Do you complain?

Youstolemyname

Youstolemyname

Youstolemyname

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I wouldn't consider myself a moaner but when I have bad service or a bad experience I make it known. I have only started to do this recently (maybe a 30's thing!) but I have had some success. The tack I take is not to go off like a rocket at the person handling your complaint- it's not their fault and they are more likely to help if you make light of it but are firm in your request for recompense.

So far I have had:

£50 m&s voucher for some shoes that fell apart
A free upgrade to an executive suite at a hotel for my next staybecause my window was noisy
Hundred quids worth of travel vouchers because my train was late and first class service was cancelled
A cheque and apology off Royal Mail after a parcel went AWOL
A letter from my MP regarding what I perceive to be an unfair charge (ongoing issue so watch this space!)
Free meal in the hotel as food was cold and late and then free champagne the next day on my birthday

There was a mouse last night in my hotel room and here is the email I sent off...


I have been staying in the CP Birmingham City Centre regularly for almost 12 months now. I have been through the entire renovation period of the hotel and watched it transform into what is becoming a great place to stay with friendly staff and good facilities.

However, last night can you imagine my horror when I discovered an intruder in my room. I was doing some work on my laptop when out of the corner of my eye I spotted a dark, shadowy shape moving towards me. It was moving quite quickly and erratically and seemed to be headed straight for me. Bracing myself for what seemed an inevitable attack I tensed up in horror, but just at the last moment THE MOUSE changed direction and headed for the aircon unit.

I don't remember ordering a mouse when I reserved the room, or there being a special offer of free mice for all priority club members. Naturally, I reported this at reception and was met with the response that it would be communicated to the duty manager. Not at one point was I offered to be moved room or any form of recompense.

I would like to understand what you intend to do, firstly about the rodent problem in the hotel and secondly as form of recompense to me.

So am I alone as moaner or do others share my dislike for poor services?
 
Some places you have to have a guaranteed moan. Like TGI Friday resteraunts for example.

They always send you vouchers for the value of your original meal if you write to head office and moan.

I like to whine more myself, its has all the benefits of being a moaner, just less of a bad rep :)


Edit:- I do only moan/complain when I feel is neccessary. I won't moan for the sake of getting something for nothing, only if I feel I've paid for something that was unjustified. E.G - A poor meal at a resteraunt where you would pay a £100+ bill for two people.
 
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I'm turning ito a grumpy old man and complain about loads of stuff.

I complain to the council a lot, the roads in Surrey are worse than Third World.

For the cost of a letter I got a whole year's water supply free from Three Valleys.

I always detail what it has cost me to complain, in terms of phone calls, stationary and, most importantly, my time based on my hourly rate.
 
I might complain if I really got unfairly treated but as I haven't really ever had that happen I haven't had any need to. The only time I complained was when a flight I was due to board was very heavily delayed, but that happens a lot at Heathrow!

To me, the point of complaining is not to get free stuff but to make my voice heard and to improve their service in the future, seems like you are most keen on getting the free stuff ;)
 
I will moan at people till the cows come home...whether it actually makes a difference is another matter entirely!
 
nicktay2605 said:
To me, the point of complaining is not to get free stuff but to make my voice heard and to improve their service in the future
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Absolutely. When I was complaining about my waterbill it was only because they were billing me from the beginning of November and I hadn't moved in until the middle of December. It was something like £20 I wanted off, but they were obviously too lazy to do the calculations.

I complain because I want what I'm paying for, nothing more.
 
I’ve defiantly started to complain a lot more, must be a sign of getting old. If I have paid for something I expect it to be as described. Not with the intention of getting free stuff - that’s just being a *****
 
I had a brilliant one when I bought my Plasma off John Lewis. They made a mistake and said it would be delivered a day later than was originally agreed. I rung up and said

"Well that's not the best is it?"

"Not to worry Mr 'TheDean', I have already spoken to my manager and we are prepared to give you £25 discount"

classic
 
Moaning is awesome - gets you all sorts of freebies :D as more than likely no-one wants to deal with you so they just throw free stuff at you - my g/f gets embarrassed but enjoys the upgrades and freebies ;)
 
Youstolemyname said:
I wouldn't consider myself a moaner but when I have bad service or a bad experience I make it known. I have only started to do this recently (maybe a 30's thing!) but I have had some success. The tack I take is not to go off like a rocket at the person handling your complaint- it's not their fault and they are more likely to help if you make light of it but are firm in your request for recompense.

