The branch should call the customer back by default, because the branch is where the problem happened and where it can be fixed, and the customer usually expects to hear from the place they visited. Head office assigns the case, sees it throughout and decides when it is closed. The area manager is not a default owner at all. There are six situations where the branch is the wrong caller: the complaint is about the branch manager, the customer has already tried the branch and got nowhere, the fix is outside the branch's authority, the problem is a group issue rather than a branch one, the matter touches safety or conduct, or the branch is already late. Each of those goes to a named person above the branch, and the rule for handing a case on has to be written down before the first case arrives.
This article sets out the default, the six exceptions, who at the branch should make the call, what the area manager does own, what head office keeps for itself, and how a case moves from one owner to another without the customer noticing the seams.
The default: the branch calls
Three reasons, in order of weight.
The branch can fix it. A replacement, a rebooking, a word with the team, a second look at the rota: all of these are in the branch's hands. A caller who cannot fix anything is making an apology call, and customers can tell.
The customer expects it. They visited a place. A call from that place, from someone who was there or runs it, is the natural response. A call from an office they have never heard of has to explain itself first.
It keeps the branch in the loop. A branch whose complaints are handled elsewhere never learns from them. The call is part of how the branch finds out what customers experienced.
The default holds only if head office can see the case the whole way through. Head office assigns it, the clock is visible to someone other than the branch, and resolved means the agreed action was done. Without that, the default is the branch handling its own complaints with nobody watching, which is the arrangement most groups are trying to leave.
Six cases where the branch should not call
1. The complaint is about the branch manager
If the manager is the subject, the manager cannot be the caller, and nobody who reports to the manager can be either. The case goes to the area manager, or to head office if the area manager is not in a position to handle it. The branch should not see the case at all until the matter is settled, which is one reason head office needs to be able to route a case away from a location.
2. The customer has already tried the branch
A message that says "I told the manager on the day and nothing happened" is an exit message. A second call from the same branch tells the customer the first attempt was passed back to the people who ignored it. This one goes up a level, and the caller should open by acknowledging that the customer already tried once.
3. The fix is outside the branch's authority
A refund above the branch's limit, a pricing question, a policy the branch does not set, a change to a booking system the branch does not control. The branch can call to listen, but a call that ends in "I will have to ask" is worse than a slightly later call from someone who can decide. If remedy authority is set in writing, the branch knows at a glance which cases these are.
4. The problem is a group issue, not a branch one
When the same complaint is arriving from several branches, it is an issue, and the customer at any one of them is one of many. They should still get a call, but from someone who can say what the group is doing about it. A branch manager cannot promise a fix to a problem the group has not yet decided to fix.
5. The matter touches safety, conduct or the law
A customer describing an injury, an allergen, harassment, discrimination, or anything a lawyer or insurer would want to know about does not get a callback from the branch. It goes to whoever the business has named for that, under the business's own policy, and the case is handled outside the ordinary recovery process. The branch may need to be told, but it does not own the contact.
6. The branch is already late
A case assigned to a branch that has not contacted the customer within the agreed time is reassigned, not chased. The clock is what makes this a rule rather than a judgement: when the oldest open case at a branch passes the limit, it moves to the area manager, and the branch hears about it afterwards. A branch that regularly loses cases this way has a capacity problem head office needs to look at, which is a separate conversation.
Who at the branch should call
The branch manager, or a named deputy when the manager is off. Not whoever is free, and not the team member involved in the original visit.
The team member who was on shift may be the best witness and the worst caller. The customer who said the person on the till was abrupt does not want a call from the person on the till. The manager calls, listens, and takes what they learn back to the team as a pattern, not as a message about an individual.
If the branch has no manager available for several days, the case is assigned to the area manager from the start rather than left to wait.
What the area manager owns
The area manager covering ten or twelve sites is on the road most of the week and cannot be the default caller for any of them. What they own is narrower and more important:
Complaints about a branch manager, as above.
Reassigned cases, when a branch is late, with the authority to fix what the branch could not.
