Templates and records · ISO 26000:2010 · Clause 6.7.6
ISO 26000 consumer complaints record template
How complaints from people who use the products or services are received, answered and resolved, and what the company learns from them.
In one sentence
The consumer complaints record logs each complaint, its channel, the response time, the solution offered and whether a dispute resolution scheme was used, and it is good practice for applying the consumer service, support and complaint resolution issue covered in clause 6.7.6 of ISO 26000.
- Where the standard requires it
- ISO 26000:2010 · Clause 6.7.6 Clauses are cited using the numbering of ISO 26000:2010, the only edition published. As it is a guidance standard, no template is mandatory: all are listed as good practice.
- Type of information
- Good practice Good practice: ISO 26000 is a guidance standard (clause 6.7.6)
- Who fills it in
- Customer service Quality analyses the causes; management reviews the trends
- When
- As each complaint comes in With a defined and published response time
- How long it is kept
- Decided by the organisation As a guidance standard, ISO 26000 sets no retention periods. Keeping several years’ worth lets you show progress over time, which is what stakeholders value most.
What the standard requires
What ISO 26000:2010 demands and what it leaves to your judgement
The guidance recommends offering consumers accessible ways to complain, reviewing complaints and improving practices in response, providing adequate warranties and making the available dispute resolution mechanisms known.
Unlike complaint handling in a quality management system, the focus here is on the consumer as the weaker party: an accessible channel, attention to vulnerable groups and use of alternative dispute resolution.
Structure
Fields the template should include
- Date, channel and consumer (no unnecessary personal data)
- Product or service and reason
- Whether the consumer belongs to a vulnerable group
- Response, timescale and solution
- Satisfaction with the solution
- Use of mediation or arbitration, if any
- Cause and nonconformity opened, where applicable
Example
Example: complaint about spoiled produce (invented data)
Company, people and figures are fictitious: the example only shows what a properly completed record looks like.
| Field | Content |
|---|---|
| Date and channel | 3 August 2026 · web form |
| Reason | Tray of tomatoes with mould before the use-by date |
| Response | Within 48 hours: apology, refund and explanation of the investigation |
| Cause | Cold chain break at one of the customer’s distribution centres · reported to the customer |
| Nonconformity | NC-2026-061 in the quality system |
| Trend | Third similar complaint from the same centre this month · joint review with the customer |
At the audit
Mistakes auditors commonly flag
- Complaints are answered but neither logged nor analysed.
- The only channel is a phone line during office hours.
- Consumers are not told about external complaint routes.
- Repeated complaints do not trigger a nonconformity.
In Kimobox
How this record is kept in Kimobox
- 1Customer complaints are handled in the Kimobox quality software.
- 2A justified complaint opens a nonconformity with mandatory root cause analysis.
- 3Satisfaction indicators are tracked on the dashboard.
- 4This subject is linked to the data protection policy.
Frequently asked questions
What people ask us before getting started
What does ISO 26000 add to ISO 9001 complaint handling?
The consumer’s perspective: an accessible channel, protection of vulnerable groups, information on external resolution routes and using complaints to improve practices, not just products.
What personal data should be kept?
Only what is essential to respond and follow up. The guidance includes consumer data protection as an issue in its own right within this subject.
Keep your ISO 26000:2010 records without loose templates
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This subject covers fair marketing practices, data protection, and truthful information to customers.
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Sources
Where each figure comes from
References to the official text in force. If a standard is revised, this page is updated and the review date says so.
- ISO 26000:2010 — Guidance on social responsibility ISO · 2010 ed.