Difficulty in Handling Complaints of The Customers at Maxindo Computer Shop.
ABSTRACT
Dalam penulisan tugas akhir ini, saya membahas masalah yang saya
hadapi ketika magang di Maxindo. Masalah yang dihadapi adalah keluhan
pelanggan terhadap produk yang rusak seperti memory card, hard disc,
laptop dan kesalahan dari tenaga marketing dalam memberikan informasi
kepada pelanggan toko. Adapun tujuan saya menulis tugas akhir ini adalah
untuk mengetahui secara mendetail mengenai permasalahan yang terjadi
berkaitan dengan keluhan pelanggan yang saya alami dalam pekerjaan saya
sebagai salah satu tenaga marketing selama magang di Maxindo dan
mencari solusi untuk menyelesaikan masalah tersebut.
Dalam tugas akhir ini, saya akan menguraikan hal-hal apa saja yang
menyebabkan keluhan dari pelanggan toko. Keluhan dari pelanggan itu
disebabkan adanya kerusakan terhadap produk yang sudah dibeli dan
adanya kesalahan dari tenaga marketing dalam memberikan informasi
kepada pelanggan toko. Efek dari dua hal diatas adalah pelanggan toko akan
merasa tidak senang akan kualitas barang yang disediakan Maxindo dan
tentunya Maxindo akan mengalami kerugian bila tidak ada orang yang
membeli produknya. Saya juga akan mengajukan beberapa solusi yang
dapat digunakan untuk mengatasi permasalahan tersebut sehingga masalah
tersebut dapat diatasi. Adapun solusi yang saya ajukan adalah Maxindo
menyediakan barang berkualitas baik, supervisor Maxindo memberikan
training kepada staff marketing baru setidaknya selama seminggu ketika staff
marketing baru memulai pekerjaannya, dan supervisor Maxindo memberikan
hasil kinerja staff marketing baru tersebut.
Di bagian penutup dari tugas akhir ini saya akan mengajukan solusi
terbaik yang diharapkan dapat bermanfaat untuk mengatasi permasalahan
dalam menghadapi keluhan pelanggan terhadap produk yang rusak ataupun
kesalahan dari tenaga marketing di Maxindo. Solusi terbaik yang saya ajukan
adalah Maxindo menyediakan barang berkualitas baik dan supervisor
Maxindo memberikan training kepada staff marketing baru setidaknya selama
seminggu ketika staff marketing baru memulai pekerjaannya.
i
Maranatha Christian University
TABLE OF CONTENTS
ABSTRACT........................................................................................................i
DECLARATION OF ORIGINALITY...................................................................ii
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS................................................................................iii
TABLE OF CONTENTS...................................................................................iv
CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTION......................................................................1-5
A. Background of the Study
B. Identification of the Problem
C. Objectives and Benefits of the Study
D. Description of the Institution
E. Method of the Study
F. Limitation of the Study
G. Organization of the Term Paper
CHAPTER II. PROBLEM ANALYSIS............................................................6-8
CHAPTER III. POTENTIAL SOLUTIONS...................................................9-11
CHAPTER IV. CONCLUSION...................................................................12-13
BIBLIOGRAPHY
APPENDICES:
A. FLOWCHART
iv
Maranatha Christian University
FLOWCHART
Cause1:
The products which customers
buy are broken.
Cause2:
The new marketing staff gives
wrong information to the
customers.
Potential Negative Effects:
1. Maxindo must have a budget
to provide good quality products
because the products are
expensive.
2. Customers with limited
budget cannot buy the
expensive products.
Potential Negative Effects:
1. Waste the new marketing
staff’s time to hold training.
2. Supervisor’s working hours
will be interrupted during the
training because he/she has to
control the new marketing staff
during the training time.
Potential Negative Effects:
1. The feedback does not
guarantee a positive effect on
future performance.
Problem:
Customers’ Complaints
at Maxindo computer
shop.
Potential Solution I:
Maxindo should stock
their shop with good
quality products.
Potential Solution II:
Supervisor of Maxindo
should give training to
new marketing staff at
least once a week when
the marketing staff
starts to work there.
