In April 2026, a JetBlue customer posted a public complaint about a sudden $230 fare increase. JetBlue replied with a well‑intentioned suggestion : Try clearing cookies or booking in an incognito browser. The exchange was quickly screenshotted, shared thousands of times, and swept into a national debate about “surveillance pricing.” Lawmakers weighed in. A proposed class‑action lawsuit followed. The incident wasn’t really about cookies or pricing algorithms. It was about complaint management and what happens when organizations underestimate the costs embedded in customer complaints. Complaints Carry Higher Stakes Than Other Forms Of Feedback Complaints are not just negative feedback. They arise when customers believe something has gone wrong and expect the organization to act . That expectation fundamentally raises the stakes. Emotions run higher, time pressure increases, and trust becomes fragile.…