‘I need to get some details first’
Record keeping as a potential barrier to effective complaint-call management
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1558/mtp.v1i1.29483Keywords:
complaint, dispute resolution, helplinesAbstract
In this article, I examine audio recordings of telephone calls to an independent dispute resolution service in which customers complained about their electricity, gas or water providers. Part of the job of the intake officers (who answer the calls) is to enter relevant information about the caller and the complaint into a computer software system called RESOLVE. A dataset of 120 calls were analysed using conversation analysis. Although there was no fixed order for registering caller and complaint details, intake officers regularly prioritised registering caller details. Sometimes that meant interrupting callers as they were describing their problem. On the whole, callers who were interrupted co-operated with the intake officer, but an analysis of a call is presented where the caller did not co-operate. The findings support a recommendation for flexibility in the order of activities that achieve telephone-mediated dispute resolution. Being flexible is most likely to effectively progress the interaction to accomplish the institution’s business in this case. Flexibility may be a general principle for the delivery of an effective dispute resolution service.
References
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Robinson, J. D. (2003) An interactional structure of medical activities during acute visits and its implications for patient participation Health Communication 15(1): 27–59. http://dx.doi.org/10.1207/S15327027HC1501_2
Sacks, H., Schegloff, E. A. and Jefferson, G. (1974) A simplest systematics for the organization of turn-taking for conversation. Language 50(4): 696–735. http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/412243
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Schegloff, E. M. (2005) On complainability. Social Problems 52: 449–76. http://dx.doi.org/10.1525/sp.2005.52.4.449
Schegloff, E. A. (2007) Sequence Organisation in Interaction: A Primer in Conversation Analysis. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511791208
Schegloff, E. A. and Sacks, H. (1973) Opening up closings. Semiotica 7: 289–327. http://dx.doi.org/10.1515/semi.1973.8.4.289
Stokoe, E. (2013) Overcoming barriers to mediation in intake calls to services: research-based strategies for mediators. Negotiation Journal 29(3): 289–314. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/nejo.12026
Stokoe, E. (2014) The Conversation Analytic Role-play Method (CARM): a method for training communication skills as an alternative to simulated role-play. Research on Language and Social Interaction 47(3): 255–65. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/08351813.2014.925663
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Weatherall, A. and Stubbe, M. (2014) Emotions in action: telephone-mediated dispute resolution. British Journal of Social Psychology. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/bjso.12082
Zimmerman, D. H. (1992) The interactional organization of calls for emergency assistance. In P. Drew and J. Heritage (eds) Talk at Work: Interaction in Institutional Settings 418–69. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Baker, C. D., Emmison, M. and Firth, A. (2005b) Calibrating for competence in calls to technical support. In Baker et al. (2005a): 39–62. http://dx.doi.org/10.1075/pbns.143.05bak
Butler, C. W., Danby, S. and Emmison, M. (2015) Empowerment as practical action: avoiding giving advice in telephone counselling for children and young people. In F. Chevalier and J. Moore (eds) Constraints and Interactional Restrictions in Institutional Talk: Studies in Conversation Analysis 83–115. Amsterdam: John Benjamin Publishing Company. http://dx.doi.org/10.1075/pbns.255.03but
Dewar, J. (2011) An ethnographic and conversation analytic account of complaints to an industry ombudsman. Master’s thesis, Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand.
Drew, P. and Walker, T. (2009) Going too far: complaining, escalating and disaffiliation. Journal of Pragmatics 41(12): 2400–14. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.pragma.2008.09.046
Edwards, D. (2007) Introduction. Research on Language and Social Interaction 40(1): 1–7. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/08351810701331190
Edwards, D. and Stokoe, E. (2007) Self-help in calls for help with problem neighbors. Research on Language and Social Interaction 40(1): 9–32. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/08351810701331208
Firth, A., Emmison, M. and Baker, C. D. (2005) Calling for help: an introduction In Baker et al. (2005a): 133–51. http://dx.doi.org/10.1075/pbns.143.03fir
Gaines, P. (2011) The multifunctionality of discourse operator okay: evidence from a police interview. Journal of Pragmatics 43(14): 3291–315. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.pragma.2011.06.005
Heritage, J. and Maynard, D. (2006) Introduction: analyzing primary care encounters. In J. Heritage and D. Maynard (eds) Communication in Medical Care: Interactions between Primary Care Physicians and Patients 1–21. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Jefferson, G. (1984) Transcription notation. In J. Atkinson and J. Heritage (eds) Structures of Social Interaction 346–69. New York: Cambridge University Press.
Jefferson, G. (1988) On the sequential organization of troubles-talk in ordinary conversation. Social Problems 45: 418–41. http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/800595
Levinson, S. C. (2013) Action formation and ascription. In T. Stivers and J. Sidnell (eds) The Handbook of Conversation Analysis 103–30. Malden, MA: Wiley-Blackwell. http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/9781118325001.ch6
Raymond, G. (2003) Grammar and social organization: yes/no type interrogatives and the structure of responding. American Sociological Review 68: 939–67. http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/1519752
Robinson, J. D. (2003) An interactional structure of medical activities during acute visits and its implications for patient participation Health Communication 15(1): 27–59. http://dx.doi.org/10.1207/S15327027HC1501_2
Sacks, H., Schegloff, E. A. and Jefferson, G. (1974) A simplest systematics for the organization of turn-taking for conversation. Language 50(4): 696–735. http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/412243
Schegloff, E. A. (1968) Sequencing in conversational openings. American Anthropologist 70: 1075–95. http://dx.doi.org/10.1525/aa.1968.70.6.02a00030
Schegloff, E. M. (2001) Accounts of conduct in interaction: interruption, overlap and turn-taking. In J. H. Turner (ed.) Handbook of Sociological Theory 287–321. New York: Kluwer Academic/Plenum Publishers. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/0-387-36274-6_15
Schegloff, E. M. (2005) On complainability. Social Problems 52: 449–76. http://dx.doi.org/10.1525/sp.2005.52.4.449
Schegloff, E. A. (2007) Sequence Organisation in Interaction: A Primer in Conversation Analysis. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511791208
Schegloff, E. A. and Sacks, H. (1973) Opening up closings. Semiotica 7: 289–327. http://dx.doi.org/10.1515/semi.1973.8.4.289
Stokoe, E. (2013) Overcoming barriers to mediation in intake calls to services: research-based strategies for mediators. Negotiation Journal 29(3): 289–314. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/nejo.12026
Stokoe, E. (2014) The Conversation Analytic Role-play Method (CARM): a method for training communication skills as an alternative to simulated role-play. Research on Language and Social Interaction 47(3): 255–65. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/08351813.2014.925663
Weatherall, A. (2015) ‘But whose side are you on?’ Doing being independent in telephone-mediated dispute resolution. In F. Chevalier and J. Moore (eds) Producing and Managing Restricted Activities: Avoidance and Withholding in Institutional Interaction 151–79. Amsterdam: John Benjamin Publishing Company.
Weatherall, A. and Stubbe, M. (2014) Emotions in action: telephone-mediated dispute resolution. British Journal of Social Psychology. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/bjso.12082
Zimmerman, D. H. (1992) The interactional organization of calls for emergency assistance. In P. Drew and J. Heritage (eds) Talk at Work: Interaction in Institutional Settings 418–69. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Published
2016-06-04
Issue
Section
Research Articles
How to Cite
Weatherall, A. (2016). ‘I need to get some details first’: Record keeping as a potential barrier to effective complaint-call management. Mediation Theory and Practice, 1(1), 35-58. https://doi.org/10.1558/mtp.v1i1.29483
