Purpose – The purpose of our paper is to examine the mediating role of service quality in customer complaint behaviour and customer loyalty using a case study of mobile phone subscribers in Uganda. The major aim of the study was to determine the role played by service quality as it relates to customer complaint behaviour and customer loyalty.

Design/methodology/approach – The study uses a quantitative, cross-sectional design, employing MedGraph (Version 3.0), Sobel tests and the Baron and Kenny method to test for a mediating effect of service quality on the relationship between customer complaint behaviour and customer loyalty.

Findings – Our findings reveal that service quality is a significant mediator in the relationship between the customer complaint behaviour and customer loyalty of Ugandan mobile phone subscribers. Customer complaint behaviour had a direct effect on customer loyalty, but the mediating effect of service quality increased this effect. Adding good service quality to the relationship boosts the relationship between customer complaint behaviour and customer loyalty by 45 percent among the mobile phone subscribers studied. The findings therefore suggest that when service quality is low, a high level of customer loyalty cannot be attained among mobile phone subscribers in Uganda.

Research limitations/implications – The study used only a quantitative approach. However, future research could combine both a quantitative and a qualitative approach (triangulation). The study was moreover limited by the fact that it was cross-sectional. In future, a longitudinal study would therefore be useful to investigate the mediating impact of service quality over a longer period of time.

Practical implications – Managers, policy-makers, and mobile telephone companies should advocate and strive for improvements across all dimensions of service quality to boost the loyalty of cell phone customers in Uganda.

Originality/value – While a substantial body of research has been carried out on customer complaint behaviour, our paper is the first to test the mediating role of service quality in the relationship between customer complaint behaviour and customer loyalty among mobile phone subscribers in Uganda. The study generates quantifiable evidence and contributes to our knowledge on the positive significant influence of service quality in enhancing the level of customer loyalty based on customer complaint behaviour.