Potential Solution III:
Supervisor of Maxindo
should give a regular
performance feedback
to new marketing staff
about their job
performance.
Effect1:
Customers will be unhappy
about Maxindo.
Effect2:
The business of the shop will
not be successful.
Potential Positive Effects:
1. Good quality products rarely
have problems.
2. Stocking the shop with good
quality products can avoid the
risk of receiving complaints of
broken products.
Potential Positive Effects:
1. New marketing staff can
develop their skills before
starts to work there.
Potential Positive Effects:
1. New marketing can improve
his/her performance from the
feedback.
Chosen Solution:
Potential Solution I & II
Maxindo should stock their shop with good quality products and the
supervisor of Maxindo should give training to new marketing staff at
least once a week when the new marketing staff starts to work there.
CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION
A. Background of the Study
Nowadays a personal computer is used frequently by many people for
working, playing games and doing many other activities. Ralph M. Stair
states that “Personal computers are used in almost every field and
profession” (28). With computers, human work will be more easily done
because computers can do so many things, such as sending emails,
storing data, and searching information on the Internet. In addition,
computers are not only used by people in office, but also by students in
school. From this fact, I chose to have an internship at Maxindo computer
shop because I wanted to expand my knowledge about computers.
When working at Maxindo computer shop, I had to handle some
complaints from customers. There were various kinds of complaints from
the customers. For example, there were complaints about external hard
disc, memory card, wireless connection and some errors that happened
when they turned on their laptop. There was also a customer who
complained about the marketing people who gave wrong information to
1
Maranatha Christian University
him. The complaints, of course, would make the marketing people busy
because it is not easy to handle them. This study aims at discussing the
problem and providing the best solution to handle customers’ complaints in
Maxindo. As a result, Maxindo computer shop can serve the customer in a
satisfying way and build a good relationship with customers.
B. Identification of the Problem
The problems that are discussed in this paper are as follows:
1. Why do the customers complain to Maxindo computer shop?
2. How to handle customers’ complaints in Maxindo computer shop?
C. Objectives and Benefits of the Study
The objectives of this study are as follows:
1. To know what the causes of the complaints at Maxindo computer
shop are.
2. To know what the best solutions to handle the complaints at
Maxindo computer shop are.
By the end of this term paper, I hope the proposed solution can solve
the problem of customers’ complaints that I faced during my internship at
Maxindo.
Hopefully this study will also have a lot of benefits, not only for me, but
also for Maxindo. For me, the benefit is that I can know the best solution
for solving the customers’ complaints. Through this study, I experienced
2
Maranatha Christian University
that dealing with customers’ complaints quite significantly influences the
customer’s decision about where they should go to buy the products.
For Maxindo, the benefit is to know how to build a good relation with
the customers and how to improve their service quality. And, most
importantly, Maxindo can find out the strengths and the weaknesses of
their service in serving the customer so that they can improve their
business.
D. Description of the Institution
Maxindo is one of the computer shops that is located in Bandung
Electronic Centre (BEC) at Lt. 1 blok A8. BEC itself is located at Jl.
Purnawarman no 13-15 Bandung. This shop was opened in 2003 by
Kalim. Before opening this shop, Kalim also worked in BEC in marketing.
After he had enough funds and experience, he decided to open a shop,
using his own money.
Maxindo sells various kinds of laptops such as Axioo, Acer and HP.
Besides laptops, this shop also sells a lot of components and accessories
for computers, such as Motherboard, VGA, external hard disc, keyboard,
mouse, printer, scanner, and flash disk. From year to year, Maxindo
always tries to give good service to their customers, keeps developing,
and becomes more popular. Now, it is well known by many people in
Bandung who want to buy laptops and computer accessories.
3
Maranatha Christian University
E. Method of the Study
The methods of the study used in this paper are my internship journal,
Internet browsing, and library research. My internship journal contained
data which were written during my internship. Internet browsing and library
research were done to collect theories from other sources to support my
data and analysis.
F. Limitations of the Study
The problem stated in this term paper is taken from my internship at
Maxindo computer shop at BEC. The study dealt with the customers’
complaints that I faced when working there. The data were taken from 21
December 2009 until 5 February 2010.
