Who is right here?

Question

My husband thinks that you shouldn't complain when you receive bad service at a store or buy a bad food product. He got mad when I called Starkist complaining about some sharp bones I found in my tuna. The company sent me replacements and aplogized. I had a horribly bad experience at a large discount store today and want to call to complain.

He says that this is going to get me in trouble. I told him that my right as a customer is to complain when I get bad service. I used to be a retail manager myself (I now work in fraud prevention for a credit card company) and the conduct of this store's employees was WAY below any reasonable standard.

He is convinced that its not worth it to spend 5 minutes lodging a complaint about a product or service. He also says that people get in trouble for complaining about companies. Does what he's saying sound like a bunch of bull?

Answer 1

Yes.

Not only is it your right to comlain, you could also argue that you have a duty to complain. And not just to other consumers, but also to the corporation in question.

Take your tuna example. You get a sharp bone in your tuna, you complain, the problem gets resolved and (hopefuly) action is taken at the plant to ensure no more bones in cans of tuna. But suppose you don't complain. Then somebody else gets a bone in their tuna, only maybe they are not so lucky. Maybe their bone gets stuck in their throat and they have to go to the doctor. Or maybe many people get bones in their tuna, but nobody says anything. They all just stop buying Starkist tuna. Pretty soon, the nice folks at Starkist are selling way less tuna, but they have no idea why. All they know is that they are going to have to let some people go. Maybe they will have to raise the price of their tuna to cover the shortfall.

I know this is an oversimplification. I guess my point is that most reputable companies welcome customer feedback, both positive and negative. Starkist doesn't want to be known as the company that sells bony tuna. And consumers don't want to have to pick through their tuna looking for bones. I own my own business and I realize that mistakes can happen. When they do, I do my best to make them right, but I cannot do it unless I know about it. I would be horrified to learn that someone was out bad mouthing my business without giving me the chance to fix whatever the problem was. Trust me, a polite, well thought out complaint is almost always appreciated.

Answer 2

Your husband means well, he is probably convinced that one complaint won't do anything to change things within whatever company. He has also probably heard bad stories about people complaining for no good reason just to get something for nothing and the company would understandably get upset over this.
Be patient with him and keep nicely reminding him and explaining to him that most companies want their customer to be completely satisfied with their products and also want to know if there is a problem. After all if a customer doesn't like something and can't get it fixed or changed they just won't buy it and the business loses sales and maybe even eventually goes out of business. Most businesses really do believe in the customer is always right. When you spend your hard earned money on something you deserve to get what you expected the product to be right? Just accepting anything else is not what the general public wants and encourages sloppiness by the companies.

Answer 3

Always complain, if you don't the manager or company management will not know there are problems in their stores. I always complain! The free stuff is an incentive!

Answer 4

~~~I must say that you are 100% correct. I work in customer service,,,and let me tell you,,the customer is my employer,,if we have no customers,,,,I would have no job. When a customer calls with a complaint,,Im on it 100% to make sure we do not lose that customer,,,I want our clients to be satisfied with the product and service we provide. Our company really needs to know when someone is not satisfied,,,if they dont tell us ,,,how will we know that we need to improve?? Please tell your husband that WE do appreciate all types of complaints and also complements,,,its reallly ok to let us know when you are not satisfied. Again,,,,the customer is My Boss,,,,No customer,,no job,,,no paycheck! :)