E-commerce customer complaints: an after-sales playbook

In a cash-on-delivery store the customer pays at the door, opens the parcel, and only then finds out whether you kept your promise. That is where after-sales begins: the dress runs a size small, the blender arrives with a cracked jug, the box holds two items instead of three, or the customer simply wants to know how to use what they bought. This guide is about what happens after delivery: how to receive a complaint, decide what to do, close it and learn from it. Keeping buyers informed while the parcel is in transit, the legal rules on returns and how to collect honest reviews each have their own guide on this blog, so we do not repeat them here.

Why complaint handling weighs more in COD

Moroccan buyers do complain, and more and more of them do it in writing. According to Hespress, more than 2,400 complaints were filed on the national consumer portal Khidmat-almostahlik.ma in 2023, and 22% of them concerned online commerce. They cover non-conforming products, disputes over the right of withdrawal, refunds or cancelled orders, and late deliveries. The president of the Moroccan Federation of Consumer Rights adds that many victims never come forward or do not know the complaint procedures exist, so the official count understates the problem.

The ministry's own reading is telling. At the 2025 Moroccan Consumer Day, a control official explained that more than 60% of e-commerce complaints received through the national portal concern informal online selling, notably on Instagram or Facebook, often by anonymous sellers with no legal notices, no contract terms and no right of withdrawal. Put differently, a store that states who it is, how to reach it and what it does when something goes wrong already stands apart from the crowd.

The commercial case is just as strong. A study of online buyers in 15 European countries, published by researchers at the Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences, found that customers who had a problem and complained showed higher repurchase intentions than customers who had no reason to complain at all. The highest intentions came from those who complained and were satisfied with how their complaint was handled. A complaint handled well is not a cost to minimise; it is one of the few moments when a buyer really tests whether you can be trusted.

The opposite is measurable too. In an April 2025 survey of 1,500 US adults by Gradient Labs, 75% of consumers ranked long waiting times as a major customer service frustration, and only 11% said all of their customer service inquiries are resolved. Different market, same human reaction: a customer who waits without an answer eventually looks for someone else who will listen.

The complaints a COD store actually receives

Before building a process, take stock. Most cash-on-delivery stores receive the same families of requests again and again. Knowing them lets you prepare the question to ask and the remedy to offer, instead of improvising on every call.

Notice that some of these problems start with you (packing, the product page, the choice of supplier) and others start in transport. For the customer the distinction does not exist: they bought from you, so the problem is yours to solve, even if you then turn to the carrier or the supplier yourself.

One obvious way to reach you

An unhappy customer who cannot find how to reach you leaves a public comment under your ad, or goes elsewhere. Make the path obvious:

• show the same phone and WhatsApp number on the product page, in the confirmation message and on a small card slipped into the parcel;
• publish your reply hours and keep to them: a customer who knows the answer comes tomorrow morning waits calmly, while one who knows nothing gets angry;
• where possible, use the number that confirmed the order, because the customer recognises it and picks up;
• when a complaint lands as a public comment, answer once, politely, and offer to continue in private;
• put your legal notice, your terms of sale and the way you handle disputes in writing. Those are exactly the details missing from the informal sellers behind most complaints.

Waiting is the top frustration in the Gradient Labs survey. A quick acknowledgement ("We have your message and will get back to you before noon") beats a perfect answer that arrives three days later.

A five-step complaint process

1. Acknowledge. The same day, within your hours. Thank the customer for telling you and restate the problem in their own words so they know you understood.
2. Log it. Order number, date, channel, type of complaint and what the customer is asking for. All in one place the team shares, never on one agent's personal phone. A complaint that is not written down is a complaint that gets forgotten.
3. Establish the facts. Photos or a short video, a check of how the order was packed, the carrier's history for the parcel. Ask for what is useful, not for proof nobody could provide, and keep suspicion out of your tone: most customers are acting in good faith.
4. Propose a remedy. One clear option, two at most, with a date and an answer to the touchy question of who pays for shipping.
5. Close and check. Confirm in writing what was agreed, call the customer back once the exchange or refund has arrived, and mark the complaint resolved only after they confirm it.