G. Organization of the Term Paper
The research of this study is divided into four chapters. The first
chapter is Introduction, and consists of the Background of the Study,
Identification of the Problem, Objectives and Benefits of the Study,
Description of the Institution, Method of the Study, Limitations of the Study,
and the Organization of the Term Paper. The second chapter deals with
problem analysis, which discusses some factors that cause the problem
and the effects of the problem. It also provides some relevant theories and
examples that support the process of analyzing. The third chapter
discusses potential solutions of the problem. Here, the writer provides
three solutions that can be used to solve the problem, with positive and
4
Maranatha Christian University
negative effects from the given solutions. In the last chapter, which is
chapter four, the writer makes a conclusion which provides the chosen
potential solutions as the best way to solve the problem. This solution is
proposed based on the analysis in the previous chapter. In the last part, I
present the Bibliography and Flowchart.
5
Maranatha Christian University
CHAPTER IV
CONCLUSION
After doing some observations at Maxindo during my internship, I
found that it is not easy to handle complaints from customers. There are
two causes that make the customers complain. First, the products which
customers buy from Maxindo are broken. Second, the marketing people
give wrong information to the customers. As a result of the problem, the
effects are the customers will be unhappy about Maxindo and the shop
business will not be successful. There are three potential solutions to
avoid this problem from becoming worse. First, Maxindo should stock their
shop with good quality products. Second, the supervisor of Maxindo
should give training to new marketing staff at least once a week when the
marketing staff starts to work there. Third, the supervisor of Maxindo
should give regular performance feedback to new marketing staff about
their job performance.
In this chapter, I would like also to present the best solution to help
Maxindo in handling the complaints about the broken products and about
the marketing staff who gives wrong information to the customers. Based
on the analysis of the potential solutions that have already been discussed
in the previous chapter, I decide to choose the first and second
12
Maranatha Christian University
solutions, which are Maxindo should stock their shop with good quality
products and the supervisor of Maxindo should give training to new
marketing staff, at least once a week when the marketing staff starts to
work there.
Training can help the trainees to develop their competencies and
improve their ability to work. Competent employees can make customers
satisfied and can become a good asset for Maxindo. Satisfied customers
will surely become loyal customers. They will increase the income of
Maxindo.
To conclude, stocking good quality products can avoid the risk of
receiving many complaints of broken products, while holding training for
new marketing staff is also very important to improve their competence in
handling complaints and explaining Maxindo’s products, especially for
those who do not have any previous work experience. Thus, Maxindo will
be able to produce employees who are ready to serve and handle the
customers well. I suggest that Maxindo should use solution one first
because if Maxindo stocks their shop with good quality products, people
will remember that Maxindo is a shop that provides good products. After
applying solution one, the training should be held if Maxindo has new staff
with no previous work experience. Hopefully these solutions can help
Maxindo handle the complaints from customers about the broken products
and marketing people who give wrong information to the customers.
13
Maranatha Christian University
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Printed Sources
Cascio, Wayne F. Applied Psychology in Human Resource Management.
New Jersey: Pearson, 2005.
Kotler, Philip. Marketing Management North Western: Prentice Hall, 2003.
Noe, Raymond A. Employee Training and Development. New York:
McGraw Hill, 2005.
Sherman, Arthur W. Managing Human Resources. Cincinnati: Ohio, 2001.
Stair, Ralph M. Computers in Today’s World. North Western: Prentice Hall,
2001.
Ulrich, Karl T. Product Design and Development. New York: McGraw Hill,
2004.
Electronic Sources
Fisher, Tim. “Hard Disk Drive.” About.com. 7 September 2009. 10 April
2010< http://pcsupport.about.com/od/componentprofiles/p/p_hdd.htm>.
Hughes, Tash. “Customer Complaints.” Wordconstructions.com. 2005. 10
April 2010
.
Maranatha Christian University
Maggs, Lee. “What Causes a Slow Computer?.” What Causes a Slow
Computer?. 19 Mar. 2010 EzineArticles. 25 May. 2010
.
Wanish, Heather. “How to Deal with Unhappy Customers.” Suite101.com.
