Customer Service Skills Test Question 21 – Responding when personal information is sent to the wrong customer
Read the background and customer communication, then choose the response you would be most likely to give. Repeat the task after the customer follow-up.
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Background
A customer calls because their envelope contained a letter addressed to another person with private financial information. Your service has a data incident process and a secure method for returning or destroying misdirected material.
Customer communication
Customer: You have sent me someone else’s private information. What am I supposed to do with it?
Which response would you be most likely to give?
Response A
Put the letter back in the post marked “not known at this address”. That will correct the problem.
Response B
Read me the other person’s details so I can find the case and tell you what happened.
Response C
I am sorry. Please do not share the information. I will record the incident, explain the secure return or destruction options and check whether your own letter is missing.
Customer follow-up
The customer says they already posted a photograph of the letter on social media to show how serious the mistake was.
Which response would you be most likely to give next?
Response A
Please remove the photograph as soon as you can because it exposes another person’s information. I will add this to the incident report, explain the next steps and confirm how we will address your missing correspondence.
Response B
If you remove it now, I will keep the social media post out of the incident record.
Response C
The post is your responsibility, so the service no longer needs to report the original error.
Click to reveal the answers
- Initial customer communication: Response C
- Customer follow-up: Response A
Members can unlock the full explanation for all six responses, including why the recommended replies are strongest and what makes the other choices weaker or unsafe.
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