How to Complain Effectively ?

After saying that we should complain for deficiency in service, heres a piece on 

"How to Complain Effectively ?" This was published by DNA on 14th January 2011

My personal experience is that most organisations are indeed serious about customer issues and are eager to resolve the matter if it is raised timely and suitably. While there are no set rules to this subject, a few tips can make the experience smoother and mutually rewarding - for both - the complainant and the merchant. 

Let’s start with - What should you expect from a complaint process? 

This is a big one. I’ve seen people ‘fighting’ with the organisation only to be dumb-founded when asked “ So, what do you want, Sir ?” 

You were angry and you complained or even started throwing tantrums, but what do you expect the other person to do to pacify you. Do you expect a replacement of the product? Do you want a different service level? A refund ? A refund and compensation or do you seek a simple apology? 

All of these are valid expectations. Just that you need to be sure where you belong. Once you have done that, just remember these golden rules when seeking any resolution: 

Knock the right door: If you are seeking a resolution, ensure that you are dealing with the correct person(s). Carefully consider things like - location (eg: branch office or HO), hierarchy, ability to resolve etc and decide if the resolution you are seeking is in the ambit of the person in front of you. When in doubt. Ask and seek to be routed to the right person. In large format retail stores or at service outfits, approach the frontline staff and if you see that they are not able to resolve your matter or guide you to resolution, go right to the top. Don’t waste time transcending the layers in between. If they have not empowered the front-line to resolve issues, chances are they don’t have a decent complaint resolution process in place. Normally, writing to faceless e-mail ids such as feedback@xyz.com or complaints@xyz.com usually gets you a stereotypical automatic response which is no good if you are seeking a resolution. If there is no name, it means that there is no one willing to stick his neck out and take responsibility for the complaint resolution. I am however, not saying, that you don’t try this. By all means do. But, don’t wait infinitely. If you don’t see signs of it (say in one working day) in the form of a specific response - not the usual form letter, then go all the way. And though its normally very tough to get to the top it’s not impossible. And even if this top person re-assigns your case to someone and says “Take care of this complaint” trust me, you’ll get taken care of.

Be Clear, calm and concise: State the problem clearly and un- ambiguously so that it is understood and appreciated by the person on the other side. Being loud just does not help. Stay calm but assertive. You have to have that modicum of anger to be taken seriously while ensuring that you don’t go over the top. 

Keep a record of people and events: Write an e-mail or letter so there’s a trail and somebody has to do something about it. You make a phone call, they hang up and its over. There’s no record of the fact that you called. Take down the details of the person who you are speaking to - whether on phone or in person. Usually, just this mall act makes them realise that you are serious. 

Know your rights: Be reasonable and demand reasonably. Knowing your rights helps. Eg: Reading about the Montreal Convention 1999 or the Warsaw Convention would help you to know the extent of compensation you can claim for your baggage loss by an Airline. 

Go for litigation if you must: In some instances anything you do may fail to evoke a satisfactory response. In these cases, you may have to resort to litigation. Here in India there is a well structured framework for resolution of Consumer disputes and a host of well meaning meaning NGOs willing to take up cudgels on your behalf. You don't need lawyers to fight your case- you can do so yourself or take guidance from any NGO. These are a good last resort to get cheap, speedy and simple redressal to consumer disputes. A quasi-judicial machinery is set up at each District, State and National levels called District Forums, State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission and National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission respectively to handle disputes of varying kind and magnitude. ‘Pre-warning’ of your intention to take your dispute to consumer forum may sometimes lead the erring organisation to sit up and take notice of your complaint and is hence a good idea and saves you the trouble of litigation. 

Compensation for collateral damage: Evaluate your case and if you think you have a genuine reason to seek compensation then by all means go for it. Most organisations would not take kindly to your persistence for compensation and they would shy away from taking responsibility for collateral damage. They would at the most view your case sympathetically and offer you freebies as a ‘token’ of their understanding. 

It may be noted that in most good companies you may not need to resort to any of the above measures - just letting your discomfort known would spur them into action. A friend fondly recalls an instance of an airline giving her and all co-passengers a complimentary Mumbai-London return ticket as a ‘token of our apology’ for an un- usual delay in take-off. So, while most good companies would more than compensate you for the inconvenience caused to you, do not think of it as your right. You have to pick your battles. You have to decide how far you are willing to go and what you’re going to do if you don’t get what you want. Finally remember, when a complaint is closed to your satisfaction, do spare a minute to thank the service provider. A thank you e-mail or a letter or a phone call post resolution will not only tremendously encourage the erring party to look at a complaint in the future much more but also close a possibly bitter interaction with a smile. After all it is not normally about the particular person that you complained but about the particular interaction or particular product that you picked up that caused you trouble. 

So complain and make a difference. 

Why Should I Complain ?

