Ever wondered how best to get companies to listen and act on your complaint rather than push it aside?
Here are 9 tips that you can follow.
Skip the phone lines
Calling customer service lines can sometimes be a waste of time and money with little result. Except as last resort or where there is no better alternative, we suggest you skip the phone lines.
Find them on Twitter and Facebook
Find out if the company has a Twitter or Facebook page and share your pain on their timelines or yours. Mention them in personal tweet and post by including @account in your post or tweet. Provide as much information as possible relevant to understanding your complaints. However, do not share sensitive information online.
Unleash the hashtag
Even if the company does not have or maintain a Facebook or Twitter page, you can still leverage the power of social media by using hashtag. For example, tag your tweet with a hashtag and the company’s name (ex: #Companyname) and anyone who searches for their name on Twitter will ultimately see your tweet. If they are sympathetic to you or have had similar experiences, they may retweet it thereby creating more impact.
Submit your complaint via online chat and save the transcript
Today, companies provide different channels for customer to submit their complaints. Popular ones include phone, email, and webchat. A phone call may be easy but most time, we have no means of keeping a recording of our conversation. As for emails, there is no guarantee that it would be received or even read. It can also be easily denied especially if no one answers you.
I will suggest you give an online chat a try. Visit the company’s website and check if they have one. You get instant answers and you can keep a record of your chat. At the end of the chat, some allows you to print out the chat while some allow you send a copy to your email.
Use Nairaland and other forums
Nairaland is Nigeria most popular online forum with close to 2 million members. For this reason, a lot of companies use it as a medium to reach out to their customers. They also use it to monitor posts and comments on the platform as it relates to their business. A lot of Nairaland members have used the platform to attract attention from companies to their complaints as well as get many of their issues resolved.
Keep records
Whichever channels you use to submit your complaints, make sure you keep record. You can easily get this when you use email or chat online. However, if it is a phone call, ensure you record the date and time of the call and ask for the full name of whoever you speak with.
How about making a YouTube video?
If you are not camera shy, you can turn your frustration into art. We read somewhere that after four months of complaining to Tiger Airways about lost luggage, American country singer Dale Watson uploaded a music video to YouTube about his plight and called out by name the company’s reps who failed to help him. He got a reimbursement!
Go public, go loud and go viral
It should not be, but it’s the sad state of affair. Your case gains more traction when argue in the court of public opinion. Companies hates bad publicity and would avoid the negativity that comes with it as much as possible
Be nice, firm and not aggressive
You certainly do not want to turn people off your plight with your rudeness when using the social media or any public forum. So be nice, courteous and respectful in stating your case. The more people see you as a nice but helpless victim, the better for you.
(Nigeriaconsumers)
