A Match Made in Heaven: Customer Complaints & Adverse Media
Why Customer Complaints and Adverse Media Make Such a Good Couple for Vendor Risk Monitoring
Screening potential vendors for customer complaints and adverse media is a must-have step in the due diligence process1. For years, organizations have relied on manual searches in traditional media to uncover red flags like fraud, legal issues, or sanctions tied to vendors. However, due to regulations, there is a growing interest in AI-powered solutions to monitor global news and media sources for negative news related to vendors. These solutions often offer the option to continuously monitor for alerts based on specific keywords or topics to catch negative information quickly.
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has emphasized that vendor monitoring will be a key focus area in 20253.
Additionally, websites like Trustpilot, Glassdoor, and the Better Business Bureau (BBB) are great for gathering snapshots of customer complaints, employee feedback, and general ratings. However, few providers offer the decisive advantage of ongoing monitoring that sends alerts for specific keywords or issues—think fraud, environmental breaches, or data leaks—enabling users to catch critical negative information right when it surfaces.
This is a missed opportunity because customer complaints and adverse media complement each other very well for vendor risk monitoring. Each provides unique insights into potential risks associated with the third party, creating a fuller picture of the vendor’s reputation and reliability.
In this blog we explore why adverse media monitoring and customer complaint monitoring complement each other and we discuss the unique offering of Owlin, which combines these two valuable sources.
Why News Checks and Customer Complaints Complement Each Other so Well for Risk Monitoring
Direct Feedback vs. Underlying Risks
Adverse media captures news stories, legal issues, or regulatory violations that might not be immediately evident in customer feedback. It can include reports of fraud, environmental violations, legal disputes, or any negative press that might indicate underlying risks.
On the other hand, customer complaints provide direct feedback from individuals who have interacted with the company. These complaints often focus on service quality, product issues, delivery delays, and customer support problems. When these complaints are aggregated, they can reveal recurring operational challenges or a failure to meet customer expectations, which might not always make headlines but are significant for day-to-day business risks.
Understanding the Impact of Early Warning Signals Better
Combining both sources allows companies to act on early signals of vendor instability. For instance, if adverse media reports indicate that a vendor is involved in a lawsuit or facing regulatory scrutiny, customer complaints could provide insight into how those issues affect client experiences. Conversely, a surge in customer complaints could prompt further investigation, revealing negative media coverage highlighting the root causes, such as financial distress or operational mismanagement.
Visibility into Both Internal and External Challenges
Adverse media alerts often illuminate external challenges vendors face, such as market fluctuations, legal battles, or public scandals, that could impact their long-term viability. Customer complaints, on the other hand, reveal internal challenges like staffing shortages, communication gaps, or product quality issues that may affect daily operations. The combination of the two sources can help to understand how internal and external pressures might influence the vendor’s ability to deliver consistent service, giving a fuller view of their operational resilience.
Enhancing Decision-Making with Contextualized Risk Data
At Owlin, we want to give our customers the best possible insights to make informed decisions. That’s why we created Owlin Monitoring, a solution that includes both customer complaints and adverse media monitoring in your vendor monitoring process that together don’t just deliver isolated data points; they provide context.
With Owlin Monitoring, you can continuously track adverse media and customer complaints worldwide across 17 languages, ensuring you’re always notified about risks that matter. Owlin empowers you to set up tailored alerts on specific vendors or even easily manage an entire portfolio. Owlin Monitoring allows you to dive deep into specific entities, delivering accurate and actionable insights to stay on top of evolving risks.
Our advanced algorithms and AI-driven insights ensure comprehensive, near-real-time news monitoring across over three million sources, minimizing noise and false positives. Owlin also integrates seamlessly with existing workflows, from ServiceNow to Salesforce, ensuring smooth, efficient processes. Owlin’s sophisticated analysis and clustering gives you a clear view of interconnected facts and emerging patterns, supporting well-informed decision-making.
Ready to Add Adverse Media Insights and Customer Complaints Data to Your Vendor Risk Management Process?
Adverse media may reveal the who, what, and why behind a headline-grabbing scandal or regulatory breach, while customer complaints often illustrate how these issues translate into everyday customer experiences. By viewing these sources side-by-side, you will gain a clearer understanding of the practical implications of risks. This helps you make informed, data-backed decisions, based on the severity and persistence of issues, about vendor relationships.
Contact us
To explore how Owlin Monitoring can optimize your vendor risk management strategy, reach out today to schedule a free demo and experience the platform firsthand.
Sources
- Venminder (2021), How to onboard a new vendor
- Harvard Law School Forum on Corporate Governance, 2024, 2025 SEC Division of Examinations Priorities