Why should I complain ?
This was published by DNA on 13th Jan 2011

The other day I was going through a newspaper article which spoke about the role of the Anti Corruption Bureau in India. A concerned official as quoted as saying that there are not enough complaints for them to take action on. People simply take things the way they are and hence they don’t complain. That set me thinking, I realized that this trait of not complaining and learning to live with defective products and poor services is now

an integral part of ours. If we are stuck with a bad product or service, we take private actions - we stop buying that product, we run it down in our arm chair conversations, we dissuade others from buying it, but never ‘voice’ our complaints. Mediocrity is acceptable and marketers gladly accept it or rather exploit it. So why is it that people don’t react when rightfully they should be complaining?

Someone will take up cudgels: I have seen a lot of people waiting in hope that since so many people are being affected, someone will take up the cudgels and the matter will be resolved. There is a joke that in Europe people call the power utility when electricity goes off (if at all). In the US they call 911 but in India they check the neighbours house. If they don’t have lights as well they are relieved. In Delhi, there used to be frequent powercuts. At one such time,my cousin called up the power utility after an hour of power cut. “When will the power supply get restored. It’s over an hour now?,” he asked in disgust. However, the response was even more shocking. “There is no power cut from our side, there must be a fault somewhere, why didn’t you complain earlier?” And behold, the power was restored within 5 minutes from then. If only we had complained earlier, we wouldn’t have suffered for the past one hour.

I will look like a fool: Will I not look like a fool in a crowded store if I take my faded shirt and complain that the colour ran out when it could be my detergent that was of poor quality? Well, you may not look like a fool if you complain, but definitely are a fool if you don’t take up the issue with the store and suffer in silence.

It was a bad decision: One tends to just rationalize saying this was one bad decision and that we should be careful the next time. This usually happens when we decide against popular opinion or consciously opt for a new or a cheaper brand. Choosing a low cost option may not necessarily mean accepting poor quality. While there are a lot of disclaimers put up by low cost airlines, not all of these stand up to the test of law. Eg: Even if a low cost scheduled airline is delayed beyond reason, you have a right to complain and seek redressal.

I was unlucky: Consign it to destiny. Even in a six sigma operation it is likely that you are having that one out of one million products that is faulty. That does not mean you have to live with it. It is the manufacturer of the product who should provide for it. Didn’t you pay for the product in full? You may have been told, “But we have never received any complaints of this nature from anyone else.” How does that concern me?

I have a complaint and its got to be taken care of.

It may not be worth it: People do tend to surmise that the effort and cost associated with raking and resolving an issue may not be worth it. And even if I make these efforts there is no assurance that the outcome will be favorable. This is the most common reason why people don’t complain.

And then finally, there is this great Indian trait of tolerance. 

Complaining is not in our DNA. Someone who complains is a cribber, and is ostracized “Raising an issue will make me the bad guy”. We have been taught to accept and tolerate deficiencies and that’s an impediment to the cause of zero tolerance in consumer matters. Every time someone takes up a genuine issue, he has been able to take it to a favorable resolution. He may have had to go different distances in trying to resolve it,

but the efforts have been worth it. And more importantly you don’t have to live with a feeling that you have been shortchanged. For economic

reasons marketers (often subconsciously) test the least acceptable levels of quality at the same price point among customers- whether product or service. And if customers don’t care about waiting that extra minute on the phone at your contact centre or that one extra cherry topping on your ice-cream, they would surely shave it off their costs to be more competitive. If there are complaints, it will only force the marketer to look at their quality processes in greater detail and the resultant effort will benefit all. He will save on sales returns and you will get a better product the next time around. There are instances when the marketer realizes that a faulty product has been released in the market. In some countries, they would announce a product recall and replace or repair the product before you suffered. In the Indian context where the consumer movement is not very strong, I don’t recall a single instance. Marketers don’t see the need to take proactive action. They just issue internal directives asking their staff to be responsive’ to anyone who complains. If you don’t complain and choose to suffer in silence guess who is the loser?

While I am recommending that you complain for poor products, shoddy service and delayed deliveries, I also recommend that you should be true and genuine to the cause. Dont ever complain to exploit the situation. After all if you take undue advantage of the complaint process of the marketer, it will only make him too wary and this will show up in his costs. A lot of people use a product merrily for a week and then return it to the store for some frivolous reasons. What they don’t realize is that stores build these possibilities in their price and we as consumers unwittingly pay higher.

Dont let yourself feel cheated. Complain if you are bothered. Complain if you haven’t got your money’s worth.. If nobody ever complains, mediocrity is perpetuated. You owe it to others… they shouldn’t go through what you have had to. If we complain and things improve - the society as a whole benefits

A world of paradoxes & It’s all about ME ..

A world of paradoxes & It’s all about ME here …

After 12 days of carrying a mixed bag of emotions .. I am now out of Jindal Nature Cure Institute.

An almost mythical world where one enters with a mission and exits with resolution. This is a place where you pay to be deprived. You pay to have discipline imposed on to yourself - that's because you yourself just won't do it. 

