It pays to complain

Wren

Wren

Well-known Member
Location
Europe
I recently had cause to write a letter of complaint to my bank regarding a standing order which should have been increased then, when I rang to discuss it, after going through the whole rigmarole of the recorded message, the line went dead

Pleased to say, I’ve just received a very apologetic letter informing me the bank have credited my account with £50.00 to compensate for my inconvenience

Do you agree it pays to complain ? What are your experiences ?
 

I have found that it definitely pays to complain: I've received free rooms and upgrades at hotels, upgrades on planes, free magazine subscriptions, extensions on domain registrations, other comps.

That being said, these days, I have to admit, i have come to accept that screw-ups have become the norm in dealing with businesses and their ever more stupid employees. I don't complain as often as I used to.

The majority of my comps, as above, were from years long gone by.
 
I am currently trying to get SSE to issue me with a bill based on actual meter readings rather than the grossly overestimated one they sent me( I have switched suppliers and it is a final bill).Despite phone calls,e-mails and letters they seem determined to ignore me and have re-issued the bill,I am refusing to pay -which threatens all sorts if I don’t pay it!But I am not letting it go...
 
Furryanimal said:
I am currently trying to get SSE to issue me with a bill based on actual meter readings rather than the grossly overestimated one they sent me( I have switched suppliers and it is a final bill).Despite phone calls,e-mails and letters they seem determined to ignore me and have re-issued the bill,I am refusing to pay -which threatens all sorts if I don’t pay it!But I am not letting it go...
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Good luck fighting a major power company. I have found them to be some of the biggest a-holes out there.

Thing is, your case is very interesting. Have you already established power with your new provider? Somewhere in the legalese you agreed to, long ago, with your old provider, I've got to wonder if they have the right to disconnect your new provider's service if you don't pay them on their final bill.

Keep us informed.
 
One of the reasons for the rise of Amazon is (from Treeguy): ".... i have come to accept that screw-ups have become the norm in dealing with businesses and their ever more stupid employees. I don't complain as often as I used to....".

Because customer service is so poor, you're better off taking your chances ordering things online, and if you don't like them, have free returns. We've had several less-than-desirable experiences dealing with financial and retail people, but we just let it go and won't do business with them again.
 
I rarely complain I just don't go back.

Many years ago the company that I worked for gave front line employees the discretion to give any customer up to $25.00 on the spot to resolve a problem/complaint. It was a win-win to empower the employees and for the customers to get quick decisive action.
 
Wren said:
Do you agree it pays to complain ?
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Oh, it do...when done with a bit of poise

Wren said:
What are your experiences ?
Click to expand...

I tend to enjoy formulating a complaint
It's never lost on complaining to a clerk....no, I go home and get creative with pen and paper.

One of the more recent complaints was read by the manager to the entire staff during a company meeting.

Another, I was invited by the regional honcho to speak to some folks
I woulda, but it was way outa town, and even though expenses woulda been paid, I think my points were well taken
Mission accomplished
 
treeguy64 said:
Good luck fighting a major power company. I have found them to be some of the biggest a-holes out there.

Thing is, your case is very interesting. Have you already established power with your new provider? Somewhere in the legalese you agreed to, long ago, with your old provider, I've got to wonder if they have the right to disconnect your new provider's service if you don't pay them on their final bill.

Keep us informed.
Click to expand...
I am established with my new provider -who sent my old one the meter reading they should have have used for my final bill.I think the problem is that power usage has plummeted following a bereavement which means a load of medical devices that were plugged in 24/7 have gone and the Washing machine is used once a month-not six days a week and I choose not to heat the whole house just for myself.But SSE cannot grasp that.I am paying the new provider for the energy I am using-which works out at about half what SSE estimated I would be paying them.SSE read the meter in December so have two readings to work with.It is not difficult.My meter reading today is still way below the one SSE estimated for my final bill.
SSE managed to get the gas bill correct.Why they can’t get the electricity one correct is a mystery.
 
Yes, I do complain when I don't get what I paid for. On the other hand, I do issue compliments when I get more than I expected.

My complaints are always politely conducted. You seldom get anywhere with complaints that start out with "Listen here, you &*@#!*#! Your product/service/store is #@%$!*%! and you guys are a bunch of #@$%!*$@!!!"

