If you feel like you have more to complain about these days, you might be right.
The products we use are increasingly complex, which often means they have more possibilities for malfunction. Companies are still struggling to hire and retain workers, so the customer service reps who are supposed to help you may not know how. And that’s if you can even reach a human after browsing websites, automated chatbots, and phone systems that seem designed to thwart you at every turn.
“Looking for where to call. Once past, you will shout “agent!” on the phone 12 times and then they send you to the wrong place,” says Scott M. Broetzmann, managing director of research firm Customer Care Measurement & Consulting in Alexandria, Virginia.
On average, customers made 2.9 contacts with a company while trying to solve problems, according to the company’s 2020 National Customer Rage Study, which surveyed 1,026 consumers about issues with products. or services within the past 12 months. A whopping 58% of respondents who complained got nothing – zero, zero – as a result of their efforts. So perhaps it’s no surprise that 65% of those who had a problem felt the consumer’s rage.
If you want to improve your chances of getting results and lower your blood pressure, consider the following tips for complaining effectively.
PREPARE TO PERSEVERE
Broetzmann urges people to “pick their battles,” given the effort typically required to resolve issues and the frequency with which they occur. The 2020 study found that 66% of US households had at least one problem with the products and services they purchased in the past 12 months, up from 56% in the 2017 version of the survey.
“You’ll put yourself in a state of exhaustion and depression if you complain about everything that went wrong,” Broetzmann says.
Kevin Doyle, editor of Consumer Reports, suggests users gather any documentation they might need before contacting a company. This could include account, confirmation and order numbers, warranties and notes from previous interactions with company representatives, for example. Missing information could require you to start over on whatever phone or digital system you use to complain.
CHOOSE YOUR LOCATION
People who file complaints are about as likely to use digital tools such as email, live chats, corporate websites and social media as pick up the phonethe 2020 study found.
Social media platforms such as Facebook or Twitter have the advantage of being public, which puts some pressure on the company to solve the problem. Posting your complaint on social media also bypasses chatbots, phone trees, wait times, and faulty voice-recognition software that can make customer service such an ordeal.
But of the 14% of respondents who used social media to complain about their worst problem, almost half did not receive a response from the company, according to the study. So if you’re tempted to turn to social media first, be prepared to have a back-up plan that involves connecting with a human via phone, email, or chat.
BE CONCISE
Part of your preparation should include summarizing your complaint to the essentials, including what happened and, more importantly, how you would like the company to address it. Too many consumers aren’t specific about what they want from the company, Broetzmann says.
Just make sure the remedy you suggest is proportionate to the problem, Doyle says. If the television in the file did not work during your flight, do not ask for a free ticket; claim a drink or meal credit on your next trip, he suggests.
“Are you going to get it?” Who knows? But chances are you won’t get it unless you ask for it,” Doyle says.
Resist the urge to explain every twist of your journey or exaggerate your distress for dramatic effect. Extraneous details and exaggerations could make you easier to dismiss.
“Stick to the facts,” Doyle says. “Embellishing it will diminish your credibility.”
RECRUIT THE REPRESENTATIVE
Being civil or even nice can earn you points with tired reps too often exposed to abusive or aggressive customers. Doyle suggests leaning on that connection by asking the rep to step into your shoes.
“If you invite them to imagine how they would feel, that can be effective,” says Doyle.
If the representative can’t seem to help you, try asking for a supervisor or just call back for another agent. (I recently had to call a bank three times before I found a representative willing to put me in touch with the service that could finally solve my problem.)
Anger is an understandable response when you get the runaround. But try to remember that the customer service representative is also a human being and did not cause the original problem, Doyle notes.
“You want to keep your cool,” Doyle said. “Because it’s the old adage: you really catch more flies with honey.”
Methodology: The 2020 National Customer Rage Study is an online survey interviewing a nationally representative household panel of 1,026 respondents with a margin of error of ±1.8% – 3.0% at 95% confidence. Respondents were interviewed from January 24 to February 1, 2020.
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This column was provided to The Associated Press by personal finance website NerdWallet. Liz Weston is a NerdWallet columnist, certified financial planner, and author of “Your Credit Score.” Email: [email protected]. Twitter: @lizweston.
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