These days, it seems you can't purchase a product or service without the company promptly following up with a survey asking, "How are we doing?" or "Would you recommend us to others?" Try to get a quick response when you have a complaint, however, and businesses aren’t always so eager to hear from you.
In fact, when it comes to seeking help with a problem, consumers' top frustrations are figuring out how to contact the company and being forced to listen to long messages before being allowed to speak to an agent, according to the 2023 National Customer Rage Survey.
The survey also found that people aren't getting angrier, but more of them are getting angry, says David Beinhacker, chief research officer at Customer Care Measurement & Consulting, which has been publishing the rage gauge since 2003. And consumers are becoming more uncivil, influenced by bad behavior seen on social media and elsewhere, he says.
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But yelling, cursing or bullying isn't the way to resolve problems. If you want to complain effectively, here's how.
Be polite and brief
After all, the person on the other end of the e-mail or phone call likely didn't cause your problem. And long, emotional emails often go unread, so try to keep your written complaint to 250 words or less.
"You don't want to be accusatory," says Christopher Elliott, founder of Elliott Advocacy, a nonprofit organization that mediates disputes between consumers and companies. "You want to let them know what the problem is — as succinctly as possible — and what you want them to do to fix it. It’s like a demand letter that lawyers put out, but much nicer."
Make sure to provide key information, such as dates, the transaction or reservation number, your full name, and your contact details. And be reasonable in your request on how the company can make things right. An airline, for example, is not going to give you a first-class ticket if you didn't get your in-flight cup of coffee, Elliott says.
Josh Neuman, founder of Chummy Tees, a graphic T-shirt retailer in Sonora, Calif., has been on the other side of complaints and offers advice.
"The most effective customer complaints are clear, respectful and have context. 'I ordered this size, got something else. Here's the order number. Can you help?' That gets resolved fast," Neuman said in an email. "What doesn’t work is a vague rant or sending five e-mails in two hours. I've seen people block their own resolution by being aggressive or unclear."
Maintain a paper trail
It's always a good idea to keep invoices, receipts, warranties, and other documents for purchases or services that can later back up a complaint. And as you go through the complaint process, retain copies of all communications. Take a screenshot or photo of your communications with a chatbot; some companies disable the ability to save chats, Elliott says.
Many consumers and even some companies prefer to deal with complaints over the phone. Jot down the date and time you called, the name of the person you spoke with, and what was discussed.
Better yet, just as companies record calls, you should do the same so you have proof, if needed, of any promises a customer service agent made to you. (In some states, you must inform the company that you are recording the call.)
Avoid these mistakes
Don't wait too long to complain. Your complaint will be taken more seriously if the problem occurred recently rather than months ago.
Timing also matters when you use a credit card. You should always first give the business a chance to fix the problem, which can be the fastest way to reach a resolution.
But if the business ignores you or you're unsatisfied by its response, you have limited time to request that your credit card payment to that company be reversed. The card issuer will investigate and then decide whether to return the money to your account, called a chargeback. You generally have 60 days from the date your credit card statement was issued to request a chargeback, although many card issuers allow up to 120 days from the date of the transaction.
Never lie. If you made a mistake, such as booking a hotel for the wrong dates, own up to it quickly and move on, Elliott advises.
Pause before you fire off an email that you wrote while in the heat of anger. Have someone else read it first to make sure your complaint is polite and to the point.
Be ready for the growing role of AI
Increasingly, your first contact with customer service will be artificial intelligence chatbots. That's not necessarily a bad thing. Chatbots, for instance, are available 24/7 and are getting better, consumer advocates say.
"They can solve some basic problems," such as trying to track a shipment, Elliott says. "But if you have a more complicated problem, AI is spectacularly bad."
For a more complicated issue, request that a representative or agent help you. Or, if the business is local, consider visiting the business in person.
Escalate your complaint
If you're hitting a dead end, take your complaint up the management ladder. Don't go straight to the top, however, because if the CEO won't help, you’ve run out of options within the company.
