How to recover from a cockup

Last week in The Voice I reported the following complaint:

I bought a funeral policy in 2013 deducting P181.90 per month. The agent was Mr A who is stationed at Maun. Around February I told Mr A that I want to terminate my policy with effect from March 2015 he then advised me to right a letter which I wrote on the 24 February and faxed it to him and he confirmed to have received it. I was surprised to find that they have deducted money for the month of March 2015 after telling them that I am terminating. I called Mr A and informed him that they have deducted money he then advised me to go to the nearest office for refund. I then went to Francistown branch and I was assisted by Ms B who told me that my policy was not cancelled. She then asked me to write another letter that shows that I have written a letter before and also to request for refund. She told me that she will send my letter to Maun and told me that I will be assisted by Mr C. I called Mr C after they have deducted money for the month of April and he did not assist me until I called their headquarters where I was assisted by Mr D. Mr D advised me to call Mr E who is the manager for Maun branch. I called Mr E and he told me that I am talking to the wrong person I should go back and talk to Mr C since he is the right person who can assist me. Until today I have not been assisted and I am afraid that they will continue deducting money even after cancelling my policy.

I even published a little diagram of the company's response.

Today we heard from the company. This is what they said:

"I acknowledge receipt of the e-mail, thanks a lot Richard for forwarding the e-mail through to us.

I have just called the client and have expressed our sincere apologies for the service lapse. It is clear from the customers complaint that she submitted a cancellation letter in February and has been tossed around ever since. I have as a result committed to the client that we will refund all the premiums from March to date.

We will have an internal investigation into the matter.

We really appreciate the feedback as it helps us improve."

That's how you do it.

1. Thank the person who told you there was a problem.
2. Immediately call the customer and apologise and sound like you really mean it. Use words like "sincerely".
3. Acknowledge the situation.
4. Acknowledge your company's responsibility.
5. Fix it.
6. Find out how it happened.
7. Make sure it's not likely to happen again.

Congratulations to the company involved. If only more companies behaved like this.