Going to the source of the problem

I agree with you and I use this website as a last resort when direct
contact with the company has failed.

I have had some very good and rapid responses from companies after
posting a letter on this site because most companies don't like public
complaints.

Carol

I think people mostly patronize PF for the twisted entertainment
factor. I know I do.

I agree that it's much more effective to contact the company directly.
Not once have I ever gotten a response when going through PF, for
good or bad reasons, however I have had several problems resolved when
going straight to the company I am dealing with.

In the long run, it's probably more effective. But it does involve
more work, too.

My family and I recently stayed at Great Wolf Lodge in PA. While
there (our 3rd trip this year) the conveyor belt that brings the rafts
up to the slides stopped working. After waiting on line in a
staircase for over 45 minutes not knowing why the line wasn't moving,
we left the line. Shortly there after the line started moving again,
and we got back in line. After waiting in line over 30 min again (but
making our way up to the top) then the line stopped again. After
another 20 minutes or so I managed to wrangle my way up to the top to
see what was going on. Only then did I learn why the lines were
stuck. This went on for over 3 hours and after 3 hours we went on just
one ride.

Having lost most of the day just waiting in lines hoping the conveyor
belt was fixed for good this time, I went to the front desk pretty
upset. After being shuffled around a few times I conveyed my dismay
over losing hours of day one at the water park. I said I did not pay
the ticket price to play in a pool-we HAVE a pool at home. We came
for the slides! After the supervisor left to speak with "the powers
that be" she returned and took me away from the front desk (where
several other people were complaining about "safety issues" regarding
standing in line for so long).

She gave me a refund of 1 day's cost of the water park for everyone in
my party and later that night they called my room to see if the rest
of my stay was satisfactory.

I was very pleased with their resolution, but a bit put off that they
didn't handle all of their customers with the same consideration. The
other people were also paying for something they weren't getting, but
just complaining about the "wrong" thing as far as I could tell.

It made me realize though that asking for what you want (I wanted
money back as I stated I didn't pay to come to your pool) rather than
hedging around an "important sounding safety issue" like several other
people tried is the way to get the issue resolved. I could have
waited to come home and written a letter, but then I wouldn't have
enjoyed the rest of my stay as much and they may not have been able to
refund me my money.

They were able to fix the problem when it happened and I was able to
recommend them to friends when I got back.

Sometimes, though, we don't get a response with the direct contect.
Maybe we expected a phone call within 12 hours. Or an e-mail within
24.

When something goes wrong, it's great to find out, via sites like PFB,
that we're not the only ones frustrated.

Or, we find out that we are way out of line and could have handled it
better. My personal friends might side with me, but my PF regulars
will likely make me look at the situation in a different way.

As I read this letter and the comments below, I can't help but think
of Rowdy and all the criticism he gets on this site from commenters
(both in responses to his comments and emails to me) about how
"judgmental" he is and how wrong he is for telling letter writers to
do things differently because that's how he does them and you can't
expect everyone else to behave how you behave.

Isn't it judgmental to take the stance that too many letter writers
want exceptions made or want the world? Isn't it judgmental to
chastise letter writers for choosing to use PFB as opposed to
contacting the company directly? For that matter, isn't it judgmental
to challenge letter writers if they didn't happen to speak to the
manager in charge at the time of the incident?

I realize the reason many commenters say these things is because they
would do things differently than the letter writer. Isn't that what
the complaints about Rowdy are all about though? That he criticizes
letter writers for doing things differently than he does?

I hear the excuse "But I'm/he/she is just being helpful" when I raise
these questions from time to time and that's supposedly the difference
with Rowdy...he's not being "helpful", he's just being judgmental. I
don't see the difference. He may not be the most polished guy in the
world however the advice he gives is just as "valid" as anyone elses.
Not only that but a fair number of PFB commenters seem to think that
anything they say is "helpful" up to including insults and name
calling.