Finding contacts for managers and executives often requires some online sleuthing. Check the company's website or social media profile, or look for contacts on the Better Business Bureau’s website. Elliott Advocacy also posts contact information for customer service managers, chief financial officers and CEOs of about 2,000 companies on its website and updates the info when businesses change executives’ e-mail addresses.
Air complaints on social media
Sharing your complaint on a site such as X, Facebook or TikTok may nudge a company to respond to you. But while seeking revenge or publicly shaming a company on social media might make you feel better, it doesn't always fix the problem.
Neuman, the T-shirt executive, says social media does get a company's attention, but it's a double-edged sword.
"We respond immediately to public posts, especially if they're going viral," Neuman says. But "once it's public, everyone loses flexibility. We've had customers who posted before giving us a chance to fix it, and that delays the outcome. For companies, there's also reputational risk in rewarding bad behavior to save face."
Companies are also getting savvier — and more selective — on how they respond to complaints on social media.
"What people don’t realize is that large companies have very sophisticated ways of monitoring customer sentiment on social media," says Elliott. For example, he says, a company can connect your social media username to your account with the business and determine your value as a customer or the likelihood that you will cause trouble. Elliott also notes that you're more likely to get a response if you have a million followers on social media rather than two or three.
Be patient but persistent
Give the company time to resolve your complaint. It may take days or weeks to get a resolution.
"Businesses don't like to say no, so they will probably try to come up with a solution that benefits both parties," Elliott says. "They know that if they say no, your next stop is going to be to the attorney general, or an outside party like a consumer advocate, or 'I'm calling the TV station.'"
The 2023 Customer Rage Survey found that 52% of complaining customers got something in return, up from 42% in 2020. The not-so-good news: 48% got nothing.
When aggrieved consumers get something back, the survey found, they are most likely to receive one or more of these fixes: Money back, an apology, and the product repaired or the service fixed.
Many frustrated consumers, though, give up too soon. "Being persistent is really important," says Chuck Bell, advocacy programs director at Consumer Reports. "Don't give them the satisfaction of giving up."
Bell, for instance, spent three months trying to resolve a dispute with a Washington, D.C., hotel that had wrongfully charged him $150 for smoking in his room. "I called them and said, 'This is ridiculous. I’m not a smoker.' And I left a pretty generous tip as well," he recalls.
His credit card company also challenged the smoking fee on his behalf, but the hotel wouldn't budge. Finally, Bell wrote a letter to the hotel manager, saying he is a frequent visitor to D.C. and wouldn't return to the hotel. The hotel dropped the fee, and Bell stayed there again.
It's easy to get discouraged if your complaint doesn't seem to go anywhere, Bell says, but knowing that you may be helping others can be an incentive to carry on.
"If you take the perspective that 'I'm not just going to bat for myself, but I want to see this fixed for other consumers,' that perhaps encourages you to keep going," he says.
Call in reinforcements
If you've tried all the steps above and are still hitting a roadblock, it could be time to bring in one of these advocacy groups or government agencies.
Elliott Advocacy will mediate between a customer and a company for free. But you must agree that your name and story can be published in an article, which allows others to learn from your experience.
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau focuses on consumer finance issues, such as banking, mortgages, student loans, credit cards and credit reports. It forwards complaints to the companies for a response. While the CFPB's future is uncertain under the Trump administration, the CFPB was recently still taking consumer complaints online at www.consumerfinance.gov/complaint.
The Better Business Bureau has no enforcement powers, but it can get a company's attention. It forwards consumer complaints to the businesses and requests a response within 14 days.
The Federal Trade Commission doesn't mediate individual complaints, but it may take action against companies with a pattern of complaints from consumers.
You can submit a complaint with your state attorney general’s office, which enforces consumer laws and may mediate disputes with businesses. Find your state’s contact at www.usa.gov/state-consumer.
Note: This item first appeared in Kiplinger Personal Finance Magazine, a monthly, trustworthy source of advice and guidance. Subscribe to help you make more money and keep more of the money you make here.
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