Decide in advance who can decide what. An agent should be able to grant a small goodwill gesture or a simple exchange alone, up to a limit you set. Above it, a manager decides, the same day. A customer passed from person to person experiences the worst version of your service.

Exchange, replacement, refund or goodwill gesture

The right remedy depends on the cause and on what the customer wants, not on a single rule.

• An exchange suits size or colour mistakes. Run it like a new delivery: the courier brings the right item and collects the wrong one on the same visit when your carrier allows it.
• A replacement is the answer to a damaged or faulty product. Do not insist on getting back a worthless item before you ship the new one; the delay costs more than the item.
• A refund raises a question specific to COD: the customer paid in cash. Agree on a bank transfer or a mobile wallet, confirm the date in writing and keep to it.
• A goodwill gesture (a voucher, free delivery on the next order, a small gift) repairs a disappointment that does not justify a return. In the Gradient Labs survey, 71% of consumers believe businesses should financially reimburse customers for poor customer service, so acknowledging the time lost is part of the fix.

On the legal side, Moroccan law covers distance and internet selling and, as the law firm CMS summarises it, sets out the information and withdrawal periods specific to that trade. Law 31-08 also lists 17 types of abusive clauses, including clauses that aim to remove or reduce the right to reparation. A "no returns, no exchanges" line in your terms therefore does not protect you; it exposes you. The right of withdrawal itself is covered in detail in a dedicated guide on this blog.

What to say, and what never to say

Tone matters as much as the remedy. A customer who feels heard accepts a delay, or an exchange instead of a refund, far more easily.

• Open by apologising for the trouble, without arguing about fault: "I'm sorry about this, let's sort it out together."
• Restate: "If I understand correctly, you received size M instead of L."
• Announce what happens next, with a date: "The right item ships tomorrow and the courier collects the other one on the same visit."
• Close with a check: "Does that work for you?"

Never say: "It's the courier's fault", "All our other customers are happy", or "You should have checked at delivery". There may be some truth in them, but they turn a complaint into a fight. In Morocco many customers prefer a call or a voice note in Darija to a long text, and the wording in our Darija call scripts adapts easily to after-sales.

When the customer goes to the authorities

A customer who gets no answer has other options. On the national portal, as Médias24 describes it, the complaint is forwarded to the competent body, mainly the administrations or the consumer associations, and the complainant receives a number to follow the case. Since 2016 a ministry unit has monitored online stores and handled the complaints filed through that portal. In 2024, according to Hespress, nearly 200 control operations led to warnings and six official reports against offenders. Consumer associations and national federations can also take legal action.

The Gradient Labs survey shows how common escalation is when customer service fails: 51% of consumers say they have taken their complaints further, and 13% filed a government complaint. The best defence stays the same: having answered fast, having offered a remedy, and being able to prove it with your complaint log. If an administration or an association contacts you, reply with facts, dates and the messages exchanged, never by attacking the customer.

Turn complaints into fixes

A complaint that is settled but never analysed comes back the following week as a refused parcel or a return. Once a month, open your log and count:

• complaints by type and by product: a product that collects "doesn't look like the photo" complaints needs a new product page, not a better script;
• packing mistakes: missing items and wrong sizes point to a labelling problem or a missing check before the parcel is sealed;
• transport damage, by carrier and by city;
• the time from first message to resolution, and how many customers had to chase you.

Link those numbers to your return rate; our guide to measuring and cutting your COD return rate shows how. And a customer whose problem was solved well is often the best person to leave an honest review; how to ask is the subject of another article on this blog.

Where Cashod fits

Cashod includes a call center where agents confirm COD orders by phone. That team already talks to your customers every day, which makes it the natural place to take after-sales calls too. Cashod can also confirm orders over WhatsApp, including with an AI agent, which frees human time for the delicate cases.

Cashod tracks returned parcels, and each carrier's delivery and return fees are set per city, so you know what an exchange costs before you offer it. One Cashod account can manage several stores, which helps when a single support team answers for several brands.

And for your own questions as a seller, Cashod support answers by email, chat and phone, Monday to Friday, 9 AM to 6 PM GMT (Morocco time).