The complaints tree
You need: CMS — view to browse, CMS — edit to add or change, CMS — delete to remove.
The complaints tree is the structure of complaint types used when a customer complaint is logged. It is what makes complaints countable: a tree everyone uses the same way turns individual annoyances into a pattern you can act on.
Browsing
The tree is a hierarchy of nodes — broad categories at the top, specific types beneath. Browse it to see the current structure before changing anything.
Adding and editing a node
Add a node under the right parent, or edit an existing one.
Changing a label changes it everywhere, including on complaints already filed under it. That is usually what you want when correcting wording. It is not what you want when the meaning shifts — if the node should now mean something different, add a new one and stop using the old.
Deleting a node
Delete has its own permission, and for good reason. Removing a node changes how complaints can be categorised from that moment on, and existing complaints filed under it lose the structure that explained them.
Before deleting, ask:
| Question | If yes |
|---|---|
| Have complaints been filed under it? | Prefer stopping its use over deleting it |
| Is it a duplicate of another node? | Consolidate deliberately, and note which absorbed which |
| Was it created by mistake and never used? | Safe to delete |
Keep the tree small
A tree that grows a node per incident stops being useful: with sixty options, nobody picks consistently, and the counts mean nothing.
Two tests before adding a node:
- Would a different person pick this node for the same complaint? If it overlaps an existing one, it will be used inconsistently.
- Would you act differently on this than on its neighbour? If not, it doesn't need to be separate.
Loading many at once
The tree can be loaded from a file rather than built node by node — see CMS - Complaints CSV Upload, which covers the format and the flow in detail.
As with every import, start small and confirm the structure before loading everything.
Related pages
- CMS - Complaints CSV Upload — bulk loading, in detail
- CMS: what it covers — permissions and the two CMS areas
- Logging an incident — the Hub's per-order record, which is a different thing