Rule #1 – Take Product Customer Complaints Seriously

The first step I recommend to every new manufacturer, importer and distributor is to have a system for collecting data regarding customer complaints. 

The data collection system can be something as simple as a sheet of paper that asks for name of the customer, address, phone numbers, fax numbers, email and nature of the problem or it could be one of the many available complaint management software’s available to businesses.

After you have collected the data, it is to your benefit to quickly identify the nature of the problem. If the problem is a manufacturing defect it may involve immediately halting production and identifying which batches of the product that were affected. If is was a design defect, you would want to halt production immediately and try to halt all potential shipments and recall any products with your customers. If it was a warning label or instruction defect, it may involve creating updating warning labels or instructions and repackaging existing products and sending new labels and instructions to your customers so they can attach or include with your products.  

Of course, these examples above are over simplifications, but you get the idea that without the data collection of complaints, you may be too slow to take any steps and find your self involved with a full blown product recall involving one of the federal agencies responsible for product safety.

Only through collection of customer complaints can you start to identify the defect or safety issue early enough so that hopefully you can address and solve the problems before the federal policing agencies such as Consumer Product Safety Commission; Food and Drug Administration; National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms; Food Safety and inspection Service of the U.S. Department of Agriculture; U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development; Environmental Protection Agency; Federal Aviation Adminstration; and U.S. Coast Guard have to get involved.

Once one of the federal policing organizations get involved, you face potential fines or jail time for non-compliance and huge financial expense to comply with all the necessary steps and regulation for an effective product recall.