Vanilla Ice Cream: A Cause of Complaint?

Nov 4

Working in the customer complaint cell, I was surprised to find some colleagues who seemed allergic not to a foreign substance or a food item, but to the very complaints they were supposed to handle, to the satisfaction of customers. Their immune systems had developed antibodies to ward off complaints, especially small and frivolous ones.

However, sometimes even seemingly innocuous complaints may hold valuable insights, and ignoring them can be a complaint in itself.

Customer complaints are more than expressions of dissatisfaction; they also give crucial feedback for improving products and services. A well-handled complaint can turn a dissatisfied customer into a loyal one, as demonstrated in the case of General Motors.

I recall studying a fascinating case study during my time in the department, which inspired me to issue an office order sharing this true interesting story. Let me recount it here.

One day, the Pontiac car division of General Motors received a peculiar complaint: "My Pontiac car doesn't like vanilla ice cream." General Motors, first ignored this complaint, but the customer wrote to the company again making the complaint more explicit,

"Each night, I make my way to the ice cream parlour after dinner to indulge in a delightful dessert. However, since purchasing a new Pontiac from you, I've encountered a peculiar issue. Whenever I buy vanilla ice cream, my car refuses to start, while any other flavour poses no such problem. It might sound silly, but I'm serious."

The Pontiac President reluctantly sent an Engineer to check it out, especially when the customer drove to the ice cream parlour. When they came back after buying vanilla ice cream, the car refused to start. To the engineer's surprise, the complaint turned out to be true.

But the engineer was not ready to accept the logic that the man's car was allergic to vanilla ice cream. He started working in detail and jotted down all sorts of relevant data, e.g. time of day, fuel used, travel duration etc.

The engineer noticed that the man took less time to buy vanilla than any other flavor. Why? The answer was in the layout of the store. Vanilla, being the most popular flavour, was in a separate case at the front of the store for quick pickup. All other flavors were kept in the back of the shop at a different counter where it took considerably longer time to check out the flavor.

So the Engineer guessed that time was the real culprit, not the vanilla ice cream. And the issue was "vapor lock". In fact it happened every night; but the extra time taken to get the other flavours allowed the engine to cool down sufficiently to restart. When the man got vanilla flavour, the engine was still too hot for the vapor lock to dissipate.

In response to this incident, General Motors made necessary adjustments to the Pontiac model's engine and generously provided a new car to the customer.

This story reinforces the importance of taking all customer complaints seriously, no matter how strange or seemingly ridiculous they may appear. Effective complaint management involves listening, empathising, investigating, and delivering solutions, vital for maintaining a thriving business and fostering strong customer relationships.