Why Complaining About Shoddy Service is Worth It

[EmilyDav]

Today I received two bottles of wine as an apology from a high street bank today for a complaint I made regarding being left on hold for an hour only to find that the people that my first contact transferred me to couldn't help me; not only did I get to complain and suggest what they could do to improve (and hope they take it on board, i'd rather have my time back than the wine to be honest!) but they sent me something that has cheered me up.

I would never recommend complaining if everything has been up to standard but if it hasn't it's much more satisfying to complain properly (and hopefully get something for it) than just get wound up by it.

 

[Jon]

if you get crap service, complain

It is the only way the company will improve things, if they don't know, they can't change or improve

 

[Chammy]

I agree, complain if it isn't up to par!

I complained in a joking manner in August about our stay in a Premier Inn which resulted in both our room cost and breakfasts being refunded.

 

[The Reverend]

Twice my bank has paid me over £200 because they are incompetent. I'm too scared to move banks as it becomes quite a nice little earner!

 

[asajj]

I usually take up Twitter to complain if there was a problem. We have got couple of vouchers from Tesco in the past.
My friend went to an upmarket restaurant and her husband wasn't well following day. They suspected that it was food poisoning. She wrote an email to the restaurant - not really expecting much but to let them know I suppose.
They immediately replied back and invited them to dine again, free of charge!

 

[Midnight]

There's a lot of fake complainers out there who do it to get free stuff who unfortunately can ruin it got those with genuine complaints. I work in front of house in a big hotel and quite often receive complaint letters/emails from folk I have personally seen and know had no issues while they were there, they were just trying to get something for free now they had got home.

 

[Topaz]

When we got engaged, the venue forgot to hire the bar. Cue a whip round and mercy dash by guests to the local supermarket for supplies. It was traumatic at the time, but turned out OK.

I complained to the venue manager, who hadn't realised his mistake until we said. He apologised and didn't charge us for the hire of the hall. Having realised that it was caused by a flaw in his booking system, he could put it right so that it didn't happen again.

So yes, if something goes pear shaped, complain so that the company can put it right.

 

[Falanouc]

I will happily complain if things don't go right. Thing is, if you don't then the company may not realise. If they are told and keep making the same mistakes then they probably deserve any bad feedback.

 

[RedAlix]

I complained about duracell batteries leaking in several of our children's toys. They gave us £15 in vouchers to spend on their batteries and free post envelopes to send the leaky batteries back to them. I really didn't expect anything.

 

[Rs20033]

I just complained about poor quality in our local passport photo booth. Never thought I'd get anywhere but they are sending a refund.

The worst complaining I had to do (I hate complaining) was when we moved house and our broadband company left us with no internet for 5 weeks (we gave them a months notice of the move, and it was to a property that previously had internet). Obviously there was no bill during this time and they gave me a £20 credit. Not sure if that is good or not - it was awful with no internet!




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[EmilyDav]

There's a lot of fake complainers out there who do it to get free stuff who unfortunately can ruin it got those with genuine complaints. I work in front of house in a big hotel and quite often receive complaint letters/emails from folk I have personally seen and know had no issues while they were there, they were just trying to get something for free now they had got home.

See that's not on; and if people have a problem with a hotel then they should at the very least complain at checkout when things are still able to be proven etc.

Also it can sometimes effect the employee if you complain; for example there is one restaurant I have heard of that charges the waitresses if they or the kitchen make a mistake; so it's one thing if it really is there fault, particularly if it is a fault with the 'system' rather than a genuine mistake, but it's just wrong to do it if you have nothing to complain about.

 

[The Reverend]

I recently went away for a hotel stay over night. Included in the deal was £25 per person dinner credit. The hotel was on the south coast and so had an amazing menu we were dying to try out. When we arrived for our dinner reservation we were handed the 'set menu' for the day. Instead of a huge selection of items we were limited to one of 2 starters or one of 3 main courses. I emailed the hotel chain to say I was surprised this was sprung on me, especially as I had spoken to them on the phone to confirm the booking. At no point on their website, on the booking emails, on the phone calls did anyone mention that it would be set menu only. What made it worse was the set menu was £30 so I paid £5 per person to not eat what I wanted!

I wrote an email to complain and I got a reply saying they were sad I was unhappy but they hoped it wouldn't affect booking with them in the future. And that was it. A hotel crossed off the list for the future, thats for sure.

 

[EmilyDav]

I actually had another one last night which amused me slightly. I ordered some clothes online from Tesco using click and collect between Christmas and New Year and they put up this disclaimer about orders being delayed and could be up to 7 working days i think it was; I wasn't worried I didn't need the thing quickly, and sort of forgot about them. I never received an email to say my order was ready for collection, but I did get one saying they'd delivered my products a few days ago and did I like them basically. So i popped into the shop to get them, and they weren't there. Rang customer services as the store said they could do no more, and they guys on customer service said there had been a problem they'd got stuck at the depot; never made it and now were sold out; and he followed that up with 'so what I can do for you is refund you your money' at which point I pointed out that that was the very least he would be doing seeing as they hadn't actually given me my products!

 

[katbythesea]

My sister recently did a photobook with a well known company as a gift for my Dad 80th birthday. She received notfication it had been despatched (she had paid around £10 extra for next day) and it never arrived, after much chasing and a few phone calls it turns out it wasn't on it's way as promised but by way of apology they refunded her full costs, produced another book which did arrive the next day and the original one is also on it's way - so yes it does pay to complain - but also got great customer service from the company as well to rectify the problems.

 

[spike241]

I had a George click and collect order that disappeared. Luckily it was all still in stock so they sent it again. A few months later I placed another order and the missing stuff was mixed in with the new order.
Very strange but I got some free stuff

Tesco also lost a click and collect clothing order but I got £10 credit added to my account as a lot of the stuff was sold out.

 

[Falanouc]

I'm too honest at times - I'd have sent the dupes back or at least contacted George to ask if they want them back.

Did that with Debenhams - ordered a couple of face cloths to use up the last few £s on a giftcard and instead of 2, received a whole pack of 10 (even though they were individually priced). Contacted them to ask if they wanted them back and they said yes. Luckily it was free returns but I still had to print out the return label - didn't even get a thank you.

 

[Midnight]

I complained at Frankie and bennys recently after my husband overheard 2 female members of staff being cruel about me breastfeeding while having a meal there. Got the meal for free and hopefully the staff got a talking to. We won't be going there again though, at least not that specific one

 

[Jon]

I complained at Frankie and bennys recently after my husband overheard 2 female members of staff being cruel about me breastfeeding while having a meal there. Got the meal for free and hopefully the staff got a talking to. We won't be going there again though, at least not that specific one

that chain sells the laziest food anyway, you aren't missing out lol

 

[Midnight]

In true money saving fashion we were only eating there because we had a voucher for 30% off or we would have never eaten there at their high prices