Do you ever receive customer service that you feel is not good enough?
Have you been disappointed with any products recently? Did you complain?
Welcome to my 2nd post of my #Cash4Christmas series. This week I thought I would write a post explaining how it often pays to complain. I am not the type of person who make's up complaint's for no reason, I often write complaint's to companies when I feel problems need addressing. Recently I have put a few complaints in and the customer service I have received back has been of a high standard. I thought I would write this post as around this time of the year, we buy a lot and often the service some receive is of a bad standard. Although this is not a fast money making Christmas method that will make you thousands, complaining through the year and addressing problems can help you get little gifts throughout the year and more importantly allow companies to improve on what you feel is lacking with the service that they are providing.
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Pizza Express
Around 2 month's ago, Ben and I went out on a date night. We rarely go the chance to go out together so we thought long and hard about where we wanted to go. After a lot of deciding, checking menus, prices and offers, we decided that we would hit Pizza Express as it is a short car journey away from us and we felt like we could do with a change. We often favor American food places and Chinese places so an Italian seemed a good choice.
Ben and I ate at Pizza Express and the service which we received was poor. The floor was unpleasant, the waiting time was high, the glass that I was drinking out of had a chip in it and below is an example of the food that we were served. Me and Ben felt that the service we had received needed addressing.
When I got home, I wrote Pizza Express a quick social media message. I kept it upbeat and I showed them the above example of what we were served and highlighted the other problems we had. They were quick at addressing the problem, pleasant and helpful and in the end they emailed me a lovely email and provided me with a gift card to say sorry for the service that we received. The way that Pizza Express dealt with the issue made me want to return to them as a customer.
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Gregg's
A few weeks ago, we visited our local Gregg's bakery. We visited there for our own convenience. We purchased a simple pack of rolls to enjoy with our dinner that night and we decided we would eat the rest of the rolls for lunch the next day. As a family of 3, this would allow us to have 1 roll each for both the occasions. Unfortunately upon arriving home, we found that the pack of 6 rolls only had 5 roll's in. It is something that perhaps we should have noticed. Although this issue was not a mega problem and it meant I did not have a roll for lunch the following day, I felt the problem needed acknowledging.
I contacted Greggs on social media and let them know that I had been short changed of a roll. Once again I made sure the message was happy and upbeat, there was no reason for the person at the end of my message to get it in the ear. They replied in a matter of minutes and sent me a message to say sorry for the inconvenience that had been caused. They also sent me a little voucher of goodwill which Maxwell is saving to buy gingerbread men at Christmas.
Although Gregg's did not have to go the extra mile, they did. Although we are not massive Gregg's fans, we do visit when we are in the right area to buy items such as roll's and bread and Maxwell adores a gingerbread man. Thank's to there fantastic customer service, we will continue to visit.
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Cloggs
Recently I was browsing online for some new Ugg's. I had no reason to buy a new pair, I have 5 pairs already however I am a sucker for them and I adore wearing them in the winter. I stumbled across the Clogg's website and loved what I saw. I found a pair of chestnut Ugg's in my size and was amazed that they were priced at just £85. These Ugg's normally are priced at £150 and after visiting the clearance outlets, watching sales online and browsing the web, I never normally manage to find Ugg's priced so cheaply.
As a treat, I felt it was right to buy myself a new pair of Ugg's. I knew they would be worn a lot and would be a great addition to my collection. I added the Ugg's to my shopping basket and proceeded to buy the shoe's however there was a problem, the price had changed for £85 to £107. I quickly took a screen shot of the shoes priced at £85 on my home screen and sent Clogg's a social media message to let them know of my disappointment. Within 30 mins of sending them the message, they had promised that they would allow me to have the shoes at the £85 price that I had found them for and they promised to give me a call so I was able to purchase the shoes.
Early the next morning, Clogg's rang me and allowed me to purchase the shoes over the phone at the bargain price I had seen them for. I was over the moon. I was told the delivery of the shoes would be in the next few working days however the next morning, my shoes arrived with another great treat. The shoes had a £10 off a £20 spend meaning that last week I was able to purchase Maxwell a pair of Converse for just £11 including delivery.
Although Clogg's is a online retailer, it was fantastic to see that they went the extra mile. They were patient, tried to rectify a situation quickly and gave me a little bonus at the end of it. In the future, I will ensure that I check Clogg's website before checking over shoe stores websites.
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My 5 top tips when it comes to complaining:
- If you can, collect evidence to back what you are saying. Photo, video or a witness statements can be useful. There is nothing worse than a company not believing you due to the lack of evidence that you have. I find that companies take me more seriously when I have evidence to go with what I am saying.
- Favor contacting companies via live chat or social media. These way's enable companies to see you quicker and often, complaints can be dealt with quicker. I rarely phone companies with complaints as this means I do not have anything in writing from the company I am complain to.
- Stay calm, cool and collective. There is no point going in all gun's blazing at someone who has no previous knowledge of an issue you have en-counted. These people are simply paid to sit at the end of a phone or at the end of a social media account. You need to have a clear mind to be able to state facts and to be able to get your point of view across. How many complaint a day do these people receive? Why not cheer them up a little by sending them a funny rhyme, a funny story or even a funny picture on social media, email or via live chat?
- Document times, dates and names. These dates, names and times can be a blessing in disguise. If the problem that you are complaining about goes on for a lengthy amount of time you can state this and argue that the problem has not been sorted in a reasonable amount of time. By keeping logs you have clear evidence of how you have tried to sort the issue.
- If you have having serious issues with a company, contact their head office. There is a particular online retailer who's head office know me well. I find that the people at the bottom of their company do not sort or deal with complaints well however those at the top do and bare my complaints in mind. If you are not getting any where with those lower on the line, go to the top. You are bound to get better results.
