{
  "schema_version": "1.1",
  "id": "26-unhappy-customers-dont-complain",
  "slug": "26-unhappy-customers-dont-complain",
  "url": "https://groundedkit.com/claims/26-unhappy-customers-dont-complain/",
  "api_url": "https://groundedkit.com/api/claims/26-unhappy-customers-dont-complain.json",
  "claim": "For every customer who complains, 26 others stay silent",
  "commonly_cited_as": "\"Only 1 in 26 unhappy customers complains\" (Lee Resource / TARP)",
  "verdict": "unsourced",
  "verdict_definition": "No primary data found; the trail ends in a roundup, a disowned quote or a circular citation.",
  "confidence": "medium",
  "rating": {
    "value": 1,
    "best": 5,
    "worst": 1
  },
  "origin": {
    "publisher": "None found — attributed to 'Lee Resource Inc' or 'TARP Research 1999'",
    "title": "Customer-service fact lists",
    "year": "Undated (claimed 1999 or earlier)"
  },
  "quote": "For every customer who bothers to complain, 26 other customers remain silent. Source: Lee Resource Inc",
  "method": "None we could find: fact lists cite Lee Resource Inc or a 1999 TARP study without a title, sample or link.",
  "drift": [
    "Attribution: two different claimed origins, neither with a findable document"
  ],
  "interest": "n/a",
  "safe_rephrasing": "Most dissatisfied customers never complain, so complaint counts understate problems; the exact '1 in 26' ratio has no findable study behind it.",
  "sources": [
    {
      "title": "Customer Service Manager — Customer Service Facts (cites Lee Resource Inc)",
      "url": "https://customerservicemanager.com/customer-service-facts/",
      "primary": false
    },
    {
      "title": "Provide Support — cites 'TARP Research 1999'",
      "url": "https://www.providesupport.com/blog/5-reasons-unhappy-customers-dont-complain/",
      "primary": false
    }
  ],
  "kind": "stat_check",
  "as_of": "Attributed to sources from 1999 or earlier; no dated document found",
  "last_checked": "2026-10-16",
  "stale": false,
  "date_reviewed": "2026-10-16",
  "license": "CC BY 4.0",
  "license_url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"
}