As the vice president for sales of a company that manufactures and sells commercial carpet, you notice an alarming increase in the number of customers filing complaints with your company service representatives. Of particular importance is the number of complaints that involve claims in excess of $10,000. Because these large dollar amounts can lead to lawsuits being filed, you want to investigate what is causing the increase in complaints and how your company can be processing these complaints to avoid burdensome litigation.

What steps should you take to discover, in the most accurate and efficient manner, the reasons customers are filing complaints? 

What is the distinction between mediation and arbitration? 

Should your company's sales contracts include a clause that requires the par ties to attempt resolution of dispute by mediation? By arbitration? By some other mechanisms? If your company's sales contracts did include a dispute resolution (other than litigation) clause, when can the courts still be used?