The concerns raised by PFB letter writers are just as valid as anyone
elses. They may not be what you think they should be but so what? A
letter writer may not handle things the way you would but, again, so
what? You're welcome to offer differing thoughts and disagree with
letter writers all day long until the cows come home however the idea
that somehow that's going to change things on here (which is also
another justification I see commenters use for their "challenging"
comments) is just plain unreasonable. Ive actually seen comments
where the commenter made the point that (paraphrasing here) "geez, so
and so even wrote a great letter to the PFB community telling them not
to make unreasonable demands and yet here it is the next day and
nobody listened cause there's a bunch more unreasonable letters".
Well...duh...who here has the unreasonable expectation?

It just so happens that we agree consumers should first contact the
company directly with their concerns and that PFB works best as a
second or third resort. Still, we don't condemn letter writers for
choosing to use PFB first nor do we see it as a sign of weakness on
the letter writer's part. We agree that letters should be taken with
a grain of salt - that grain of salt being the natural balancing act
we all do when we hear someone talk about a product or a service and
then try to apply that commentary to our own experience and that of
others we know of.

In the end, even the most "unreasonable" letters serve a purpose
whether it be to remind us how not to behave in public or to simply
give us a chuckle as we go about our day. There is danger in reading
such letters and deciding they reflect what the world is like today -
such danger coming in the form of seeing unreasonableness in more and
more letters until, finally, even the most innocuous of requests comes
off as being an exercise in "wanting the world".

The whole point of allowing shared letters (and subsequent comments)
is to create a knowledge base that revolves around consumer activity
for the benefit of folks who are likely to come along down the road
and read these letters. The letter writer makes the claim that we are
"a bit obsolete". I am willing to agree our platform is outdated and
badly needs a refresh, if not more of an overhaul, to bring it up to
Web 2.0 standards.

The concept of PFB, however, is far from obsolete and the letter
writer's perception stems from a distinct lack of knowledge about how
this all works. 80% of our traffic does not show up in the volume of
letters or volume of comments - in effect it's invisible to someone
who comes on the site to read the letters. That 80% comes from
internet search engines through a myriad of search terms. While we
definitely encourage companies to respond to PFB letters and are
delighted when they do so, the power of PFB comes through the sharing
of consumer experiences in a common venue for all to read. Rather
than be obsolete, this kind of consumer review process is exploding.

Because it really is about being the voice of one but the power of
many.

there's one problem with your letter... all of your examples are of
valid complaints! =)


although there will be debate on what is or isn't a valid complaint,
i've read some that i personally feel are just ... invalid and
insane.


so, that can also be a factor.

if someone gets a little angry about bad service - or what they
imagine to be bad service - and demand something outrageous or out of
proportions to the complaint, I suspect some companies won't really
give it the same treatment as a valid letter that makes reasonable
requests.


for example.
- warranty item breaks, customer asks for it to be repaired in a
timely manner. that's pretty reasonable
- or person explains why a product is difficult to use, could you
please consider a different design? again not a bad request. they
might say no, but the request itself isn't bad or unreasonable



but bad examples...
- person grabs 20 rotisserie turkeys so there's none left. customer
complaint is that the store should have been prepared. but there's no
guarantee that even if they'd had another 20 already on hand that that
same customer wouldn't have taken more... or that other customers
wouldn't have grabbed them.

- or person doesn't get an early upgrade before being eligible, and
therefore states that the company has to give them the product for
free.

- or complaints because the employee won't break the law. i've seen a
bunch of those, especially for alcohol sales after hours. one of my
friends even had that happen to her.




another thing that's worth being mentioned is that...
sometimes going to the company in a "ready to FIGHT!!!" mood often
fouls up the entire process.

saving the fight-mode for when it's required can solve a lot of
problems.

there ARE many cases where just going up and being polite ensures you
get exactly what you're asking for - and even more sometimes.

(seriously. mom always does the polite-first method. when her tires
needed to be repaired, the employee even thanked them for being so
patient and tossed in a big discount without being asked for one. and
the old tires were saved to send to the company to be analyzed)




one last thing. never forget to compliment. companies use this as
signs that they're doing well and for what works.