So far I have had:

£50 m&s voucher for some shoes that fell apart
A free upgrade to an executive suite at a hotel for my next staybecause my window was noisy
Hundred quids worth of travel vouchers because my train was late and first class service was cancelled
A cheque and apology off Royal Mail after a parcel went AWOL
A letter from my MP regarding what I perceive to be an unfair charge (ongoing issue so watch this space!)
Free meal in the hotel as food was cold and late and then free champagne the next day on my birthday

There was a mouse last night in my hotel room and here is the email I sent off...


I have been staying in the CP Birmingham City Centre regularly for almost 12 months now. I have been through the entire renovation period of the hotel and watched it transform into what is becoming a great place to stay with friendly staff and good facilities.

However, last night can you imagine my horror when I discovered an intruder in my room. I was doing some work on my laptop when out of the corner of my eye I spotted a dark, shadowy shape moving towards me. It was moving quite quickly and erratically and seemed to be headed straight for me. Bracing myself for what seemed an inevitable attack I tensed up in horror, but just at the last moment THE MOUSE changed direction and headed for the aircon unit.

I don't remember ordering a mouse when I reserved the room, or there being a special offer of free mice for all priority club members. Naturally, I reported this at reception and was met with the response that it would be communicated to the duty manager. Not at one point was I offered to be moved room or any form of recompense.

I would like to understand what you intend to do, firstly about the rodent problem in the hotel and secondly as form of recompense to me.

So am I alone as moaner or do others share my dislike for poor services?
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I feel you will become Viktor Meldrew when your older, you are obviously getting success with moaning/complaining...maybe you will get addicted to it! :eek:
 
The only time I've ever moaned was when a taxi driver was 30 minutes late, then didn't know the way. When we finally got there I suggested perhaps he ought to discount the fare. The guy looked at me in shock, then my Mum tipped him. I felt like slapping them both.
 
Bennie-Mac said:
I wouldnt dare moan at people who handle my food! Ive seen what they do in the movies :p
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Just to contradict myself i complained at my local Dominoes Pizza the other week. I was watching the girl get my pizza out of the oven when she proceeded to drop it on the floor, scoop it up into the box, slice it and try to give it to me! When i said i dont want it as i saw her drop it on the floor she said "no i didnt, i caught it before it touched the ground."

Got a free pizza and a book of useful vouchers after complaining to the manager. Three days later an envelope arrived with an apology letter, more vouchers and their confirmation that the employee responsible had her contract terminated. :)
 
Greenlizard0 said:
Yea I'm like that now - I don't take crap any more I just can't be bothered. I think I've got 2 bar people fired before :p.
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Oh yeah. I got one fired a while ago. Some fool served me the wrong shot, I drunk half of it and told him it was the wrong stuff. I asked him to smell it and he said he was right.

It was Bundaburg Rum, which for anyone who has gone anywhere near it knows exactly what it smells/tastes like. He gave me some kind of minging whiskey - it was quite clearly wrong. Anyway, the long and short of it was him telling me to f off to which my reply was 'manager'.

I got him to do a ridiculous appology in front of me and my girlfriend and gave him a massive speil about me working as a Barman while at Uni. The manager then said I could have a complimentary drink. I looked at him, completely seriously, and said - "I'll have a bottle of Moet please".

Don't even like Moet. Drunk it though
 
This is an email I sent to Sir Terry Leahy (CEO of Tesco) after I had had a problem getting my shopping home - they sent me a £15 Tesco Giftcard:

To Whom It May Concern,

On a trip to the Earls Court TESCO today myself and my two flat mates, had an extremely negative experience involving TESCO plastic bags.

Upon leaving the store with our bags full, but I must add not overloaded, we began to notice that small tears and rips began to appear in the bags minutes after leaving the store - we live only 10 minutes walk from the store and as it was such a glorious day decided to walk. Just 2 minutes in to our walk home one of my bags split open causing the bottle of Sarsons vinegar and my 6 pack of glass bottles of coke to tragically smash to the floor. After a quick repack we carried on with the walk home, although obviously disappointed at the events that had just taken place.