The customer with two bad visits at two different branches of the group. That customer's problem is not either branch's, and a branch calling about one visit will not know about the other. The area manager can see both.
Remedies above branch authority and below head office's. If the branch can offer up to a certain amount and head office decides anything above a larger amount, the area manager decides the range in between.
Everything else the area manager does with cases is reading, not owning: looking at the open list across their sites, noticing a branch where the clock keeps running out, and raising it.
What head office keeps
Assignment of every case, with the right to route a case away from a branch.
The decision that a case is closed, and the reopen path when a customer comes back.
Cases about policy, pricing or anything the group sets centrally.
Cases where the customer asked not to be contacted by the branch. Some customers will say this in the message. It should be honoured, and the only way to honour it is for head office to read the message before the branch does.
Group issues, as owner of the fix and, where a customer needs a call, as the caller who can speak for the group.
Everything else head office sees but does not own. Seeing every case is the point; owning every call is a bottleneck that stops working at the second region.
Handing a case on
A case that moves from one owner to another is where customers get lost. Three rules keep it from happening.
The case moves, the record does not restart. The new owner sees everything the previous owner did, including attempts to reach the customer. A customer should never be asked to tell the story again.
The customer is told, by whoever is handing over, who will call next and when. "Someone from head office will call you tomorrow" is a promise with a name and a day. "I will pass this on" is not.
The clock does not reset. Time waiting is the customer's time, not the owner's. A case reassigned at day three is a case that has been open for three days, and it sorts that way.
What not to do
Make the area manager the default caller. Twelve sites' worth of callbacks on top of a travel schedule is how cases wait a week.
Let the branch decide which cases to keep. The six exceptions are rules applied at head office when the case is assigned, not judgement calls at the branch.
Have the team member involved make the call. Even when they are willing. Especially when they are willing.
Let a case go quiet during a handover. The customer does not know the case moved. They know nobody called.
Call about a group issue as if it were a branch problem. The customer at branch 9 is told it was a one-off; the customer at branch 17 is told the same thing; both find out later it was neither.
What to expect
Most cases will stay at the branch. The six exceptions are exceptions; if more than a small share of cases are going up a level, either the authority limits are set too low or the branches are not being given the chance.
The area manager's list will be short and heavy. Few cases, each one the kind that a branch could not or should not handle.
Reassignments for lateness will cluster at a few branches. That is information about those branches, not about the rule.
Customers who are called back can still leave and can still post a review anywhere. The call gives the business the account and the chance to put the problem right. Who makes the call changes how well that goes. It does not change what the customer decides afterwards.
Frequently asked questions
Should the branch or head office call a customer back about a complaint?
The branch, by default, because it can fix the problem and the customer expects it. Head office assigns the case, sees it throughout and decides when it closes. Head office keeps cases about policy, group-wide problems, and customers who asked not to hear from the branch.
When should an area manager handle a customer complaint?
When the complaint is about the branch manager, when a branch has missed the time limit and the case is reassigned, when the customer has had problems at more than one branch, and when the remedy is above the branch's authority but below head office's. The area manager is not the default owner of callbacks.
Who calls back if the complaint is about the branch manager?
Someone above the manager: the area manager, or head office if the area manager is not placed to handle it. Nobody who reports to the manager makes the call, and the branch should not see the case until it is settled.
What if the customer has already complained to the branch and nothing happened?
The case goes up a level. A second call from the same branch tells the customer their first attempt was handed back to the people who ignored it. The caller should open by acknowledging the earlier attempt.
What happens when a case is passed from the branch to someone else?
The record goes with it, so the customer never repeats the story. The customer is told who will call and when. The clock keeps running from the original message, so the case sorts by how long the customer has actually waited.
Should the staff member involved in the complaint make the callback?
No. They may be the best witness, but the customer does not want to hear from them. The manager calls and takes what they learn back to the team as a pattern.
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Outhentik gives head office a direct line from customers at every branch: every message read the same way, a case with an owner for each customer who asks to hear back, and a daily view of which problems repeat and where. Head office assigns each case, can route it away from a branch, and sees the clock whoever the owner is.