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If there is one thing that I have learned from making complaints about other people’s incompetence is that complaining in a smart ass manner will hardly ever work to your advantage. Here are some quick tips on how to make complaints to companies who have done you wrong.
1. First tell them how you have enjoyed there services and how you have always appreciated how they have treated you as a customer. If you have never been satisfied with how the company has treated you, you should just bite your tongue anyway and kiss their butt for a second.
2. After telling them how much you have appreciated everything they have done for you, you should then tell them the problem. Again, don’t sound like a smart ass while explaining the problem. Just tell them what is wrong in a polite manner.
3. After you have told them the problem, you should then tell them how disappointed you are in how they have treated you. Your main goal in the complaint should be to make them feel sorry for you. You should then proceed to tell them that they will no longer receive any business from you or your family and friends if the issue won’t be resolved.
4. If they ever get ugly with you, then tell them that their attitude is out of line. Tell them their services were unsatisfactory. If they won’t give you any satisfaction, then proceed by telling them you will get satisfaction through the Better Business Bureau and possibly the Small Claims Court depending on how bad the problem, etc.
Simply complaining like a smart ass hardly ever works. No one ever likes a smart ass in any kind of situation. My tips may not always work because people’s personalities vary so much, but making a complaint as positively as you can is definitely more effective.
....just listening to your latest podcast and you’re talking about being overbilled by your cellphone company.
Here’s what I did when I could not get Cingular to back off from repeatedly charging me for all kinds of downloads and other doo-dads that I never ordered. This crap was an on-going problem for at least 9 months and I finally just got sick & tired of Cingular’s bullshit. I filed a complaint with the FCC (via the FCC website) accusing Cingular of on-going illegal billing practices.
I never expected it to go anywhere but guess what? The FCC actually investigated and Cingular finally took me seriously. I had been threatening for a couple of months to contact the FCC & file a complaint and Cingular ignored my warnings and it came back to bite them in the ass.
Cingular snailmailed me (twice) saying that all of the disputed charges would be dismissed and they also had someone call my cell and left me a message saying that they would like to speak with me about my FCC complaint. I never bothered calling them back since I said all I had to say in my complaint.
Ever since the FCC complaint filing, my cell phone bills have been squeaky clean. No more bullshit charges for stuff that I never ever ordered or downloaded.
So you see there IS something that you can do against the marketplace giants, even one as big as Cingular, when you are treated wrongly. It takes a little bit of time & effort but the satisfaction factor is very rewarding.
Love your show and happy to hear that Mia the wonder dog is doing well.
Melissa, I did not leave this message to be a smart ass. I made the comment for helpful tips on dealing with difficult people who have done you wrong.
note: When I say “you”, I am not referring to just YOU. I am referring to everyone.
I left it as an addition to this subject. I wanted to leave helpful tips for others that I have come to realize myself from my experience on both sides of various types of customer service. If you had read my letter, then you would notice that I did not call anyone a smart ass nor did I criticize Jason. I didn’t find anything wrong with Jason’s complaint. I thought it was great. Oh, and don’t correct me if I’m wrong (because I know I’m not), but there was no need to leave a comment just to bash me when I was just trying to be helpful.
I listen to this show all the time. This show is one of the few things I look forward to each week. I like every part of it, but I may just stop leaving comments on the website because of jerks like you.
Does this ever sound familiar. I am blown away that here is someone who lives no where near me and has had a similar experience with these people. My expereience with DirectTV was one of the worst I have ever had with any company. I just wrote a lengthy article about my good & bad experiences in 2007 with tech related stuff (www.notjust4techs.com) and DirectTV tops the list. Sadly, I am sure Jason’s letter was never read by anyone who cared.
December 20th, 2006 at 9:07 pm
link to player is not working
!!
December 20th, 2006 at 9:08 pm
nvmd got it to work
December 21st, 2006 at 1:55 pm
If there is one thing that I have learned from making complaints about other people’s incompetence is that complaining in a smart ass manner will hardly ever work to your advantage. Here are some quick tips on how to make complaints to companies who have done you wrong.
