I remember a few years ago when businesses used to actually care about their customers, or at least they pretended to, and they would bend over backwards in order to make sure that you was happy with your purchases and fix any issues that you may have had. I've noticed in recent years though that there tends to be a 'couldn't care less attitude' that as crept in and when I've had to complain I've been met with sales staff and even store managers that simply aren't interested in what a customer as to say. I know that a lot of stores have left the phrase 'the customer is always right' in the past, but surely the customer should still be the most important part of any business and complaints should at least be taken on board? Has anyone else had this experience or have I just been unlucky? If you buy an item that is faulty or doesn't live up to expectations, do you still complain and return the item or just keep it knowing that any complaint you make is going to fall on deaf ears anyway?
Most businesses today are like these. They do not have the great service that they used to have. I have experienced some stores that have rude attitude towards complaining costumers, instead of being sorry for the mistake that they have done. I am not that sure if this applies everywhere, but most stores have these kinds of people working for them.
When I complain, it is not really about expecting the store's reaction but just to vent my ire, an outlet to de-stress me. Especially if I'm still in the store, I never hesitate to call the manager or even the supervisor for my issue. And when I'm out of the store, I try to search for their website and post a complain there. And for the last resort, I use the social media. In fact, a friend who is a movie director is complaining about the voucher of a 5-star hotel in Manila. He had posted his complaint in Facebook just this morning.
I guess a lot of what @Alexandoy said is right, and a lot depends on why you are complaining in the first place. If it is just to get something off your chest and you just feel that the store needs to know your not happy, it doesn't really matter how they react to your complaint as you will feel better anyway. Maybe these days people are guilty of complaining too much and often for no reason as they are just trying to get something for nothing off that particular store or site. That's why complaints aren't taken as seriously as they used to be and shop managers and workers just automatically think that if a customer complains then they are just after getting some form of compensation and they treat every complaint suspiciously to begin with.
Some of that may be true, but I think a lot of it has to do with the short term profit model. It seems to me as if most companies only care about making the biggest (short term) profits possible. They don't build their products to last any more, since they want you to have to replace items often, thus spending more money. They don't seem to care nearly as much about customer service either (good customer service costs them money). They also don't seem too worried about reputation any longer. There has been a noticeable change, if you ask me. I guess all we can do is keep shopping with the businesses that offer the best value, and shun those with shoddy products and poor customer service. Social media shaming seems to be getting popular too, as @Alexandoy noted. When comparison shopping, the best price isn't the only thing that goes into getting the best value. Service, return policies, shipping, and more all come into play.
If the cost of the item is such that I consider meager I may go with the option of not complaining and just get over it. But trust if I spend a reasonable amount buying the product and at last it disappoints I am sure going to lodge a complain. I don't care about any nonchallant attitude the sales rep is going to put up. I can call in the customer protection agency or group if I am not getting it smooth with the store.
I've had this problem so many times in the past and especially with online services. ''We'll respond in 48 hours'' and they never do. When they finally do respond, they try to dispose of you as soon as possible. I ask myself, do they not want our services or even care about how their business will take a turn if they continue they abysmal service?
I think you should complain for peace of mind, but there is a difference between complaining and expecting too much. People that rant and try to pull a fast one are the people that make life difficult for customer services. Often people express their displeasure by not returning or choosing elsewhere to shop. Recently I went to a supermarket cafe (Sainsburys) and the staff were so slow and disorganized I missed the breakfast 11.30 cut off time. One staff member was taking orders, money, and making the coffees, while the other two were tidying up. I had three people in front of me who all wanted coffees, and after 10 minutes she'd only made 6 of them. I asked if I could still order breakfast as I had been waiting so long, and the girl rather than help the backlog was changing the menu. Just poor service, so I walked out.
I think that an employees attitude can also be a factor on customers decisions, whether they will keep on returning or not. I don't expect for an employee to be behind me at all time but do like when they help when I need it, and of course appreciate when they don't look bitter.
Employee reaction to customer complaints is something that a lot of stores have tried to work on recently, and I think a lot of that is down to the competition in the market these days. In the past I've seen store employees not take customer service seriously enough and that then does make the customer not want to shop there anymore. The mantra 'the customer is always right' looked good on paper but very rarely made it's way on to the shop floor. Now stores are taking customer complaints more seriously, but that is only because it helps them and they don't want to lose customers. They aren't concerned with the actual complaint, or even fixing any issues that are brought up, they only listen to a customer to humour them and make them THINK they are being listened to, when all that happens is they give the refund and ignore the actual complaint itself.
You are right I have also noticed that employees don't really listen they just make the customers think so. When I was a sales associate I could tell that the customers actually noticed such behaviors and comment about it. I was one of the employees who actually cared for the customer and was actually honest with because I knew that I had to treat them as I would like to be treated. Customers notice which employees really want to help out.
This is the case with big stores which tend to be impersonal. They seem to be out of touch with reality and a lone customer complaining seems insignificant. Indeed, there are some stores which issue receipts stating that goods once sold can't be returned. Many others have no cashback policy but tell the offended customer to select another item.
That seems to be another saying that businesses tend to ignore these days, treat the customer as you yourself would want to be treated. Anybody ho works in a customer service role will at some point also be a customer themselves, so really they should know what it's like to be on the other side so to speak and realise just how infuriating it can be when a salesperson isn't listening to what your saying. I'm not sure how a salesperson can help if they aren't prepared to listen to what the complaint is in the first place and it's that aspect of the role that needs to be improved as at the moment, a lot of people don't actually think that it's worth complaining because they have no faith that they will be listened to in the first place.
I don't mind complaining as long as it's a big deal especially if I'm not satisfied with the product or the service I get. Like when we ate in a fast food chain and I ordered a drink with a sundae on top and then they served me the same product but with lots and lots of ice that when you transfer the drink (without the ice) in a separate container, you'll only get 1/4 of what you have bought. Not to mention that it does not look anything like in their advertisements
The attitude of employees when handling customer's complaints matters a lot to the continue existence of the business. It's reasonable to make all the efforts to leave customer satisfied even where they can't help genuinely they should be tactful how they go about it. I bought an electric heater sometime ago and just after two days it went bad. I returned it but I have misplaced the receipt then. The employee attended to me in a mature and sensitive way letting me know if I had the receipt it would have been possible for a change.
This reminds me of my lovely wife. she ordered the same thing and guess what? She did get a drink full of ice in it. So I told her to complain and she did. she went back to where we were sitting with a big smile on her face.
It can be worth complaining, even if nothing gets done, depending on what you want the result to be. One complaint may be nothing but if there are a trail of them, then the company may change its policy or take action against a member of staff. I was disappointed to find that our local supermarket's response to complaints is just to throw vouchers at it. I asked that, instead of giving me vouchers, a member of staff be retrained after she illegally attempted to retain my (valid) passport, but she's back and doing the same thing again.
Once I bought some grocery items from a local superstore. While buying I did not notice that there was a product which had already expired. Next day, I went to the store and complained about it. With an apology they exchanged the item. The monopoly in the business is fading, and in a fiercely competitive market things are changing. Now the businesses do pay a heed to the customers. They do not want to earn a bad name anyway.
Sometimes it's worth complaining while other times it is not. In either case it is your right to ask for the services/goods that you had expected instead of what you received since you had spent for it.
In the very end, who can honestly complain? Much more, who can truly and impeccably do so without having had any sort of fault or responsibility for the outcome? No one is perfect. We all make mistakes. We all pay for what we get, and we all choose what we want to pay for, to begin with....
