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A12 BUSINESS
Friday 30 december 2022
Liz Weston: How to complain and get

results

By LIZ WESTON of NerdWal- to use digital tools such as
let email, live chats, company
If you feel you have more websites and social me-
to complain about these dia as they are to pick up
days, you may be right. the phone, the 2020 study
The products we use are found.
increasingly complex, Social media platforms
which often means they such as Facebook or Twit-
have more ways to mal- ter have the advantage of
function. Companies are being public, which puts
still struggling to hire and some pressure on the com-
retain workers, so the cus- pany to resolve the prob-
tomer service representa- lem. Posting your com-
tives who are supposed plaint on social media also
to help you may not know bypasses the chatbots,
how. And that’s if you can phone trees, hold times
even get through to a hu- This undated file photo and malfunctioning voice
man being after navigat- provided by NerdWallet recognition software that
shows Liz Weston, a columnist
ing websites, automated for personal finance website can make customer ser-
chatbots and phone sys- NerdWallet.com. vice such a trial.
tems that seem designed Associated Press But of the 14% of respon-
to thwart you at every turn. dents who used social
“You’re searching for ly. media to complain about
where to call. Once you PREPARE TO PERSEVERE their worst problem, nearly
get through, you’re go- Broetzmann urges people half didn’t receive a re-
ing to yell ‘agent!’ in the to “pick their battles,” given sponse from the company,
phone 12 times, and then how much effort is typically according to the study. So
they send you to the wrong required to solve problems if you’re tempted to turn to
place,” says Scott M. and how often they occur. social media first, be ready
Broetzmann, chief execu- The 2020 study found 66% to have a backup plan
tive of research firm Cus- of American households that involves connecting
tomer Care Measurement had at least one problem with a human by phone,
& Consulting in Alexandria, with products and services email or chat.
Virginia. they purchased during the BE CONCISE
On average, customers past 12 months, compared Part of your preparation
made 2.9 contacts with a with 56% in the 2017 version should be boiling down
company while attempt- of the survey. your complaint to the es-
ing to resolve problems, Kevin Doyle, an editor at sentials, including what
according to the firm’s Consumer Reports, sug- happened and more im-
2020 National Customer gests people gather all the portantly how you want
Rage Study, which polled documentation they might the company to fix it. Too
1,026 consumers about need before reaching out many consumers aren’t
problems with products to a company. That could specific about what they
or services in the past 12 include account, confir- want from the company,
months. A whopping 58% mation and order num- Broetzmann says.
of respondents who com- bers, warranties and notes Just make sure the remedy
plained got nothing zero, from previous interactions you suggest is commen-
zilch as a result of their ef- with company representa- surate with the problem,
forts. So perhaps it’s not tives, for example. Missing Doyle says. If the seatback
surprising that 65% of those information could force TV didn’t function on your
who had a problem expe- you to start over on what- flight, don’t ask for a free
rienced consumer rage. ever phone or digital sys- ticket; ask for a credit for
If you want to improve your tem you’re using to com- a drink or a meal on your
odds of getting results, and plain. next trip, he suggests.
lower your blood pressure, CHOOSE YOUR VENUE “Are you going to get it?
consider the following tips People who make com- Who knows? But chances
for complaining effective- plaints are about as likely are, you’re not going to
get it unless you ask,” Doyle
says.
Resist the urge to explain
every twist and turn of your
journey, or to overstate
your distress for dramatic
effect. Extraneous details
and exaggerations could
make you easier to dismiss.
“Stick to the facts,” Doyle
says. “Embellishing it is go-
ing to diminish your cred-
ibility.” q