Great 'How to make an effective complaint' Hunt

SGE1

One piece of advice I would have is to make sure you write down how many attempts at communication you've made, ie, how many letters/emails, phone calls you've made, and the date and time of these and how long they took, so that when you need to escalate the complaint, you can write to the CEO with a exact list of all your efforts (inc who you emailed/spoke to) - and then ask for compensation for all the time this has taken.

I complained to Natwest about 2 years ago, when they took 6 weeks to send me a replacement debit card, and then lost a cheque I'd cashed in. I wrote down every single time I spent queuing at the counter, in branch, with my passport, to withdraw cash, over 6 weeks, and told them about how uncomfortable I had been walking around with over £900 in cash to go and pay for my yearly travelcard, and how this illustrated just how much of an inconvenience this whole thing had been. I explained how many times I'd called to ask whether they'd sent the replacement card, and detailed how five cards were allegedly successively sent, and "lost". Finally, I asked for £75 in compensation (which I was I estimated all the letters, calls, time and stress the whole thing has caused me), and they coughed up, no questions asked.

The successful tone of a complaint, I think, should include details of how "disappointed" you are, how you've been a faithful customers for x years, how you feel that "unfortunately, if this is not resolved speedily" you will have "no other choice but to take your business elsewhere". Adding details of any stress, inconvenience etc that it has caused you, can help too.

I found it hard not to hurl abuse at Natwest, but luckily, I wrote the letter, then left it for a few hours, which gave me time to clear my head, and when I came back I was able to make the letter more clear and concise (the last thing you want is a rant, they'll take you for a nutter and then decide they might not want your business anyway!)

moneysavingbimbo

I always complain if service is substandard. Invariably if you ask for the CEO you get a rapid response from someone, & on the odd occasion when that doesn't work a quick letter or email, or just a follow up call to their head office asking for their CEO again does the job. Recently had a problem with company whose name starts with "O" & who deliver for a supermarket allegedly catering for premium sector. They kept declaring that their prices were the same as Tesco's. At first when I complained I got a rude reply from a Customer Services lady basically telling me "tough". I was pretty incensed so sent off another email telling them to take my details off their mailing list & for good measure I called their head office leaving a message on their answerphone asking to speak to their CEO, & detailing my complaint. Within minutes I had a call from them apologising, giving me a refund & also sending me a bottle of wine as an apology. We should all stand up & be counted a bit more often, the apathy in this country really appals me, & worst of all, we all seem to moan about the way we are treated. Vote with your feet guys!

mils

recently me and friends went to las vegas (sept 16th - 25th) flying with 'virgin atlantic'
spending with £560 each on the cost of the flight. The whole reason we choose to go with them was because i have flown with them before in the past and the service they provide has been worth paying that little extra for the quality.
Although unfortunately my past experience i had of them was not to be repeated as both outgoing and returning flights were well below expectations, especially the reurn flight
The plane itself seemed really dated - upholstery worn and looked old, inflight entertainment systems very repatative and nothing again just old and worn (compared to previous flights i have had with virgin, the entertainment system has been ALOT different with more on option). For an 11.5 hr flight we only had 1 meal and 2 small snacks (1 was HALF a wrap) and the gap between our meal and first snack was far too long, a good 6/7 hours.
On the return flight we occured the same problems as already mentioned apart from the staff were awful, just didnt seemed bother, majority of them look grumpy, very blunt and one of the girls we saw out the night before absolutely hammered!
Talking my mates into opting to fly with virgin i felt quite a fool really as after praising how wonderful Virgin flights are and whats included, they saw little of this and were as disapointed if now more than i was.
After reading this thread my question is have i left it too late to complain and if not who should i complain to about this issue?? and what should i expect?
Any help would be gratefully appreciated
Thanks
Paul

boxercrazy

How do you deal with a small company who I wrote to and addressed it to the MD and the salesman who dealt with me replied, rudely to my email, and now has stopped replying, and I have not got anywhere!!

alanfp

Regarding recent posts - big ticket items like furniture or cars...(especially where the local store is likely to be on commission)

Go to the showroom on a Saturday morning and start discussing your complaint LOUDLY with the sales manager... they won't want that when they're surrounded by people just about to hand over £thousands on new furniture (or a car). Just imagine the scene....

Have I ever done it?- No... I just threatened to (dispute with a jeweller over a faulty watch) and got a refund on my credit card over the phone within 10 minutes!

Good luck all.

Tozer

boxercrazy wrote: »

How do you deal with a small company who I wrote to and addressed it to the MD and the salesman who dealt with me replied, rudely to my email, and now has stopped replying, and I have not got anywhere!!

Whats the dispute about?

Issue a summons.

