‘My Problem Solved, That's All !!’: A Phenomenological Approach to Consumer Complaint Redressal in Malaysia

This paper presents the process of complaint redressal from the perspectives of consumers through their lived experiences. It also attempts to highlight the peculiarities in behaviour exhibited by Malaysian consumers when their complaints/grievances have been sorted out. Based on phenomenological interviews conducted with the consumers, the complaint redressal process is discussed on the basis of their experiences in situations involving dissatisfaction arising from the usage of a product or service. The findings reveal that consumers in certain situations leave no stone unturned in gaining the support from different sources when they face a problem related to a product or service. They may also make use of different consumer associations/forums for having their problems voiced and tackled through. However, as soon as their issue is sorted out by the concerned product/service provider, they may just disappear without taking the pain to inform back the consumer associations which made all possible efforts to take forward the complaints with the concerned organization. In such situations, the consumer associations might have to face several difficulties and challenges which might further hamper their abilities, strengths and motivation to offer support to the aggrieved consumers in future.