CONSUMERS : The Firm Complaint Gets the Best Results
Conventional wisdom holds that the only way consumers can complain successfully is to resort to unconventional tactics.
But you don’t necessarily need to picket the store or bank to get results, as Beryl Schwartz, a Los Angeles advertising manager for a business magazine, has found.
Her experiences and those of some others in the know demonstrate that shoppers with legitimate beefs often need not resort to extreme steps, but only to apply persistence, common sense and courtesy to resolve their problems.
When Schwartz bought a dress for her niece at a small Hollywood store recently, for example, she asked if she could exchange it if it were the wrong size. The saleswoman said yes. But when Schwartz returned to exchange the dress for a larger size, the shop manager balked--and refused to sign a slip of paper stating she wouldn’t exchange merchandise.
Schwartz called the police, explaining: “It’s against the law for a store to refuse to put its (exchange and refund) policy in writing. I told the policeman I was being defrauded because the woman wouldn’t put the store’s policy in writing. He told her to sign the paper. That’s when she gave me my money back.”
While on a recent desert vacation, Schwartz was kept awake by construction noise at her hotel. She didn’t complain about the jackhammers until she was ready to check out. Then, she politely told the manager that she wanted to return--for a free stay when the work was done: “He said, ‘OK,’ and that was all there was to it.”
When an ophthalmologist refused to take back the pale blue contacts and give her the dark blue lenses she ordered, Schwartz wrote the manufacturer, pleading for help: “If I were Cher or Michael Jackson or Nancy Reagan, you would want to please me with your lenses. I think I deserve the same consideration.” The manufacturer sent 14 different pairs for her to choose from.
Is Schwartz too picky? She says she simply decided that she deserved what she was paying for. Until she learned to fight back recently, she was a typical American consumer--70% of them don’t complain, a 1988 national survey reported, because they don’t know where to call, don’t think it’s worth the effort or don’t think the company will respond.
But there are signs that consumers are discovering what Schwartz has--that if you complain, with polite persistence, to the right people, “9 1/2 times out of 10 you’ll get satisfaction. . . . You never make idiotic threats and never get nasty. Get the boss’ name and deal that way.”
Consumer advocate David Horowitz recalled a Los Angeles couple who got nowhere with complaints about their car with the dealer or the manufacturer. So, he said, “They took their car, wrote lemon and the name of the dealership all over it and drove it all over town. That got the attention of the regional zone representative of the auto maker and their problem was dealt with. I can’t tell people to do anything, but I do say if you’re not getting their attention, go one step further.”
Horowitz said consumer awareness is at an all-time high: “It used to be buyer beware, now it’s buyer aware. Nowadays, consumer complaint resolution is better than ever before.”
Why? Because businesses are engaged in a stiff competition for customers, Horowitz and other experts said.
“Companies are competing based on consumer service,” Horowitz said. “They realize the only way they can compete now is with service. And they realize people do not want to be abused.”
American auto manufacturers now are so concerned with consumer response that they take seriously the Customer Satisfaction Index for their dealerships.
“ CSI is the new keyword,” said Mickey Garrett of the Greater Los Angeles Motorcar Dealers. “There is heavy emphasis being put on the CSI. The factory does the rating by sending inquiries to customers. If a dealer gets a poor rating, he’ll definitely hear from the factory.”
Marc Grainer, chairman of Technical Assistance Research Program (TARP), a Washington-based research and consulting firm that conducted the 1988 survey on consumer complaints, said that the emphasis on pleasing consumers began in the mid-1980s and will continue into the ‘90s.
“The major industries realized that the most profitable companies in the industry usually provide better customer service,” he said. “The irony is that for all these years people were thinking regulation for companies when the best way is to show them they can make money by providing better service.”
To field consumer complaints and queries, many firms now run toll-free numbers so customers can get a quicker answer and don’t need to spend time writing.
“The 800 numbers cut down on what we call Ping-Ponging, bouncing the consumer back and forth from one place to another,” explained TARP’s Grainer.
The GE Answer Center, manufacturing’s largest toll-free operation, offers customers 24-hour service, 365 days a year. Fielding 3 million calls a year, the GE center has been highly successful for consumers and has increased product sales, said N. Powell Taylor, its manager.
“The first line of defense, and sometimes people don’t think of it, is to call the company,” said Robin Witt of the California Deparment of Consumer Affairs. “If they don’t get what they expect, then they can call the (state) Consumer Assistance Office ((800) 344-9940) and they’ll get a referral to the proper board or bureau or examining committee that regulates various businesses.”
Although those agencies often can help, there are, of course, no absolute guarantees for consumer satisfaction.
But if someone--a store, business, manufacturer--does prove helpful, Schwartz has one last piece of consumer complaint advice: “When you do get a satisfactory response, write them a thank-you note. They’ll remember that.”
12 WAYS TO BEEF UP YOUR BEEF
1. Make the complaint as soon as there is a problem.
2. Gather receipts, warranties, model numbers, contracts, repair orders and other data that support your claim about the product or service.
3. Determine how you want the problem resolved and make sure that it is not an unrealistic demand. For example, don’t expect an auto manufacturer or dealer to replace a bad transmission if you have 200,000 miles on your car.
4. Take your data back to the retailer first, before contacting the manufacturer. Many consumer complaints can be solved simply. For the best results, see the store or business manager or sales or service manager.
5. Keep a cool head and explain the problem clearly.
6. Take a small notebook so you can keep a record of the people you talked with concerning your complaint and what they told you.
7. Be persistent about what you consider an acceptable solution. If you don’t like the answers you’re getting, contact the product manufacturer. In case of service problems, write to the company president.
8. If you send a letter, send copies of your data. Never send original documents. Send all correspondence by registered or certified mail. Keep copies of your letter and mail receipts.
9. Many manufacturers have a toll-free number for consumer complaints. Call and explain your problem.
10. If you are still not satisfied, contact the appropriate city, county, state or federal consumer complaint division or regulatory agency and ask for its help. Look in the yellow and white pages of your telephone directory under “Consumer.” In California, the state Department of Consumer Affairs will refer you to the proper agency.
11. Complain to the trade association or publication with which the manufacturer is associated. A library has an Encyclopedia of Associations.
12. If you exhaust these avenues, you can sue the business in small claims court. In California, you can recover up to $2,000 in claims. You don’t need a lawyer and the court fees are low.
