What is it with businesses these days that their first response to a complaint is to ignore or you deny responsibility? Ah yes. They're hoping you'll go away quietly. But I have found that, even without making yourself the "world's biggest harpie", a little persistence can achieve results.
Incident 1 occurred last year when a family member was scammed out of a considerable amount of money and the bank (Barclays - there, I said it) did nothing to help, suggesting the matter be taken to the police. Given that they knew about the scam, did nothing to prevent it with their customers and failed to notice it was being perpetrated on my family member, everyone was livid. I then dusted off my law degree, did a lot of research and found that they have several duties of care to their customers, all of which they had breached. Two very legal sounding letters later and a threat to take it to the press and the Financial Ombudsman, and all of the money was quietly put back into the account! We have yet to read about anyone else getting the same result but I would be happy to share my secret wording formula.
Lesson - Do your homework (or go to Citizen's Advice in the UK), and don't give up. Know where to take your complaint next and threaten to do so.
Incident 2 - We rented the Little Guy boots and skis from a Chicago store before heading off to Colorado to ski at Xmas. In the 3 weeks between renting and skiing, LG's feet had grown half a size and the boots were agony. Had to rent another pair in Colorado, and The Ball & Chain accidentally left the Chicago boots in the Colorado store. When we realised and went back, they were nowhere to be seen. Knowing how they operate up in the mountains (as if they're all high - oh wait, they probably are), it became fairly obvious to all that they'd been shoved on a shelf and probably rented out. Manager put a note on the staff board and assured us they would find them.
Scroll forward to two weeks ago when I rang the store and no one knew what I was talking about. Sigh. Spoke to another "manager" who immediately denied that this could have happened "unless they were exactly the same brand as the one we rent out". Actually, they are. Unbelievably he still refused to help. Now we're in a position of having to buy new ski boots, which I'm simply not having. Quick mooch around the company web site, e-mail to customer service asking for their "help in this matter" and a suggestion that if the boots aren't found, we get this week's rental for free as we're out of pocket. Result - Reply e-mail telling us we'd get the ski rental free. (When husband went in to redeem, apparently the manager was not very happy. But guess what? We're not very happy so I don't really give a hoot.)
Lesson - Be polite but firm, and tell them how you want the matter resolved. If you just complain and leave it open-ended, they'll give you the least help or amount they can.
Incident 3 - my builder. Very long story short but I've just had a shower replaced in my master bathroom. Quite a big job really and one that's been discussed with said builder since August! Eventually got a half way decent estimate with breakdown of costs (because he kept referring to a shower unit that was more expensive than my car) and we started work. Well, the work took about a third of the time he estimated, and yet I was still billed for 30 hours. I politely pointed this out and asked him to submit another invoice. The invoice came back with a completely different hourly rate and "materials" charged which weren't used and hadn't been mentioned before. Sigh. Did a quick calculation of work performed times hourly rate agreed to, added that to cost of materials and replied with a long explanation of what I was paying and why. Also said I was sending a check "Paid in Full". I have not heard back from him and do not intend to argue the matter further.
Lesson - Be fair, explain why and don't argue.
And lastly - It doesn't matter if they don't like you. Yes, always start by being polite (you catch more flies with honey than vinegar) but don't worry about appearing demanding if you don't get results. Remember, you're very unhappy about something and they don't seem to mind.
Sound advice. That ski thing would have infuriated me too.
ReplyDeleteAlthough with some other things I've found that pursuing it to the nth degree just isn't worth the time/result involved, just so that I can feel vindicated. I complained about rudeness at our local GP surgery recenty, and got an apology but I suspect they won't change.
Yes, I do have to restrain myself sometimes too.
DeleteThank you for this. Good advice that I needed.
ReplyDeleteAny time!
DeleteIt seems customer service has gone completely out of the window. It is pass the buck and blame someone else and get rid of you as quickly as possible.
ReplyDeleteFrom someone who has been in customer service all my life this is very difficult for me to accept, plus all the meaningless automated menus when trying to telephone a company . . .
Cheers ~ Eddie
You try doing it with an accent no one understands Eddie. Ugh - drives me batty.
DeleteWhatever happened to "the customer is always right?"
ReplyDeleteCustomer Service has certainly reached an all time low. I have always been an advocate to complain about the service you've received. While also advocating that you let the company know when they've gone above and beyond.
Definitely. I worked in retail briefly and you always wanted to hear a complaint from a customer because if they don't tell you, they tell a hundred other people.
DeleteIf *they* can get out of responsibility then they'll wriggle free. Gone are the days when the customer is always right, sorry to say.
ReplyDeleteI'm afraid that pain does lower ones tolerance but I feel your grumbles are justified.
Maggie x
I am a big fan of the Financial Ombudsman. I wrote twice to my local bank to complain about the fact that they said I couldn't have paid in £25 to a dormant account, in spite of the fact that I had a paper reciept to prove that I had. No reply. I used the website to complain. No reply. I phoned, and customer service said "write to your branch". Then I wrote to the Chair of the bank (RBS, there, I said it), and told him that I was also writing to the Financial Ombudsman. Guess what? I got a reply. Infuriatingly, they said that I couldn't possibly have paid the cheque in, but would give me a £25 "goodwill" payment.
ReplyDeleteIn fact, you've reminded me. I was going to email the Financial Ombudsman and say thank you (they didn't do anything, except acknowledge my letter and give me a case number - it seems to be enough just that they exist). I must do that. I bet they don't get many thank you emails or letters.
ReplyDeleteAnd by the way, I DID pay that cheque in. If I was going to go to the trouble of forging a paper receipt, I would have aimed a little higher than £25.
ReplyDelete