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Building on Becker’s labeling theory, this research aims to understand how contact employees label a customer as “deviant,” in the context of complaint handling. Based on fifty-two interviews of employees in five companies in different industries, we introduce a conceptual model showing that front-office staff label customers as “deviant” when they adopt behavior that (1) transgresses certain norms, which (2) the employee perceives as serious, and (3) depending on the context in which the customer relation occurs. Lastly, the article makes several recommendations to help companies tackle the deviant behavior they encounter.