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| Image courtesy of Stuart Miles at FreeDigitalPhotos.net |
How many times in life are we faced with poor quality services/products, disorganised staff, or false promises from businesses?
I don't know about you but for the past year I have been dealing with loads of these! And I'm not the one to keep quiet when I believe something is not fair. And so I've learnt that it pays off to raise your hand and say enough, to speak up, even to fight back!
Some time ago I helped an acquaintance to write a complaint letter (after convincing her it was the right thing to do) and, lo and behold, the company who was at fault refunded her!
Yes, I know that complaints procedures are tedious and time-consuming, but with a bit of practice and patience chances are the issue(s) would be resolved and/or compensation will be received.
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| Image courtesy of imagerymajestic at FreeDigitalPhotos.net |
After recently hearing someone say that "British people don't complain enough", I decided to put together a post with few tips on how to complain (in the correct way of course!). Here's how to get started:
- Follow a formal letter format - make sure you include your address, the date, and the addressee's address.
- Always address the reader of the letter (e.g. Dear Mr X, Dear Manager, Dear Customer Services Team, etc.)
- Start by clearly stating that this letter is a formal complaint about a particular incident, product or service.
- Then outline in detail the problem - include names, dates, times, and places if possible.
- Conclude by stating how you would like the problem to be resolved (Refund? Compensation? Free product/service?)
- Sign off with 'Yours Sincerely' or equivalent and write your full name. You may also wish to include your telephone number and a signature under your name.
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| Although not a complaint, this letter's format is a good example. Photo by Alan Light |
Once you have written your letter, make sure you send it to all the relevant people and follow up to ensure your letter has been received and read.
One final tip - it is important to act as soon as possible after the particular incident when all the details are still fresh in your mind and the anger is still pumping in your veins (i.e. you still care about the problem). If you wait longer, you may forget about it or decide that you actually don't care enough/can't be bothered. At that point, your chance to fight back is completely lost.
P.S.
Things to avoid here are: shouting, being disrespectful, losing your cool, physical or verbal abuse and vengeful acts. We are all human beings at the end of the day, so make sure you raise the problem in a respectful manner!