Do you complain?

A lot of people here clearly complaining for the freebies. Either that or they're incredibly sad.

LOL at the Tesco letter! If that had been sent to me I'd laugh my balls off then toss it in the bin.
 
I do. Recently:

South West Train - heard back from them.
A restaurant which said no booking required on their site but turned me away once there - never heard from them.

No freebies though.
 
I don't complain at all but reading here i think i should. Our VM tv has been pretty poor since about February, freezing up for a minute every like 20 mins and have gone through 6 different tv boxes. And all we got was the cost of the upgrade to VM HD box and no money off.
 
I don't complain at all but reading here i think i should. Our VM tv has been pretty poor since about February, freezing up for a minute every like 20 mins and have gone through 6 different tv boxes. And all we got was the cost of the upgrade to VM HD box and no money off.

VM is a poor place to start ;) Pick something easier, like a supermarket or something. Face to Face interaction is easier in my opinion. People on the phone just dont care.

And VM are shocking anyway.
 
A lot of people here clearly complaining for the freebies. Either that or they're incredibly sad.

That statement implies that people are just trying to get something for nothing. The fact that you are complain about something that you are paying for, goods or services, and those are not being provided in an acceptable fashion means you have every right to expect not to pay for them in full. For example it could be that you have to spend a total of many hours on the phone to support lines or perhaps have to stay in to wait for someone to deliver/visit and they don't turn up ending up in your wasting time or you being out of pocket. Therefore I look at it as reasonable recompense for the inconvenience caused.
 
I'm currently complaining to ING because they got my interest rate completely wrong... Sent them a letter at the end of september. They sent me a letter saying they were investigating over a week later, then another letter at the start of Nov saying they still didn't have a reply but they will by the 20th November :rolleyes:

Not really a difficult complaint to handle. They must be deliberately making it take as long as possible or something, otherwise I'm expecting a detailed document with the results of the massive inquest they must be making...
 
Not really, but when I do I don't hit the roof as that usually has a negative response when I do have a reason to complain.

One example. I came back to my hotel room after a day out while on holiday last year only to find the maid had left the door open all day after cleaning it. Needless to say I wasn't too happy about it (nothing was taken fortunately, though I never leave any valuables in my hotel room while I'm on holiday anyway). Early the next day instead of ranting & raving to the hotel staff, I asked to talk to the hotel manager in private as not to cause a scene. A few words later I got an apology from both the hotel manager & the housekeeper plus a free beer! My tip is to be assertive when you complain verbally to someone & in private. If this doesn't work then complain in writing.
 
I once wrote a letter of complaint to Sainsburys about there being no nutritional information on a tub of onion crispies. Got a £5 voucher out of it, hehe! (yeah I was very bored that day)
 
I complained to my gym about them never cleaning the changing rooms after I saw a used plaster left in the middle of the changing rooms for over FOUR DAYS!!
They ignored it till I sent them another letter to the head of PR, then all i got was 'ooh sorry, won't happen again' type message.

Oh well.
Today I complained to British Gas about them taking ages to switch over my Gas and they gave me £20 credit.
 
It's not about the 'freebies' for me. If I have been treated poorly or bought a duff/product or service I wont just accept it and put it down to experience. I will give people a chance to rectify it or take my business elsewhere.

The example grimley posted is a perfect way of dealing with a situation, that I have employed, that works very well.
 
Some people are serial complainers though just for the freebies. A woman I used to work with (she was so tight she never bought toilet roll for her home but every toilet she went to - work, pubs, friends - she would put extra sheets in her handbag which was enough for home use :eek:)

She once got a kit kat without the wafer eg all chocolate (I always found that a bonus) and she rang up Rowntrees to complain that she could have broken her teeth on it and how distressed she was.

She got sent a letter of apology and a box of 48 kitkats. Of course she eat the solid kitkat first before ringing up to complain.

In fact she was the master of cheap living. She went to bed when it went dark to save electric used with the lights on - her monthly electric bill was only £5.
 
Stayed at a De Vere hotel this year for 3 nights, booked into a Queen Suite costing £800 for the 3 nights B&B for our anniversay. Fantastic suite, that was until the banging and hammering started, turned out the suite across the hallway was being refurbushed as a 'show' suite due to the hotel being due a full refurbishment. Complained and asked for us to be moved but no other suites available so we got offered a free meal in the 'posh' restaurant that night and the guarantee it would be finished by 6pm. Complained again at 9pm on the way down to dinner that the workmen were still there, free bottle of champagne. Complained again at 8:30am the following morning when the workmen started banging again but got told that they weren't working on the suite that day so it couldn't be workmen must be other guests.

You can probably see a pattern evolving here. To cut it short, the workmen were at it all day sat until 9pm, again sunday 8am to 9pm. Got to reception on monday to check out and asked for the duty manager, he said that he had already given us a free meal and champers and would that cover it, i said no and expected more from De Vere, they wiped the whole bar tab/food tab for the weekend (£350) would that cut it, i said no, he refunded the whole cost of the hotel room for the weekend. I'm a happy bunny as we did actually have an alright time!

Imagine my suprise when the manager of the hotel wrote to me a week later to apologise again and offer me another weekend at the hotel in the newly refurbished suite with all meals and drinks included. Now that is customer service to the extreme! :)
 
The only letter of complaint I've sent in so far was to BA. I arrived at Manchester and while waiting to board I was told the flight was delayed but I'd make it to London for my change to Sydney. It got delayed again, and again and when I finally arrived in London they told me I'd have to wait until the next day for a flight. They did put me up in a hotel and gave me food vouchers but breakfast sucked and I was too tired to eat when I got there.

My letter got me a £50 voucher. Wooo! I can fly back to London with BA! Waste of time.

Some of you do seem to be pushing the boat out though. Moaning because your bag split? Your turning in to my nan.
 
Love complaining. The best bit is the response that someone will have had to have written even for a tiny thing. Orrr, when you know you're not going to get a response but your letter is definitely going to be pinned up on the wall.

I spent 15 minutes listening to a 40 second loop waiting for More Than to answer, so they got this:

After waiting until 8.30pm tonight to phone and make changes to my policy, in a bid to avoid busy times and therefore waiting, I was very disappointed. 15 minutes on hold might not have bothered me so much, had the music to occupy me during this time been slightly more entertaining... When I say music, it was a 40 second loop of twinkly noise that could be considered torture in some parts of the world. After the 287564th time hearing the loop and voice "thanking me for my patience", my call was answered and an apology was offered for the time I had been waiting. However, this did not get these 15 minutes of my life back, which I think I would have rather sat listening to a dialtone.

If paying artists to have music playing is not favourable, perhaps you could have even advertised your own products, or given out useful information. Heaven forbid, you could give some kind of status update as to how busy the lines are currently, how long people might be waiting? As it was, I kept having to pinch myself and check I was still awake and had not been put into a trance. I hope I have no need to call you in the immediate future! I also look forward to your feedback, I was courteous enough to do this for you.
 
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