In the Customer Service textbook, ‘the customer is always right’. Try making a complaint for any product and service and you will see it’s more of a guideline than a rule.
Complaint letters are generally addressed with a curt and polite reply about ‘company policy’. That is if companies even bother replying at all.
A study by eGain found that major corporations ignore one in three emails. The majority of emails that are ignored contain these four things:
1) Profanity – Emails that are particularly threatening are usually handed over to the police.
2) Uppercase letters – Most companies have spam guards that thrash emails with extreme uppercase usage.
3) Large file attachments – Attachments usually bigger than 10MB are kicked back by mail servers.
4) Outrageous requests – Do you really expect a company to give you a new camera because you dropped your five-year-old one into the toilet?
If you want to get your way in a customer service tug-of-war, ensure that your letter contains these five things:
1. Solid Research
A quick Google search can give you a good picture of what can or cannot fly by customer service officers. By learning from others’ experiences, you can better approach your situation. It also gives you a good guide as to how you should set your expectations.
2. Be Succinct
When writing an email, try to keep it at 500 words. Anything more and staff have a tendency to give up reading half way. More errant workers may ‘accidentally’ delete long emails.
Make sure all necessary details are explained concisely. Also ensure that documents such as receipts and electronic confirmations are attached to the email. Employees are more likely to process your complaints when all the necessary information is readily available.
3. Be Polite
Manners on an email really go the distance. People naturally want to do more for others who are nice to them.
Being rude and haughty may sometimes evoke a response. But more often than not, it is rude emails that have customer service agents going on about ‘company policy’ and leaving you without any compensation. Try to exclude expletives, threats and using a lot of uppercase words. It makes a world of a difference.
4. Know your rights as a customer
A complaint has more weight if you can clearly show that the company has not held up its end of the bargain. It may be tedious, but study the end-user licensing agreement before writing your email. Quoting that clause in the email puts the company in a position where it has to offer compensation.
If you are unsure about your situation, consult your Consumer Association. They can better advice you about the validity of your claims. They can also advice you on what would be a fair compensation in your situation.
5. CC the right people
Here’s a trade secret: customer service reps review the list of people that you copy on an email. The more significant the email address on the carbon copy list, the more the customer service rep will take notice.
Some suggestions on who to CC (Carbon Copy) would be other customers with similar experiences, government regulatory agencies and consumer advocates.
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