Five Contacts Later, Who Owns the Problem?

More than half of Irish consumers surveyed by the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC) had contacted the trader five or more times to resolve their problem. Four weeks later, 43% were still seeking a resolution. Five contacts, and still no answer!

The CCPC’s latest consumer helpline report records 22,724 contacts in the first half of 2026, with faulty goods, pricing and problems with contract fulfilment among the recurring issues. But it is the repeated contacts that caught my attention, because after the second, third or fifth conversation, this is no longer simply a complaints problem; it is an ownership problem.

The hidden cost of not solving it first time

Every unsuccessful customer contact costs someone something. The customer loses time and patience. The organisation pays for another call, email, chat or store visit, and the next colleague inherits a customer who is considerably more frustrated than the one who made the original contact. Yet many organisations still make it surprisingly difficult for frontline colleagues to resolve reasonable customer problems. Approval levels, policies and escalation routes are usually introduced for sensible reasons. But together, they can create an experience in which everybody handles the problem, but nobody owns it.

The €500,000 lesson

I wrote earlier this year about something we discovered at O2. There was a widespread belief that giving frontline colleagues greater financial authority to resolve customer issues would inevitably cost the business money. It sounds logical that giving hundreds of people discretion would mean some would make poor decisions.

Our experience suggested almost the opposite. When capable colleagues had sufficient authority to resolve reasonable customer problems, issues were settled more quickly, with fewer escalations, repeat contacts and management intervention. Crucially, customers felt that somebody had listened and taken responsibility. The danger was not trusting people too much; it was designing an organisation where a colleague knew the right answer but was not allowed to give it.

Empowerment is not a customer-service luxury; it is an operating-efficiency decision.

When the customer becomes the project manager

Our recent article about the new right-to-repair rules highlighted another version of the same problem. A retailer may own the customer relationship; the manufacturer controls the repair; a repair agent makes the diagnosis. Even so, each organisation can fulfil its responsibility, and the customer can still have an awful experience.

Why? Because the customer ends up coordinating the journey: “Speak to the retailer; contact the manufacturer; the repair centre hasn’t received it; go back to the shop.”

Organisations see hand-offs, while customers see being passed around. The colleague standing in front of that customer often feels just as powerless; if they cannot see what is happening, influence the outcome, or take practical action, they become the messenger for a process they don't control. That is frustrating for the customer and a miserable way to work.

Competent service is only the starting point

I have been reading Will Guidara’s Unreasonable Hospitality, and one distinction particularly resonates with me. Service is essentially about getting the mechanics right, while Hospitality is about how the experience makes somebody feel. That distinction applies well beyond restaurants. Resolving a complaint accurately and efficiently is good service. Having somebody take ownership, remove the hassle and make you feel they genuinely care about putting things right is something more.

It reminds me of Zappos and the culture Tony Hsieh built, centred on giving colleagues considerable freedom to create memorable experiences rather than simply processing transactions. It also reminds me of the language we used at O2. We did not just want satisfied customers; we wanted raving fans. People who came back and told friends and family why they should choose us. That is a much more valuable commercial outcome than a customer reluctantly concluding that their complaint was eventually dealt with.

First-contact resolution should be the floor

There is a tendency to treat first-contact resolution as a contact-centre efficiency measure. I think that undersells it. It tells us something more fundamental.

Does the person dealing with the customer have the information, capability and authority to take ownership of the issue?

If not, we should not be surprised when contacts multiply, nor should we blame the frontline colleague.

Leaders need to ask four questions.

1. Does the colleague know what a reasonable outcome looks like?
2. Can they see enough information to make a good decision?
3. Do they have the authority to act?
4. Will the organisation support their judgement when they do?

Those questions matter because empowerment without capability is risky, whereas capability without empowerment is wasteful.

My final thought

There is a familiar line, often attributed to Maya Angelou, about people forgetting what was said or done but remembering how they were made to feel. The precise attribution may be debated, but the underlying idea is hard to dispute.

A customer who has explained the same problem five times remembers how that felt. So does the colleague who wanted to help but was not trusted to do so. The reverse is equally powerful. Give a capable colleague the authority to resolve a difficult situation effectively, and frustration can become relief; relief can become loyalty; and occasionally, loyalty becomes advocacy.

The CCPC figures should concern any organisation with customers. But the answer is not simply better complaint handling; it is creating an organisation in which somebody can say:

“I’ve got this. You won’t need to explain it again.”

If we want customers to feel fantastic about our businesses, we should start by creating colleagues who feel trusted, so they can make customers feel that way.

Part of the RetailCX Blueprint, a growing collection of practical ideas, frameworks and real-world examples to help organisations deliver better customer and colleague experiences.

At RetailCX, we specialise in helping organisations harness the power of leadership and employee engagement to enhance customer experiences. Contact us to learn how we can support your journey toward a more innovative and customer-centric future.