Difficult-client service: defect, return, delay and what comes after the complaint

## Difficult-client service: defect, return, delay and what comes after the complaint

One Wednesday in November 2019, a client arrived at the showroom in Goiania with a loud voice. She had bought a pair of earrings on Mother's Day in May. By October, the earrings had darkened. She came back aggressive, talking about Reclame Aqui, Procon, "I will sue." I asked her to wait, sat with her at a corner round table, offered a glass of water, asked what had happened from the beginning, and let her speak for seven minutes without interrupting. When she finished, I did four things in sequence. Within fifteen minutes the client left smiling, with her earrings cleaned, with a complimentary new pendant, and three months later she came back to buy a necklace and two rings. That furious client became one of my top 20 in repurchase. This lesson is about the four-step Herreira protocol that turns complaints into loyalty.