Closing a Complaint

After working a complaint, you can close it for several reasons. Typically, a complaint is closed once the complaint has been resolved (e.g., closed with explanation or monetary relief).

About this task

You can also close a complaint because it was a duplicate or was found to be invalid. Or the complaint may be closed because it was referred to another agency or to an investigation team.

You can also cancel a complaint. See Canceling a Complaint for more information.

Note: Users with the Complaint Supervisor and Complaint Manager roles can add research and communication to a complaint. See SES Agency System Roles & Consumer Complaints Roles for more information.
Note: You can add or update research and communication to a complaint record even after the complaint is closed. See Adding Research and Communication to a Complaint and Updating Research or Communication for a Complaint
Figure 1. Video: Closing a Complaint

Procedure

  1. Navigate to the complaint.
    The list of all open complaints
  2. Click the Summary or Details tab.
    Click either the Summary tab or the Details tab
  3. Click Close Complaint.
    Close complaint command
  4. Select the close reason.
    Note: Selecting Closed with Monetary Relief allows you to enter an amount and payment date.
    Closed with Monetary Relief option allows you to enter an amount and date
    Note: Selecting Referred to Other Agency allows you to enter the state agency’s name. However, this does not refer the complaint to the agency. You must refer the complaint via the Related Actions page prior to closure. See Complaints Referrals for more information. If the agency you wish to refer the complaint to does not have any complaints users in SES or is a federal agency, you must communicate the referral outside of the system.
    Referring a complaint to another agency when closing
  5. Enter any internal closure notes.
  6. Select whether or not to share closure comments or documents with the company.
  7. Enter any closure comments for the company.
  8. Upload any closure documents.
    Please note the following restrictions with regard to file uploads in SES. It is recommended to use a ZIP folder or File Sharing Links when uploading large files or more than 25 files at a time.
    • File formats supported: SES will accept all file formats, but the following commonly supported file types are recommended: PDF, Word®, Excel®, CSV, ZIP
    • Max file size: 1 GB
    • For files larger than 1 GB1:
      • Use ZIP compression to reduce file to less than 1 GB1
      • Split the file into multiple smaller files
      • Use File Sharing Links.
    • Max no. characters per file name: 200
    • Max no. files per upload: 25, for uploads larger than 25 total files:
      1. Upload first 25.
      2. Select the Save Draft option in Available Next Actions then click the Save Draft button.
        Note: You may need to refresh the screen to see that the files have uploaded to the system.
      3. Return to the response screen to upload the next 25 files and repeat.
    • Total no. files: unlimited
  9. Click Close Complaint.
    Close Complaint button
    Note: You can reopen a complaint after it is closed. See Reopening a Complaint for more information. You can also append notes to a closed complaint. See Appending Notes to a Closed Complaint for more information.
1 For documents uploaded to the Interactions tab, the maximum file size is 25 MB.