LittleMissRolo

Ok i have had some giggles reading through some of your 'tips' (i don't mean to be ignorant by putting ' ' at either end of this but take the following advice)

Working for a large national retailer i deal with complaints day in day out. Here is how to complain and here is why we say what we say:

1) READYOUR T's AND C's before calling/writing/emailing
2) Remain polite, try not to shout (we're understanding folk, we're only human ourselves and have been through the same as you have once or twice)
3) Don't swear. We don't react to it, in fact we often snigger at your frustration and we are less likely to try and go that extra mile for you (mention a gv offer for dissapointment caused)
4) Remember the person at the end of the phone is in control of your order, and I'm afraid the customer is very rarely right in this day and age, as everyone is after a moan about something
5) Frontline advisors (the person that first picks up the phone) are better trained and more equipped than staff of a higher level. Please do not belittle them by asking for a manager because a manager will only advise the same information you've already been given (think of the cost of your phone bill to be told the same thing again)
6) If someone can do something for you, they will, without an argument. We don't want hassle, we want to help and do our job, but if we say we can't do something you want us to do, we genuinely means that. Honestly. No one wants to make their own job difficult. Staying on the phone kicking and screaming wont change this. I promise you. You're only going to get more and more worked up but the situation and circumstances will not change.
7) If you do speak to a manager remember the above - if you don't get any satisfaction you will probably be referred to write in. However, your complaint is (and will in our company) go to that very same managerial department and the answers will 9/10 remain the same. Putting your complaint in writing makes it no more 'official' than calling and complaining.
8) If someone says they cannot pass you onto anyone higher they mean this, so don't bullly them and belittle them. Again, why would we lie, to cause you more distress, when we could simply transfer the call to that higher person if the exsisted. We'd just do it.
9) Don't tell us you've got rid of your old furniture, employed people to do work for you etc (see point 1). ALso the sob story of 'making your child sleep on the floor' wont float. No one in their right mind would do this, we don't believe you (again see point 1)

Any advice wanted on how to write a complaint letter to get what you want, or how to call and voice your complaint and ensure you get what you want feel free to ask

harryhound

I don't think I want to deal with an organisation that has to have a specialist department for answering complaints.
I expect the original staff to take responsibility for their mistakes and learn from them.
Sounds like the sort of place where you have to phone an 0870 number and listen to "greensleeves" for 15 minutes.

vivatifosi

The two biggest items I have had a problem with (2 x leather sofas at £1500 replaced foc and a dispute over survey fees also well over £1000) I paid a small fee and used the legal service at Which (Which Legal). The fee was about £12 at the time, but well worth it considering the sums involved. They told me what to write in my many letters and how to file for a small claims and write a "letter before action" (as well as without prejudice letters as covered earlier).

Also, when and only when all other routes (including writing to the CEO at their office) fail, don't forget you can get the home addresses of many CEOs or senior directors from the Companies House website by buying their annual return for £1. A letter stating something along the lines that "you will note from the enclosed correspondence that I have tried on several occasions to deal with your organisation directly but sadly they have chosen not to reply" tends to get the response you have been waiting for as people hate being disturbed at home.

Hobbin_Rood

LittleMissRolo wrote: »

2) Remain polite, try not to shout (we're understanding folk, we're only human ourselves and have been through the same as you have once or twice)
3) Don't swear. We don't react to it, in fact we often snigger at your frustration and we are less likely to try and go that extra mile for you (mention a gv offer for dissapointment caused)
5) Frontline advisors (the person that first picks up the phone) are better trained and more equipped than staff of a higher level. Please do not belittle them by asking for a manager because a manager will only advise the same information you've already been given (think of the cost of your phone bill to be told the same thing again)
6) If someone can do something for you, they will, without an argument. We don't want hassle, we want to help and do our job, but if we say we can't do something you want us to do, we genuinely means that. Honestly. No one wants to make their own job difficult. Staying on the phone kicking and screaming wont change this. I promise you. You're only going to get more and more worked up but the situation and circumstances will not change.
7) If you do speak to a manager remember the above - if you don't get any satisfaction you will probably be referred to write in. However, your complaint is (and will in our company) go to that very same managerial department and the answers will 9/10 remain the same. Putting your complaint in writing makes it no more 'official' than calling and complaining.
8) If someone says they cannot pass you onto anyone higher they mean this, so don't bullly them and belittle them. Again, why would we lie, to cause you more distress, when we could simply transfer the call to that higher person if the exsisted. We'd just do it.

Totally agree with the above points. I work in a local govt office and people often simply ask to speak to a manager or get rude or aggressive because they don't like the answers they are given.

It's not that they have received poor service, it's just they do not qualify for the service we offer. They are not getting what THEY want, even though the rules are being followed 100% by the staff - rules that are clearly and politely stated and fairly applied.

It is extremely irritating and belittling as you say when someone will not listen or accept this. It is also a complete waste of everyone's time for a manager (or other people more senior again) to repeat the same info either on the phone or by letter - or for the experienced and knowledgable front line staff to be bypassed when this is the case.

As you rightly explain, if you complain to a director or CEO, do you really think they take an interest or have knowledge of things at the front-line? No, it WILL be passed back to the dept in question. Please be reasonable and think - why on earth would staff make life difficult for themselves?

And also, if you have to wait a while to be answered or the service takes longer than expected please think - WHY? In my dept we are under-staffed, over-worked, under-paid and very stressed out as a result..

Calling up and moaning to front line staff will probably not help and just hold the service up further. By all means expect a good service, but be willing to at least consider that perhaps management are incompetent and/or the service underfunded etc and not assume the staff are incompetent/lazy buffoons who you have a right to scream and harass until you get your way.

Cheers,
Hobbin.