2009. 10 April 2010
.
Maranatha Christian University
Dalam penulisan tugas akhir ini, saya membahas masalah yang saya
hadapi ketika magang di Maxindo. Masalah yang dihadapi adalah keluhan
pelanggan terhadap produk yang rusak seperti memory card, hard disc,
laptop dan kesalahan dari tenaga marketing dalam memberikan informasi
kepada pelanggan toko. Adapun tujuan saya menulis tugas akhir ini adalah
untuk mengetahui secara mendetail mengenai permasalahan yang terjadi
berkaitan dengan keluhan pelanggan yang saya alami dalam pekerjaan saya
sebagai salah satu tenaga marketing selama magang di Maxindo dan
mencari solusi untuk menyelesaikan masalah tersebut.
Dalam tugas akhir ini, saya akan menguraikan hal-hal apa saja yang
menyebabkan keluhan dari pelanggan toko. Keluhan dari pelanggan itu
disebabkan adanya kerusakan terhadap produk yang sudah dibeli dan
adanya kesalahan dari tenaga marketing dalam memberikan informasi
kepada pelanggan toko. Efek dari dua hal diatas adalah pelanggan toko akan
merasa tidak senang akan kualitas barang yang disediakan Maxindo dan
tentunya Maxindo akan mengalami kerugian bila tidak ada orang yang
membeli produknya. Saya juga akan mengajukan beberapa solusi yang
dapat digunakan untuk mengatasi permasalahan tersebut sehingga masalah
tersebut dapat diatasi. Adapun solusi yang saya ajukan adalah Maxindo
menyediakan barang berkualitas baik, supervisor Maxindo memberikan
training kepada staff marketing baru setidaknya selama seminggu ketika staff
marketing baru memulai pekerjaannya, dan supervisor Maxindo memberikan
hasil kinerja staff marketing baru tersebut.
Di bagian penutup dari tugas akhir ini saya akan mengajukan solusi
terbaik yang diharapkan dapat bermanfaat untuk mengatasi permasalahan
dalam menghadapi keluhan pelanggan terhadap produk yang rusak ataupun
kesalahan dari tenaga marketing di Maxindo. Solusi terbaik yang saya ajukan
adalah Maxindo menyediakan barang berkualitas baik dan supervisor
Maxindo memberikan training kepada staff marketing baru setidaknya selama
seminggu ketika staff marketing baru memulai pekerjaannya.
i
Maranatha Christian University
TABLE OF CONTENTS
ABSTRACT........................................................................................................i
DECLARATION OF ORIGINALITY...................................................................ii
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS................................................................................iii
TABLE OF CONTENTS...................................................................................iv
CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTION......................................................................1-5
A. Background of the Study
B. Identification of the Problem
C. Objectives and Benefits of the Study
D. Description of the Institution
E. Method of the Study
F. Limitation of the Study
G. Organization of the Term Paper
CHAPTER II. PROBLEM ANALYSIS............................................................6-8
CHAPTER III. POTENTIAL SOLUTIONS...................................................9-11
CHAPTER IV. CONCLUSION...................................................................12-13
BIBLIOGRAPHY
APPENDICES:
A. FLOWCHART
iv
Maranatha Christian University
FLOWCHART
Cause1:
The products which customers
buy are broken.
Cause2:
The new marketing staff gives
wrong information to the
customers.
Potential Negative Effects:
1. Maxindo must have a budget
to provide good quality products
because the products are
expensive.
2. Customers with limited
budget cannot buy the
expensive products.
Potential Negative Effects:
1. Waste the new marketing
staff’s time to hold training.
2. Supervisor’s working hours
will be interrupted during the
training because he/she has to
control the new marketing staff
during the training time.
Potential Negative Effects:
1. The feedback does not
guarantee a positive effect on
future performance.
Problem:
Customers’ Complaints
at Maxindo computer
shop.
Potential Solution I:
Maxindo should stock
their shop with good
quality products.
Potential Solution II:
Supervisor of Maxindo
should give training to
new marketing staff at
least once a week when
the marketing staff
starts to work there.
Potential Solution III:
Supervisor of Maxindo
should give a regular
performance feedback
to new marketing staff
about their job
performance.
