Tips for Successful Complaining

By Money Talks News

Jun 16, 2008 3:20 pm

We’ve all been there… Consumer Complaint Land; a product or service we paid for wasn’t delivered or didn’t perform as promised. And while it may be tempting to use that opportunity to contact a customer service rep to blow off a little steam, it probably wont help you get what you want. Successful complaining is more of an art than a science, but we’ve compiled a short list of simple tips for consumer complaints that should help you get what you want with a little less hassle, frustration, and time.

Satisfaction Services, a company that specialize in customer service evaluations (finding a company’s service weakness and fixing the problem), helped us compile this list of 4 simple tips to aid you in successfully complaining.

Know what you want – If you’re certain about the specific kind of restitution you’re looking for, ask for it specifically. Want a refund? Ask for one. Want a free month’s cable? Ask for that.
Be polite and professional – The more courteous you can be, the more likely the customer service rep you’re speaking with will want to help you.
Document everything – Keeping a paper trail is crucial to keep track of what you complained about, the response you got, and anything the company may have offered you.
Be persistent – Many companies bank on complainers simply going away, not finishing the phone call, not waiting on hold for 2 hours. So… beat them at their own game. Be persistent, until you get what you want.

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Mystery Shopping Companies
Excellent points! I can personally attest to the fact that these tips work. In dealing with an issue from a cell phone provider, my husband tried the tactic of yelling at various representatives in the customer care center and didn't document whom he talked to or what was said. After two days of getting nowhere, he declared that we should end our service because we weren't going to get our problem resolved. I then called with a friendly voice and explained the situation, asked for a specific resolution, and was able to finally get to the person at the right level who helped. I admit it did require a lot of patient persistence and asking to get to the next level when the person I talked to said they couldn't help, but in the end, we were very happy with the resolution; it saved us money and the huge hassle of changing our service to another provider.

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