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Tuesday Tip | Politely ask companies to make things right.

I was thinking about how sometimes people make two opposite errors when a company messes something up:

  • Approaching the employee/company with a rude, entitled attitude
  • Not feeling like they have a right to point out the mistake/poor service/etc.

The first approach goes wrong because that’s just not a kind way to treat others. People that work at companies are still people, and they should be treated with respect.   Plus, starting out with an off-putting attitude usually doesn’t help you get what you want.

The second approach feels off to me because I think you should get what you pay for when you give your money to a company.   The company isn’t a charity; rather, the idea is that you give them your money, and you get an agreed-upon good or service in return.

If you don’t get the good or service you paid for, then you totally have a right to ask for that to be corrected.

People with the first approach might say, “Oh, I don’t want to be a pushover!”

And people with the second approach might say, “Oh, but I don’t want to be rude and demanding.”

The lovely news is that you don’t have to choose between those two options.   There’s space in the middle there, which looks like  politely and respectfully asking for a wrong to be made right.  

I’ve had so much success at getting errors corrected, faulty items replaced, billing adjusted, and so on by being brave enough to ask, but also being polite and respectful (even when I have to be firm or insistent.)

So, if you tend toward one of these extremes, I just want to encourage you to respectfully speak up and ask to get what you paid for.

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nicoleandmaggie

Wednesday 10th of October 2018

I've learned that the phrase, "I was hoping you could help me" automatically seems to make the person on the other end *want* to help.

Kristen

Wednesday 10th of October 2018

Ooh, that's a good tip.

Irena

Wednesday 10th of October 2018

I always begin a CS encounter with good manners and courtesy, not to win favor but because that's what we do as civilized persons. I try to explain the problem and I ask, politely: Is there anything you can do to help me with this and if you can't, can you please direct me to who can help me? If you can't help, let me move on. Don't waste my time (which drives me crazy, along with repeating the same info multiple times to different people. I've got a life.)

But let's be clear: Being courteous and polite is often wasted on very unprofessional and truly unhelpful CS. It usually starts when the CS person will NOT listen to your problem and starts with a script that in no way focuses on your issue (and let's remember, in some cases, in can take a LONG time to get thru to CS after voicemail prompts that do not allow you to get help for your problem, by which time, many of us are fed up with wasting our time.)

No matter how polite you are, there are some CS folks you need to be firm and forceful in saying: You are not helping me, who can. Or even hanging up and trying again with someone else.

And also, a consideration is how some companies treat customers. Some companies are smart enough to know that good CS service helps them retain customers even when something major has gone wrong. They empower CS reps to escalate or actually resolve on their own and they hire people who actually listen.

Also, when people are rude to me, I will respond forcefully. I don't want it to get to that point, and I've learned to just "move on" and not waste time with an individual.

FYI: Entitlement. We are, as customers, entitled to be heard and then to get help we need, not what someone else thinks is needed. It's not an attitude of entitlement in the negative sense.

If I buy a product and there is a problem, I don't want some bored, unhappy with their job, lazy CS rep wasting my time. For all the great ones (and FYI: Whenever someone is helpful, I ask them: How can I let your boss know what a great job you've done? And then I email or send snail mail. Because I want companies to know: Your CS reps are doing a good job. Reward them!)

Life is too short to deal with companies who don't treat consumers well. I would rather spend a bit more money to use another company in future. And I will, via twitter, or facebook, make it clear when they have not done their job.

Corrine

Wednesday 10th of October 2018

Just traveled for vacation. We have a 4 year old son, so of course had to have a pool. When we got there we found out the pool was closed for routine maintenance. We politely mentioned that they had not let us know of this, at checkout, when we reserved the room. They gave us a $50 credit and a stuffed animal from the gift shop for our son.

Suzan

Wednesday 10th of October 2018

This is where I cringe and want to run away. My mother complains about nearly everything. She will complain about her table, the meal, her groceries and more. Tonight we returned a pot plant that was not satisfactory. Between my mother and the staff member the docket was lost. Mum was getting more and more irate which means rudeness. Mum actually told the staff member she could not understand her. Yikes.

jess

Wednesday 10th of October 2018

I feel for you! There is a difference between politely handling a situation and being one of those people who COMPLAINS about EVERYTHING... My husbands grandfather is a constant complainer ( seriously if he says he wants his toast DARK.. make it black...).. it could be quite embarrassing.. My inlaws just think the server is to be at their beck and call for every possible thing! ugh I have taken the proactive approach when we go out to eat and I quietly for-warn the server that my inlaws are quite picky and complainy... I have found that that heads up helps the server not get flustered and things go much more smoothly... I also end up tipping more on our bill to make up for the drama.. but it keep the peace for my husband...

Deidre

Wednesday 10th of October 2018

I agree; you catch more flies with honey although sometimes you do have to be quite firm. I strongly recommend keeping a record of your calls. Years ago when I first moved to a place on my own I did so with the thought if the bills were too big on my own I would get a housemate - problem was the power company sent me no bills for 6 months despite a number of phone calls. When I made an official complaint they denied I had spoken to anyone & when I was able to name the people with dates & times they huffily claimed I wasn't their customer but other companies said I couldn't go with them until this contract was terminated. I went to the electrical ombudsman (public complaints board) who told me they would act on my behalf & at that time had 50,000 similar complaints - the problem? Power companies were signing up customers in areas they had no contracted meter readers & then billing people 12mths bills in one hit - even small businesses. I found out the law here is that they have to give you the same amount of time to pay as the billing period - the Ombudsman stepped in, forced them to acknowlege their fault & terminate my contract without fees so I could transfer to another company. I was so frugal that year stressed how much the bill would be it ended being quite small but was a really stressful time. So take notes I say.

WilliamB

Wednesday 10th of October 2018

Document exhaustively!!! If it's an expensive thing and your jurisdiction allow it, you can record the conversation as well. Most places tell you they're recording, which I would ~think~ allows you to record them as well.

Write down the day and time you called, who you talked with (some companies have their customer service reps use numbers instead of names, for security and mental comfort), who said what, the outcome agreed to. Also get a reference number for the interaction (sometimes called a complaint number), when the outcome will happen, and a way to follow-up if the outcome doesn't happen.

Consider following up with an email/snailmail saying "This communication is to document the agreement with X that the outcome will be Y."

Being able to say "On 1 Sept I talked with Phyllis, who said I would get a replacement within 5 business days; see reference number 239847. On 15 Sept I talked with Alfred, who said there was a delay at the factory in Alabama, so sorry, it'll be 10 business days. It's now 5 October and I still don't have the thing." does a pretty darn good job of shutting up the jerk customer service manager to wants to deny any contact.

I've commented a lot on this thread already so I won't go into detail about how I got Sprint to fix the $5000 cell phone bill I received. (Short version of the problem: Sprint's sales guy told me phone calls to Obscure Location were $10/call. They were $10/minute.)

Kristen

Wednesday 10th of October 2018

Oh, for sure. Firmness is fine and sometimes very necessary.

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