Instead, I usually write something to the effect of "I have used your product/shopped in your store/eaten in your restaurant with good results but recently I had the following adverse experience _____________________" and then state what action on their part would return me to the status of "satisfied customer". I don't demand, I suggest. As the old saying goes, "you can catch more flies with honey than with vinegar." Now, about those flies, Mr. Manager...…...

In the produce department once, I asked that the produce manager come out to speak to me. When he came, I pointed to the pile of completely-unacceptable green beans and simply asked him if he considered them acceptable to serve to his own family. He said, "No, ma'am, I don't" and immediately started loading them into a box. He also gave me a gift card.
 
Absolutely pays to complain! My husband (soon to be ex) was hurt in an accident at work. When his worker's compensation ran out, he applied for his unemployment benefits. He was turned down because he had put a music cd he made on a Yahoo site. The girl from unemployment said he could make money from it. The key word was could. He did not and knowing that when he worked, money paid into unemployment should be available to him at this time. She would not budge on it and said it was up to her. I wrote a letter to Governor Pataki (he was governor of NY at that time) and got his personal address, not his office. I marked the envelope personal. Well, about a week later, there were about 6 checks from unemployment in the mail box. I have done things like this many times since. It always pays.
 
treeguy64 said, "i have come to accept that screw-ups have become the norm in dealing with businesses". He's right. Companies, today, screw up and it is the norm. My propane distributor sent a bill for a deliver in Dec.,( which was paid in Dec.). Supposedly there is $170 due on the bill., so there a $2.50 late fee. The date on the bill was 1/24/20. I recieved the bill yesterday. So it took the company almost three weeks to send me the bill? And again. it was paid way back in Dec. This is par for this co. I"ll get a bill in March, pay it; and two months later get a bill for the March delivery.
 
I agree it pays to complain. Didn't happen to me, but someone on Nextdoor.com said she found out she was paying too much for trash service, and when she called to complain, her monthly bill got cut down to half. When she asked, the rep said she never complained, so they assumed she was okay with the amount of her bill. ?!?!
 
we got a car last week ' not brand new' couple of years old etc -we took it out last Friday and bingo he
started to pump up and down then it got real scary the ride home 'no brakes only if you foot is flat out
--I was so mad I ran in doors and blasted the guy who sold it to us Grrrrrrrrrrr on the phone ' full of apologises

which I wasnt wanting to hear -- it has been picked up and taken back to see whats going on ' I was so angry
and so frightened on the way back - said if it dont come back perfect I will report you ! apart from that it is a lovely motor
so hoping all goes well ............
 
When you buy on line, try to use PayPal then,
if you are not happy tell them, your money will
be in your account the following day while the
complaint is dealt with.

Mike.
 
Furryanimal said:
I am currently trying to get SSE to issue me with a bill based on actual meter readings rather than the grossly overestimated one they sent me( I have switched suppliers and it is a final bill).Despite phone calls,e-mails and letters they seem determined to ignore me and have re-issued the bill,I am refusing to pay -which threatens all sorts if I don’t pay it!But I am not letting it go...
Click to expand...
Same fraud in Wales? Where I am in California, we have DWP (Dept. of Water & Power). They sent me & a whole bunch of other customers outrageous electric bills - some as high as $3,000.00. My electric is normally around $110.00 for 2 months. I called & asked them when they read my meter. They gave me a date that was a few days ago & also indicated it on my bill. That didn't work out well for them. After they tried that lie, I explained to them that my meter is not visible because it's pointed in the opposite direction & it's behind a locked gate.
Then she tried to say, "Well....uh.....we ......uh.....based it on your average use."
I said, "You don't know what my average use is because you just make up meter numbers so you can rip everyone off."
Then I demanded to speak to a supervisor who had me read her the meter numbers. After I gave them to her, she said, "Those numbers are very different than the numbers the meter reader gave us."
I said, "Your meter reader is well trained.....to lie."

They sent me another electric bill that was $112.00. Then, they tried to rip me off again on my next bill - $875.00.
BIG mistake. This time, I wrote to the Mayor - with ALL the details about their fraud. The mayor must have really chewed on their butts, because for the next YEAR, ALL my bills said, "No payment necessary at this time." Around $6,000.00.

Then, I asked the city to install a digital meter that can be read from their office. They tried to stall me on that, because that would prevent them from ripping me off again. I wrote to the mayor again. This time, the mayor's office phoned me & said, "I guarantee you that they will be at your house TOMORROW MORNING to install the digital meter.
The guy showed up at 8:00am & installed it. NO ripoffs since.
 

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