Effect1:
Customers will be unhappy
about Maxindo.
Effect2:
The business of the shop will
not be successful.
Potential Positive Effects:
1. Good quality products rarely
have problems.
2. Stocking the shop with good
quality products can avoid the
risk of receiving complaints of
broken products.
Potential Positive Effects:
1. New marketing staff can
develop their skills before
starts to work there.
Potential Positive Effects:
1. New marketing can improve
his/her performance from the
feedback.
Chosen Solution:
Potential Solution I & II
Maxindo should stock their shop with good quality products and the
supervisor of Maxindo should give training to new marketing staff at
least once a week when the new marketing staff starts to work there.
CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION
A. Background of the Study
Nowadays a personal computer is used frequently by many people for
working, playing games and doing many other activities. Ralph M. Stair
states that “Personal computers are used in almost every field and
profession” (28). With computers, human work will be more easily done
because computers can do so many things, such as sending emails,
storing data, and searching information on the Internet. In addition,
computers are not only used by people in office, but also by students in
school. From this fact, I chose to have an internship at Maxindo computer
shop because I wanted to expand my knowledge about computers.
When working at Maxindo computer shop, I had to handle some
complaints from customers. There were various kinds of complaints from
the customers. For example, there were complaints about external hard
disc, memory card, wireless connection and some errors that happened
when they turned on their laptop. There was also a customer who
complained about the marketing people who gave wrong information to
1
Maranatha Christian University
him. The complaints, of course, would make the marketing people busy
because it is not easy to handle them. This study aims at discussing the
problem and providing the best solution to handle customers’ complaints in
Maxindo. As a result, Maxindo computer shop can serve the customer in a
satisfying way and build a good relationship with customers.
B. Identification of the Problem
The problems that are discussed in this paper are as follows:
1. Why do the customers complain to Maxindo computer shop?
2. How to handle customers’ complaints in Maxindo computer shop?
C. Objectives and Benefits of the Study
The objectives of this study are as follows:
1. To know what the causes of the complaints at Maxindo computer
shop are.
2. To know what the best solutions to handle the complaints at
Maxindo computer shop are.
By the end of this term paper, I hope the proposed solution can solve
the problem of customers’ complaints that I faced during my internship at
Maxindo.
Hopefully this study will also have a lot of benefits, not only for me, but
also for Maxindo. For me, the benefit is that I can know the best solution
for solving the customers’ complaints. Through this study, I experienced
2
Maranatha Christian University
that dealing with customers’ complaints quite significantly influences the
customer’s decision about where they should go to buy the products.
For Maxindo, the benefit is to know how to build a good relation with
the customers and how to improve their service quality. And, most
importantly, Maxindo can find out the strengths and the weaknesses of
their service in serving the customer so that they can improve their
business.
D. Description of the Institution
Maxindo is one of the computer shops that is located in Bandung
Electronic Centre (BEC) at Lt. 1 blok A8. BEC itself is located at Jl.
Purnawarman no 13-15 Bandung. This shop was opened in 2003 by
Kalim. Before opening this shop, Kalim also worked in BEC in marketing.
After he had enough funds and experience, he decided to open a shop,
using his own money.
Maxindo sells various kinds of laptops such as Axioo, Acer and HP.
Besides laptops, this shop also sells a lot of components and accessories
for computers, such as Motherboard, VGA, external hard disc, keyboard,
mouse, printer, scanner, and flash disk. From year to year, Maxindo
always tries to give good service to their customers, keeps developing,
and becomes more popular. Now, it is well known by many people in
Bandung who want to buy laptops and computer accessories.
3
Maranatha Christian University
E. Method of the Study
The methods of the study used in this paper are my internship journal,
Internet browsing, and library research. My internship journal contained
data which were written during my internship. Internet browsing and library
research were done to collect theories from other sources to support my
data and analysis.
F. Limitations of the Study
The problem stated in this term paper is taken from my internship at
Maxindo computer shop at BEC. The study dealt with the customers’
complaints that I faced when working there. The data were taken from 21
December 2009 until 5 February 2010.