Having thought the worse was over just another 3 minutes down the road Michael's bag handle fell through causing his shopping to fall to the ground, although nothing was smashed a baguette was seriously dented - but still edible. It was at this point we also noted that the TESCO own brand 'Direct to floor' cleaning product we had purchased was leaking and in turn tainting the hummus and and pita that was also in the bag, although the majority of these were saved one of the pita had to be thrown away.

On arrival home the bags were all in an extremely bad condition and could not be used again. I can only assume - or rather hope - that the Earls Court had been delivered a faulty batch of bags and that we will never have to experience this sort of catastrophe again. I have been shopping at TESCO for a number of years now and recently became a club card member - this experience has almost made me rethink this decision and the card still sits unused on my side table. I do hope that this can be rectified as soon as possible and for future I have decided to purchase some 'bags for life' not only is this good for the environment but will also, hopefully, prevent anything like this happening again.

With sincere regards
 
Don't believe the movies regarding food. I never mistreated someones food if they complained, and i never witnessed somebody else doing it either in the 14 kitchens i worked in. Well... actually there was one guy who used to take shortcuts, like deep frying mushrooms instead of cooking them in butter, but never abused the food, as it were.

Of course, i'm sure there are exceptions. I once got a pot of Sweet and Sour sauce from the local Chineser, and i swear it had a greenie in it.
 
I once complained to a large electrical store. I received a phone call on the morning a fridge/freezer was to be delivered to explain that the driver who was due to deliver it had to take his daughter to hospital as she was ill. Normally i wouldn't have bothered complaining but the fact that they were using an excuse and implying that i should feel sorry for the retailer because of a family incident was a bit pathetic. I spoke to a manager and told them i would be having to rely on convenience food until the fridge arrived and asked how I would be compensated. She asked me to keep any receipts for food and send them to her after the fridge had arrived. A week or two later I had a cheque for about £100 refunding the cost of quality takeaway meals for 3 days that i was without refridgeration.

I complained to Bulldog when i was joining them about them royally screwing me about trying to get broadband installed and ended up with 18 months of free internet and line rental.

I used to complain fairly frequently to Virgin and the awful service they provided and got a few hundred quid taken off the bills during the year i was with them (about £600 refunded in total).

Also recently complained to BT after they cocked up my installation on 4 occasions and received a cheque for £125 reimbursing me for the installation.

:)
 
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Youstolemyname said:
I wouldn't consider myself a moaner but when I have bad service or a bad experience I make it known. I have only started to do this recently (maybe a 30's thing!) but I have had some success. The tack I take is not to go off like a rocket at the person handling your complaint- it's not their fault and they are more likely to help if you make light of it but are firm in your request for recompense.

So far I have had:

£50 m&s voucher for some shoes that fell apart
A free upgrade to an executive suite at a hotel for my next staybecause my window was noisy
Hundred quids worth of travel vouchers because my train was late and first class service was cancelled
A cheque and apology off Royal Mail after a parcel went AWOL
A letter from my MP regarding what I perceive to be an unfair charge (ongoing issue so watch this space!)
Free meal in the hotel as food was cold and late and then free champagne the next day on my birthday

There was a mouse last night in my hotel room and here is the email I sent off...


I have been staying in the CP Birmingham City Centre regularly for almost 12 months now. I have been through the entire renovation period of the hotel and watched it transform into what is becoming a great place to stay with friendly staff and good facilities.

However, last night can you imagine my horror when I discovered an intruder in my room. I was doing some work on my laptop when out of the corner of my eye I spotted a dark, shadowy shape moving towards me. It was moving quite quickly and erratically and seemed to be headed straight for me. Bracing myself for what seemed an inevitable attack I tensed up in horror, but just at the last moment THE MOUSE changed direction and headed for the aircon unit.

I don't remember ordering a mouse when I reserved the room, or there being a special offer of free mice for all priority club members. Naturally, I reported this at reception and was met with the response that it would be communicated to the duty manager. Not at one point was I offered to be moved room or any form of recompense.

I would like to understand what you intend to do, firstly about the rodent problem in the hotel and secondly as form of recompense to me.

So am I alone as moaner or do others share my dislike for poor services?
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Are you going for the pulitzer prize or something?!?
 
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