Ignored complaint letters
I’m wondering what other folks do when they write a letter of complaint to a company and it goes ignored. Do you write a second one, let it go, or what?
Early last week I wrote an email to B.J.’s Wholesale Club after I pulled a rawhide for my dog out of the bag and found a long black human hair baked into the rawhide. Had the hair been blonde and not BAKED INTO the rawhide, I'd have assumed it was mine, but sadly it wasn’t. I sent an email stating that overall I’d been very happy with my B.J.’s membership but that I felt I needed to call this to their attention. I got one of those automated responses telling me they’d received my email and that someone would get back to me within 48 hours. Nothing yet.
A few years ago my husband and I spent the weekend at the Ritz-Carlton on Arlington Street in Boston, and it was a disaster. A forgotten flower delivery, lost tea reservations, absentminded waiters, dirty bathrooms—you name it. I wrote two letters to two different managers (local and then headquarters) and never got a response.
I know there are sites like Epinions.com and the like, but are there other steps I can take between letter-writing and those sites?
(Oh, and I didn’t give my dog that rawhide.)
posted by SMB @ 3:21 PM
3 Comments:
Hum... I think it may depend on who you are writting the letter to. I have had very good luck when complaining using a corporations website. Recently I purchased a 12 pack of Diet Coke only to find that the whole pack was skunky. Within a week of complaining via the Coke website I received an envelope with two free 12-pack coupons inside. (I did not bother complaining to the retailer - I went direct to the product manufacturer)
Once I had a bad experience at a Courtyard Marriott. At the time I was traveling extensively for business, so when complaining I made sure to mention in the letter about the amount of money I (and the estimated amount of money my company) had spent at Courtyard that year. Needless to say I received a prompt response with a free voucher for a weekend stay.
Each time I complained I was sure to state in the complaint letter what I wanted in return (for the Diet Coke I asked for a free 12-pack coupon and they decided to give me two instead). For the hotel I asked for a weekend free voucher to make-up for the experience - they decided to give me the weekend voucher and sent me a Harry & David fruit basket as apology.
I would have to agree with Anon, I get decent response from a hand written letter to the corporate office, than a call sometimes and definately better than an email.
When I wrote the Ritz (a hand written letter both times), I asked for my money back and specifically said I did NOT want a voucher (I was that turned off). Maybe that's why they didn't respond! :)
Still haven't heard from B.J.'s. This time I didn't ask for anything in return, but it would have been nice to hear *something*.
Thanks for the responses!
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