I will tell you a little secret. I am the queen of writing complaint letters. I am so very good at it, I have received tons of free food, complimentary hotel stays, and even convinced another business to cut down a very tall palm tree blocking a very expensive sign.
Now, I am not talking about "there's a hair in my food, ew!" complaints, which I have also lodged successful complaints for, and received tons of free coupons in return, I am talking about egregious lapses in business service and quality.
When you have an experience so bad that you will remember it always, don't badmouth the business, write them a complaint.
My most recent complaint has been with Starbucks. I love them, but it seems they keep scaling back their business hours, and it is almost always a guarantee that if you go for food past 7 pm, they either have empty cases, or are physically emptying their cases as we order. It always makes my husband and I feel as if they don't care about their evening patrons at all. So I wrote their corporate office about my complaint, and within 2 weeks, I got a reply, and yesterday, I received coupons for 2 free drinks as an apology.
Now there is a certain etiquette to writing a complaint. You can't just write "your service sucks, I hate you, and will never patronize you again". It is neither helpful to the business, and it does not resolve your dispute. So I will outline what you need to know in order to properly penning a complaint that gives you a resolution.
1. First of all, you can't write anything if you are angry, it polarizes your sentiment, and businesses hate reading angry letters. So, let go of the anger. Calm down, and write the complaint when you are in a good mood.
2. Be polite, intelligent, and take the time to use proper English. Your complaint has to be readable, so proofread! I do not like reading rude, lowercase text-speak, and neither will they. You do not want your letter to be trashed because it is unreadable sludge.
3. Start your letter with praise for the things that they DO do well, like speedy check-outs, great prices, wide selection of red sweaters, etc. Make sure you let them know how those good things positively affect you. You want them to relate to you, see that you are potentially a steady customer, and that you have a base appreciation for the service they offer. Boost their ego a bit, make them feel that YOU consider them a valuable business.
4)Transition into your complaint, but politely. Be specific about the problem you have had while leaving out the negative adjectives. Remember, you want them to WANT to read your complaint, so the more upbeat you are about the issue, the happier they will be to acoomodate you in the solution. Provide dates, names, times, and anything else that will help them pinpoint the problem, but be brief. They don't need a monologue on how a long line made you late to work, which made your boss yell at you, and you in turn made life hell for your family.
5. Determine what you would consider an acceptable resolution to your problem, and be reasonable. Wanting a $100 gift card to Home Depot because you had a rude cashier is unreasonable. And wanting them to be fired or severely disciplined is unreasonable as well. Customer service re-training for under-performing employees is a very assertive request. These are the types of things companies like to hear, ways to BETTER their business. In my Starbucks complaint, I simply asked them to be consistent on their hours and keep their cases reasonably filled until they close.
6. Close your letter congenially. Provide your phone number, email, address to them so they can return your correspondence.
Now here is a side note. I have NEVER asked for any form of payment, freebies, or discounts in my complaints. I write the letters in hopes that they see I sincerely care about the success of their business, and while I am complaining, it is meant to better their operation, not benefit myself.
I leave it to the business to determine the value of my information. So far, every single complaint I have ever lodged has been answered, and I have received some form of freebie, with one exception. The one business that never replied became part of my "do not patronize" list.
My favorite resolution was from a hotel in Albuquerque. It was freshly remodeled, but stank of smoke in a non-smoking room, the internet sucked, and the water took half an hour to get warm. We had a "Do Not Disturb" sign, but the maids came at 7:45 am, knocked as hard as possible on every door (think sledgehammer hard), screaming "HOUSEKEEPING!!!!!" at the top of their lungs. When they got to our door, we were already awake from the ruckus, but they knocked and screamed anyway, saw the doorhanger, then screamed "NEVERMIND!".
I wrote a letter detailing our horrible experience as soon as we got home. We were immediately called on the phone. The woman profusely apologized, vowed to fix everything, and refunded every dime we spent on the room, including the movies we rented. It was $120... for FREE. If I am ever staying in Albuquerque, I will most certainly give them a second chance.
I would love to hear of any great resolutions you have received from your effective complaint writings!
Oh, and I still love Starbucks. It seemed my complaint made an impact!