G. Organization of the Term Paper
The research of this study is divided into four chapters. The first
chapter is Introduction, and consists of the Background of the Study,
Identification of the Problem, Objectives and Benefits of the Study,
Description of the Institution, Method of the Study, Limitations of the Study,
and the Organization of the Term Paper. The second chapter deals with
problem analysis, which discusses some factors that cause the problem
and the effects of the problem. It also provides some relevant theories and
examples that support the process of analyzing. The third chapter
discusses potential solutions of the problem. Here, the writer provides
three solutions that can be used to solve the problem, with positive and
4
Maranatha Christian University
negative effects from the given solutions. In the last chapter, which is
chapter four, the writer makes a conclusion which provides the chosen
potential solutions as the best way to solve the problem. This solution is
proposed based on the analysis in the previous chapter. In the last part, I
present the Bibliography and Flowchart.
5
Maranatha Christian University
CHAPTER IV
CONCLUSION
After doing some observations at Maxindo during my internship, I
found that it is not easy to handle complaints from customers. There are
two causes that make the customers complain. First, the products which
customers buy from Maxindo are broken. Second, the marketing people
give wrong information to the customers. As a result of the problem, the
effects are the customers will be unhappy about Maxindo and the shop
business will not be successful. There are three potential solutions to
avoid this problem from becoming worse. First, Maxindo should stock their
shop with good quality products. Second, the supervisor of Maxindo
should give training to new marketing staff at least once a week when the
marketing staff starts to work there. Third, the supervisor of Maxindo
should give regular performance feedback to new marketing staff about
their job performance.
In this chapter, I would like also to present the best solution to help
Maxindo in handling the complaints about the broken products and about
the marketing staff who gives wrong information to the customers. Based
on the analysis of the potential solutions that have already been discussed
in the previous chapter, I decide to choose the first and second
12
Maranatha Christian University
solutions, which are Maxindo should stock their shop with good quality
products and the supervisor of Maxindo should give training to new
marketing staff, at least once a week when the marketing staff starts to
work there.
Training can help the trainees to develop their competencies and
improve their ability to work. Competent employees can make customers
satisfied and can become a good asset for Maxindo. Satisfied customers
will surely become loyal customers. They will increase the income of
Maxindo.
To conclude, stocking good quality products can avoid the risk of
receiving many complaints of broken products, while holding training for
new marketing staff is also very important to improve their competence in
handling complaints and explaining Maxindo’s products, especially for
those who do not have any previous work experience. Thus, Maxindo will
be able to produce employees who are ready to serve and handle the
customers well. I suggest that Maxindo should use solution one first
because if Maxindo stocks their shop with good quality products, people
will remember that Maxindo is a shop that provides good products. After
applying solution one, the training should be held if Maxindo has new staff
with no previous work experience. Hopefully these solutions can help
Maxindo handle the complaints from customers about the broken products
and marketing people who give wrong information to the customers.
13
Maranatha Christian University
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Printed Sources
Cascio, Wayne F. Applied Psychology in Human Resource Management.
New Jersey: Pearson, 2005.
Kotler, Philip. Marketing Management North Western: Prentice Hall, 2003.
Noe, Raymond A. Employee Training and Development. New York:
McGraw Hill, 2005.
Sherman, Arthur W. Managing Human Resources. Cincinnati: Ohio, 2001.
Stair, Ralph M. Computers in Today’s World. North Western: Prentice Hall,
2001.
Ulrich, Karl T. Product Design and Development. New York: McGraw Hill,
2004.
Electronic Sources
Fisher, Tim. “Hard Disk Drive.” About.com. 7 September 2009. 10 April
2010< http://pcsupport.about.com/od/componentprofiles/p/p_hdd.htm>.
Hughes, Tash. “Customer Complaints.” Wordconstructions.com. 2005. 10
April 2010
.
Maranatha Christian University
Maggs, Lee. “What Causes a Slow Computer?.” What Causes a Slow
Computer?. 19 Mar. 2010 EzineArticles. 25 May. 2010
.
Wanish, Heather. “How to Deal with Unhappy Customers.” Suite101.com.
2009. 10 April 2010
.
Maranatha Christian University