Public Complaint in Islamic Management: Its Relationship with Customer Satisfaction Achievement

Abstract

Public complaint management (PCM) is important in determining customer satisfaction. Unsatisfied customers can tarnish the organisation’s image and the achievement of customer satisfaction (ACS). This study analyses public complaints from contemporary and Islamic perspectives with a case study at the Lembaga Tabung Haji (TH) in Malaysia. It aims to examine the concepts through how public complaints are governed by the Islamic agency, i.e., TH Malaysia, and investigate whether the PCM has achieved customer satisfaction and is in line with Islamic principles. TH has served the public trust for decades since 1970, but complaints seemed to have no end. Among the customer complaints are poor staff service, such as not being customer friendly, and inefficient services, such as pilgrims getting stranded at the airport. Although customer complaints always occur, studies on PCM in Islamic agencies are still lacking. Due to that, this study chose TH as a case study. The three approaches of Islam, contemporary perspectives and a case study make this study stand out as a robust discussion and further contribute to its novelty. This study uses qualitative methods through structured interviews, literature reviews, and document reviews. It is analysed through descriptive, thematic and document analysis methods. The study found that the highest complaint received by TH was about customer service. However, in order to achieve public satisfaction, TH provided eight physical and online public complaint channels. Overall, the study argues that systematic PCM remains a key concern for achieving customer satisfaction. If public complaints are left unaddressed, it may lead to ineffective governance, customer dissatisfaction and a bad image for Islamic agencies in the long term.