The world inside is almost divine and is full of paradoxes…. A world where modern comforts are juxtaposed with traditional methods. The rooms, the facilities, the infrastructure etc are laced with modern creature comforts but the cures are all traditional. There are the farms, the gardens, the lake, the birds (spotted the Indian Pond Herons, Robins, Cormorants, Egrets, Black Winged Stilt, Red Whiskered Bulbul & peacocks here) and the amazing variety of flowers and other flora in the ‘Flower garden’, the ‘Sawan Baug’, the ‘Herbal garden’, fruits and vegetables cultivation etc. Walking through the lush green vegetable garden watching the exotic veggies such as cauliflower, bottle gourd, turmeric, green chilies, and ginger is in itself therapeutic. To complete the ‘divinity’ of the place, a temple has been built here.

This is a world where medicines are shunned and food is prescribed.  A world where all the sections just scream out 'good health' .. the acupuncture section, physiotherapy section, the aquatic exercises section, the multiple yoga sections, the eye care sections, gym, reflexology tracks and so on . There's so much on offer, there's so much choice .. with all roads leading to unimpaired health and wellness. Take your pick or better still, take them all.

I’ve had many massages - Kairali massage, vibro-massage, deep tissue massage, oil therapy, hot stone massage, ozone steam bath, Infra-red sauna, shirodharya, colon hydrotherapy, enema, kidney packs, mud packs, castor-oil packs, full body herbal pack and finally Salt glow massage. With all the massages, packs and treatments, this is a world where your body is ... rubbed, scrubbed, brushed, massaged, scoured, buffed, abraded and polished until you are squeaky clean - both inside and outside.

This is a world where you forget that good means ‘exotic and gourmet food'. This is a world where less is more. Less you eat.. more the energy you seem to miraculously accumulate. A world where you see the self- healing power of the body and its transmogrification into boundless reservoir of energy.

This is also celestial place where the body is regaled and pampered while respecting nature in all its glory but with lesser regard to the palate. This is unlike anything else, where the taste buds are pampered, nature is tampered and the body is hampered sadly with all the toxins, preservatives and chemicals we stuff inside of it. No ‘chemical’ is ingested into body during your stay here. No ‘factory’ produced stuff, no biscuits, breads, cakes or similar. Everything fresh… off the farm – into the kitchen and onto the plate

This is a world where you meet a lot of motley set of people - young and old, Indians and foreigners and Indians settled in foreign lands, singles and couples, loners and groups of friends, the silent variety and the over the top (OTT) loud intrusive kinds, celebrities and the aam aadmi (except Mr Kejriwal who is quintessentially both and was coincidentally here). All of us are united for a purpose- to come close to nature, rid our body of toxins, attain that evasive wellness and well .. shed some weight in the process. 

This is also a place where you learn to shed your inhibitions and attitude. You are together with that simpleton, that celebrity, the corporate magnate or that senior bureaucrat and they too are in the buff (well almost) preparing for the same treatment and the same massages that you would undertake and the same food or juice you would devour - democracy in the real sense, so egos and charades vanish in no time.

And when you come out, you start thinking if you really have been there or was it just a dream. You ironically feel sad to have left this mythical place behind for a world where you can go wherever you want, whenever you want, eat wherever and whenever. I wish someone would rap me onto my knuckles for biting into a samosa (representative of a calorie bomb) or for any of my other unhealthy habits. But alas, ‘out here’ we wink at each other and commit the crime in unison knowingly breaking the ‘laws of nature’.

Finally, this is also a world turned interesting by the sheer presence of other 'inmates'. This place is like a long train journey where you meet a mélange of people. Some you know will be interesting companions and know that they traverse 'this' journey with you and no further. Some will traverse the journey from being a co-passenger to companion to real friends whom you want to keep in touch. I also met a few who I can call friends – an app. developer from Chennai currently in Hong Kong, an Orthopedic surgeon of Indian origin from Kenya, a Yoga teacher from Latvia who came to understand the ‘Indian way’ better, a cheerful business man from Vizag and his charming wife, an amazingly humble superstar from Kannada film industry, an elegant lady from a Mumbai, a colleague from my telecom fraternity, a wealth manager, a doting elderly gentleman from Ireland, a few corporate execs like myself and a lot more.  It is the excitement of meeting the family, the friends and these new found friends even 'outside' that makes me happy. 

And remember, this is a place that is meant for me and me alone. Even if I come with a friend or the spouse…. This is ME time. The problems faced are unique to me and so are the answers. With all the roles that we play that are transitory in nature (son, father, grandfather, husband, brother, manager etc)… we don’t get enough time to play the role of a lifetime – ME. I unapologetically came here to take care of ‘myself’… in preparation of the various roles that life outside has bestowed upon me. And I know I am better equipped to handle those roles now.

Of course, this world is not just all emotions-it's businesslike too. All the KPIs have to be in check. My cholesterol came down from 272 to 210 (ratio dropped from 6.9 to 4.1) , my BMI dropped 2% points, my BP came to an athletic 110/80 and yes I also shed 8kgs in these 12 days.. most of it fat & water retention.

This place has left its impression on me like nothing else and I do wish to come back.

Am reminded of these famous lines from Hotel California…

“Last thing I remember, I was
Running for the door
I had to find the passage back to the place I was before
'Relax' said the night man
'We are programmed to receive
You can check out any time you like
But you can never leave! “