Decoding Consumer Complaints

This is a project based on consumer complaints received by the Bank of America during 2017-2023. The data used for this analysis contains 62,516 records. The data cleaning was done using Excel and Power BI was used for data visualization.

This project is carried out in two phases.

Phase 1: Data Cleaning

The data available for analysis was almost clean except for null values. The null values were categorized after studying the categories thoroughly.

A new column was added to calculate the difference between the complaint received and the complaint submitted.

Under the timely response column, a new response type 'under process' was added to those complaints that showed the company's response to the customer as 'in progress'.

Phase 2: Data Visualization and Analysis

Power BI was used for visualizing and analyzing the data.

Business Questions Answered

• Through this analysis, I have tried to learn if there are any seasonal patterns in consumer complaints.
• Products having maximum complaints and the most common issues.
• The complaint resolution process.
• Study about the complaints having untimely responses.

Data Insights:

1. The data of 51 states is available for complaint analysis from the period of 2017-2023.

2. There are 9 types of products under which the customer has identified the complaint.

3. A total of 46 sub-products are available to the customer to identify the complaint.

4. The total number of issues that the customer has identified within the complaint is 76.

5. 164 sub-issues are identified within the complaint.

6. The time taken by the company to resolve the complaint is 1.22 days on average.

7. The complaints are submitted via Web Referral, Web, Postal Mail, Referral, Fax, Email, and Phone.

8. Around 94% of the time, the company gave a timely response.

9. The highest resolving time on average is 2.13 days for the product 'Student Loan' and the lowest was 0.74 days for the product 'Credit Reporting, Credit Repair Services, or Other Personal Consumer Products'.

10. The year 2022 received the highest number of complaints at 12,939.

11. The complaints peaked during July- August.

12. The complaints submitted via the Web were highest at 45,423.

13)The product with the highest issue is a checking or Savings Account, The product with the lowest issue is a Payday Loan, Title Loan, and Personal Loan.

14. A total of 1494 complaints given in the year 2023 are categorized as the 'Under progress' category of the company's response and the customer is yet to receive a reply.

15. The state CA has submitted the highest number of complaints.

16. A total of 2403 complaints received untimely responses. The year 2021 had the highest untimely response at 1224.

17. The complaints submitted in June received the highest untimely response and December received the least untimely response.

18. The complaints received were highest for the issue 'Managing an Account' at 15,109.

Recommendation:

1. An analysis must be done on why 2403 complaints received untimely responses and steps should be taken to improve the response time.

2. The response time can be improved by implementing an automated system and allocating more resources to handle complaints during peak times.

3. For the products with the highest issues, a root cause analysis must be carried out. Once the causes are identified, the company can address them through improvements in product features, policy changes, or customer service training.

4. The company should ensure efficiency and consistency across all the channels through which the complaints are submitted.

5. State-specific strategies should be implemented to address the unique challenges faced by the customer in a particular region. This could be achieved through localized customer support initiatives.

6. Monitoring the complaint trends continuously could help in identifying the areas for improvement.

7. Seeking feedback from the customers on their experience in the complaint resolution services can help in improving the company's complaint-handling process.

8. Training and Development programs should be incorporated for the customer service representatives to ensure that they have the necessary skills and knowledge to address the complaints.