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Managing Product Liability Complaints:: Avoiding Damaging Admissions

When you know what not to say to consumers in product related complaints, you can help keep your company out of court, or at least avoid making damaging admissions that may harm the company’s chance of defending the claim.

Here are three reasons avoiding damaging admissions is critical:

1. What you tell the consumer may be admissible into evidence in court before a jury.
2. Admitting or acknowledging fault (verbally or in writing) without the opportunity to investigate, may preclude the company from denying liability later on, regardless of what the investigation shows.
3. You can be called as a witness for deposition or trial and asked about what you said to the consumer and why you said it.

 Here’s what not to say:

1. “I knew this was a problem in the past, but I thought it was corrected.”  Do not admit the existence of a defect.
2. “WOW! You’re the sixth person I’ve talked  to this month  with this problem.” – This is damaging for obvious reasons.
3. “Making the changes you suggest would drive up the cost of the product to our customers.” This shows that the company values money over safety. If jurors sense this, they are much more likely to award punitive damages against you.
4. “Don’t worry. We’ll take care of everything.”  What if your investigation ultimately exonerates you…but you’ve told the customer you would ‘take care of everything’? Also, your insurance policy may require you to refrain from making any payment or promise to pay without the insurer’s consent. Be circumspect in making verbal commitments.
5. “I am so shocked that his happened again.”  This comment may imply that you have been on notice of a product problem. If the company has failed to adopt remedial measures, this could spawn on a punitive damages claim against your company.

Take the next step in learning to successfully manage product liability claims

If you have any concerns at all about the way your employees handle product liability complaints or you're not sure your organization is doing everything possible to minimize the risks of product liability claims, you need to explore my first ever live broadcast of Beyond WOW Complaint Resolution on October 8th and 15th. An entire module is being dedicated to handling product liability claims and we discuss such topics as how to avoid damaging admissions and the importance of getting the product from the customer, and the best things to say to product liability claimants. Get the full story here.

About the Author

Myra Golden is one of the service industry's most prominent trainers and a highly regarded business growth strategist. Companies hire Myra and her team to help them build, recover, and strengthen customer relationships. She can be reached at 866-873-8419 or by email at myra@myragolden.com. She also has a website: www.myragolden.com. 

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