I agree, it is often faster to call the companies directly. I have
only gotten a couple responses from companies i have PFB'd. PFB is a
great tool for public commentary on letters, it gives the LW some
constructive (hopefully) criticism that they can use when writing
their next letter.

One of the reasons I like the site so much is because the letters are
public. Yes, I can write/call a company and so can other people, but
when sites such as this are utilized others can see the feedback as
well. In several cases reading letters on here have (and other sites
like this one) have helped me make purchasing choices.

I just had an experience where I contacted Verizon Wireless after they
screwed up in communicating to me my new business cell phone number.
Executive relations contacted me, apologized, told me they were going
to implement some training and gave me a $50 credit on my account.
The offered to reimburse me for my new business cards, but I was able
to stop the printing and correct the information so I declined.

The bottom line is that they went the extra mile and were supremely
skilled in customer retention and I am very satisfied with what
happened.

The thing is, PFB is an excellent method to go directly to the source!
When you write a letter on PFB, the letter is sent directly to the
company. The feedback is sent off along with the OP's contact
information, if they choose. It gives the public an opportunity to
contact companies, and also gives them a larger voice because their
experience can be shared with anybody who is interested. Knowing this,
it sometimes gives more weight to the complaint which increases the
likelihood of a response. Sometimes it is difficult to find contact
information for a company. In some instances, it is not available for
the public or is not present on the company's website. PFB has all the
info in a convenient database, which has been discovered due to the
incredible detective work by the PFB team for the benefit of the
diverse PFB community. I remember one instance where PFB was able to
find the contact information for a company only on a published annual
disclosure, or some other similar corporate document. Why spend hours
scouring, when PFB has already done it for you? Whenever somebody has
a complaint, I recommend PFB every time! It is an excellent means to
contact companies. Viva the consumer!

I tell people about a website I use, but I rarely tell them the name
of it. There are several choices out there.

There is a wide range of consumer issues. This website excels at
certain ones, and sometimes the best thing to do is call the company.
It doesn't take hours to find an 800 number with which many issues can
be resolved. We see a lot of complaints that in my opinion could be
resolved quickly by calling the company. A lot of people don't want
to pick up the phone anymore. That's too bad. I use an archaic land
line, which ironically affords me crystal clear and free unlimited
time to call toll free numbers. I laugh when I hear people complain
they used all their minutes calling a toll free number. Then there
are the people who can't seem to slice 20 minutes out of their day in
a 12 hour window. Pity.

Of course, I'd never tell or suggest that someone not use PFB. I
can't do that. So by all means, anyone who lands here should use PFB
to increase their chances of success.

In all the cases I mentioned it took no time at all to reach the
company directly. That's all I'm saying.

I've also had very good responses when I've contacted companies
directly. Smithfield sent me $10 in coupons for some fatty spare ribs
and so did Kellog's for an oddly shaped Pop Tart.

I recently had a go around with Ken's Brands, the manufacturer of
Sweet Baby Ray's bar b que sauce. I purchased some ribs with the
Sweet Baby Ray's name on them. They were terrible. When I wrote to
them I got a response to contact another company because Ken's was
only licensing their name to this other company. I wrote back telling
them that I chose this product based on the Sweet Baby Ray's name and
thought they would like to know that their licensee was not keeping up
with the standards I felt should be associated with the Sweet Baby
Ray's name. They did a 360 and sent me about $20 worth of coupons for
Sweet Baby Rays and Ken's brands.

When we were growing up (a long time ago), my mother was big on
writing to companies. She wrote Ronzoni about a bad box of pasta and
got a free carton of assorted macaroni. There were other examples but
that one stands out in my mind.

Fran S.,

I too sometimes got direct. However, a service that this site and
others provide is the ability to share feedback and sometimes results
with the masses.

Your method might work but it doesn't help others.

BillR.

This is profound, and during a low point of the weekly news cycle.
This is bound to cause a stir when people return from the yacht club,
golfing, the garden show, etc.