand on employees to interpret such. As a result, customer service and service quality have become major sources of competitive strengths. Hence, service providers are investing substantial resources on strategies and tactics designed to establish equilibrium between customer expectations and the attributes of the service provided. Such a correspondence is essential since a lack thereof will result in service failure. The response to a service fault is normally customer dissatisfaction with the service provider, which may result in a complaint. Whether such a complaint is met with an appropriate response or not has a great impact on the customer's perceived satisfaction with the service provided. The effectiveness of such corrective manners is determined by the appropriate recovery strategy and compensation practices utilised. This thesis investigates the nature of service quality, customer complaints and service recovery. A case study has been performed at Hotel Gothia Towers, where such behaviours and actions were investigated in greater detail.