What is the purpose of service recovery, and what steps does it typically involve?

• A. To restore satisfaction after service failure; steps include apology, remedy, action, follow-up.
• B. To punish staff.
• C. To ignore the issue.
• D. To escalate to management only.

Answer: (A)

Service recovery is about restoring customer satisfaction after a service failure by actively addressing the customer’s experience. The best answer describes a sequence: start with an apology that shows empathy and ownership, then provide a remedy or compensation to fix the issue, take concrete action to implement the remedy and prevent recurrence, and finally follow up to verify the customer is satisfied and reinforce trust. This approach focuses on the customer's needs and demonstrates accountability, turning a negative experience into an opportunity to strengthen loyalty. Alternatives that condemn staff, ignore the problem, or push issues upward without resolving the customer's concern do not address the customer's immediate needs and won’t rebuild goodwill.