1. First tell them how you have enjoyed there services and how you have always appreciated how they have treated you as a customer. If you have never been satisfied with how the company has treated you, you should just bite your tongue anyway and kiss their butt for a second.
2. After telling them how much you have appreciated everything they have done for you, you should then tell them the problem. Again, don’t sound like a smart ass while explaining the problem. Just tell them what is wrong in a polite manner.
3. After you have told them the problem, you should then tell them how disappointed you are in how they have treated you. Your main goal in the complaint should be to make them feel sorry for you. You should then proceed to tell them that they will no longer receive any business from you or your family and friends if the issue won’t be resolved.
4. If they ever get ugly with you, then tell them that their attitude is out of line. Tell them their services were unsatisfactory. If they won’t give you any satisfaction, then proceed by telling them you will get satisfaction through the Better Business Bureau and possibly the Small Claims Court depending on how bad the problem, etc.
Simply complaining like a smart ass hardly ever works. No one ever likes a smart ass in any kind of situation. My tips may not always work because people’s personalities vary so much, but making a complaint as positively as you can is definitely more effective.
December 22nd, 2006 at 9:12 am
Customer service (?) and billing issues….
....just listening to your latest podcast and you’re talking about being overbilled by your cellphone company.
Here’s what I did when I could not get Cingular to back off from repeatedly charging me for all kinds of downloads and other doo-dads that I never ordered. This crap was an on-going problem for at least 9 months and I finally just got sick & tired of Cingular’s bullshit. I filed a complaint with the FCC (via the FCC website) accusing Cingular of on-going illegal billing practices.
I never expected it to go anywhere but guess what? The FCC actually investigated and Cingular finally took me seriously. I had been threatening for a couple of months to contact the FCC & file a complaint and Cingular ignored my warnings and it came back to bite them in the ass.
Cingular snailmailed me (twice) saying that all of the disputed charges would be dismissed and they also had someone call my cell and left me a message saying that they would like to speak with me about my FCC complaint. I never bothered calling them back since I said all I had to say in my complaint.
Ever since the FCC complaint filing, my cell phone bills have been squeaky clean. No more bullshit charges for stuff that I never ever ordered or downloaded.
So you see there IS something that you can do against the marketplace giants, even one as big as Cingular, when you are treated wrongly. It takes a little bit of time & effort but the satisfaction factor is very rewarding.
Love your show and happy to hear that Mia the wonder dog is doing well.
Happy Holidays to you & yours!
December 22nd, 2006 at 4:49 pm
John, did you actually LISTEN to the letter as it was being read, or were you just thinking about how you would like leave a smart ass reply.
Go back through it and you’ll notice he did everyone of the things you listed.
December 27th, 2006 at 8:33 am
Melissa, I did not leave this message to be a smart ass. I made the comment for helpful tips on dealing with difficult people who have done you wrong.
note: When I say “you”, I am not referring to just YOU. I am referring to everyone.
I left it as an addition to this subject. I wanted to leave helpful tips for others that I have come to realize myself from my experience on both sides of various types of customer service. If you had read my letter, then you would notice that I did not call anyone a smart ass nor did I criticize Jason. I didn’t find anything wrong with Jason’s complaint. I thought it was great. Oh, and don’t correct me if I’m wrong (because I know I’m not), but there was no need to leave a comment just to bash me when I was just trying to be helpful.
I listen to this show all the time. This show is one of the few things I look forward to each week. I like every part of it, but I may just stop leaving comments on the website because of jerks like you.
January 2nd, 2007 at 9:39 pm
Does this ever sound familiar. I am blown away that here is someone who lives no where near me and has had a similar experience with these people. My expereience with DirectTV was one of the worst I have ever had with any company. I just wrote a lengthy article about my good & bad experiences in 2007 with tech related stuff (www.notjust4techs.com) and DirectTV tops the list. Sadly, I am sure Jason’s letter was never read by anyone who cared.