Postcards from the Funny Farm

Scott at Karmaville has a great post where he gives tips on how to complain. It inspired me to ruminate on the issue and I came up with 7 “headchecks” to make before you throw a Molotov cocktail into the building. This is what I came up with:
Did you ever sit down to write an email complaining about how you were treated by an employee only to find yourself delete it several times and revise? Did you get so tired of thinking about it that you decided to not even send it? Well, I’ve done that plenty and it is frustrating. The more frustrating thing though is when it happens again and you never said anything.

Society is dependent upon its citizens to speak up about bad treatment. Remaining silent, while admirable and probably better for your blood pressure, only allows the bad treatment or services to continue and that hurts all of us.

Through the years I have had success with a few complaints. I have also regretted a lot of them (not necessarily because I was wrong but because I was ineffective at getting resolution). Here’s what has worked for me:

1. Go to the Better Business Bureau. They aggressively follow-up with you until the complaint is heard and responded to.
2. Take a little bit of time (5-10 mins.) before you email anything in anger.
3. Ask a close friend’s opinion. Ask them if you are overreacting.
4. If you email, keep it short and only give the details that pertain to how an employee acted wrongly.
5. Keep a running record of the problems as they occur. This really wields a lot of power with complaints.
6. Stay cool. If you have a valid complaint they will either make it right by you or you can take it to the next level … and … there is always a next level.
7. Last, don’t complain unless you have to. Life is too short to complain too much. If you calm down and think you still need to complain, well then: do your duty.

What is your experience with filing complaints?