Created almost 10 years ago by Pedro Lourenço – after needing to file a complaint and receiving no response from the brand or from consumer protection and regulatory bodies – the Complaint Portal remains true to its objective of streamlining, strengthening, and facilitating communication between brands and customers, in an impartial manner and without interfering in the complaint process.
“ It’s truly a point of no return. Nowadays, almost no brands avoid having a public relationship with their customers, due to the exponential increase in the use of social media and the internet in general. Ten years ago, a public complaint against a brand that went unanswered and unaddressed online was a major problem. Today, it’s considered negligent on the part of brand managers, as it jeopardizes their reputation due to a breach of trust and lack of proximity. Today’s consumer decides where and when they want to file their complaint, as they have acquired that power, and that should be respected ,” says Pedro Lourenço, CEO and founder of Portal da Queixa.
Today, the “ largest consumer social network in Portugal ” has over 300 registered users and an average of nine thousand new registrations each month. With one million unique visitors per month, generating three million monthly pageviews, the Portal da Queixa received an average of 250 complaints per day between January and December 2018 (close to 90 per year). However, it is noteworthy that 98% of visitors do not file a complaint; they only view the complaints of the mere 2% who do. “ While, a few years ago, the relationship between brand and consumer was mostly private, today, brands are publicly tested and evaluated on how they resolve problems with their customers. Thus, today's consumer – increasingly online – seeks to obtain assurance of trust in the brand through the opinions of other consumers on platforms like Portal da Queixa, and this has a very large impact on the real perception they have of brands in the market .”
Trust and reputation have thus become influential factors in purchasing decisions, leading to a growing concern on the part of brands to respond to and resolve customer dissatisfaction. Approximately 70% of complaints received and approved on the Complaint Portal in 2018 received a response.
