Procon and Reclame Aqui complaints: how to respond

A complaint is the moment a clinic finds out whether it has a process or only good intentions. It arrives as a notice from a consumer protection agency (in Brazil, Procon), as a public vent on a complaint platform (such as Reclame Aqui) or as an angry message in your Instagram DMs. The natural reaction is to defend yourself, explain everything and show that the patient was wrong. In healthcare, that impulse is dangerous: what feels like a defense can turn into exposure of the patient record, a new complaint or evidence against your own clinic.

This page proposes an objective response playbook: what to do in the first 24 hours, how to structure the reply, what to attach, what never to write, how to handle confidentiality and when to call a lawyer. It is not legal advice, and each case calls for its own analysis. For the view of rights and duties, see consumer rights at the HOF clinic, and for the patient who is already complaining internally, unhappy patient: how to handle it.

Two scenarios, two replies

Procon and a public platform are different environments, and the reply changes in tone and content:

The main difference is the audience. In the notice, you answer an agency and the patient. On a public platform, you are also answering future patients.

The first 24 hours

During this period, avoid deleting messages, changing the patient record or agreeing on versions with the team. Any change made after the fact can be read as tampering. Add to the record only dated entries about what happened afterward, following the good practice described in patient records and documentation in HOF.

Structure of an objective reply

An effective reply fits in a few blocks:

1. Thanks and acknowledgment. Acknowledge that the complaint was read and that the clinic wants to resolve it.
2. Facts, in a few lines. Dates and verifiable facts, with no adjectives and no blaming the patient.
3. What has already been done. Contact, review, refund or adjustment, where applicable.
4. The proposal. What the clinic offers to resolve it, concretely and within its policy.
5. The channel. A direct, private contact to continue the conversation.

Both templates are outlines. The formal reply should be reviewed by an attorney when there is legal risk, a compensation claim or a complaint of a clinical nature.

What never to write

Some mistakes turn a solvable complaint into a crisis:

• Details of the care or of the patient record in a public reply. It breaches confidentiality and can create a new violation. See professional confidentiality and LGPD in patient records and photos.
• A photo of the patient, a before and after, or a screenshot of a conversation. Improper exposure.
• Accusing the patient, with words such as "lied", "did not follow instructions" or "wants to take advantage".
• Irony, sarcasm or a defensive tone.
• Promising a result or that "it will turn out fine".
• Admitting technical fault without reviewing it with the professional and the attorney.
• Threatening a lawsuit or retaliation.
• A copy-and-paste reply that is the same for every case.

What to gather as evidence

In case the complaint turns into a formal proceeding, keep the following organized:

The templates for informed consent, touch-up policy and refund and chargeback policy help you have these documents before a complaint happens. See also informed consent in HOF and legal defense and lawsuits over facial harmonization: how to prevent them.

When the complaint is clinical

When a complaint involves a complication, persistent pain, asymmetry or harm, the matter stops being only about consumer rights and becomes one of clinical conduct. In that case:

• put the patient's care first: offer an assessment, a follow-up and a referral if needed;
• record everything in the patient record, with date and time, as described in how to record a complication in HOF;
• notify the professional liability insurer, if there is one. See professional liability insurance in HOF;
• consult an attorney before any settlement or formal reply.

The initial focus is the patient's wellbeing, not the clinic's image. Answering a complaint well starts with taking good care of the person who complains.

Prevention: what reduces complaints

A good share of complaints comes from poorly aligned expectations. Three habits help a lot: explain in the consultation what to expect and what cannot be promised, deliver the plan and the quote in writing, and follow up with the patient afterward. Harmy helps with the first step: the projection is an illustrative simulation made from the frontal photo, and the app itself says so on its images and in the PDF quote. Used honestly, it aligns the planning without promising the result.

A complaint that is well answered, with respect for confidentiality and a concrete solution, usually protects a reputation better than having no complaints at all. What the public watches is how the clinic behaves when something goes wrong.