Complaining is the new black
Whinging, whining, piping up, crying foul, making a fuss…….now I’m well over 30 I’ve noticed a strange new compulsion of mine. If I don’t like something I complain. I’m not talking about complaining to complete strangers for no reason or just randomly in public or anything like that. I’m talking about talking up my rights as a consumer. Only the other day I realised I have saved/ recouped almost close to $1000 dollars in the last six months thanks to a bit of positive complaining.
I’ve complained to the Telco company who left me without a phone or internet for weeks, I’ve complained to the auction house who tried to deliver my 60 kilo table to my mums house but didn’t send anyone to help carry it. I’ve dragged a dodgy accountant across the coals after he managed to get my tax return wrong twice but still wanted to charge me $385 for the pleasure and recently I socked it to my bank who, bless ‘em, wanted to charge me a $45 dishonour fee for simply pressing the wrong button when internet banking.
My advice, next time you get some dodgy fee for something or someone gives you really bad service – complain! Put it in writing, refuse to speak to the kid who answers the phone and ask for the manager and if you can support your complaint 9 times out of 10 I reckon you’ll get your money back. The scary thing to consider is if you don’t how much of our money can get frittered away on all this stuff when we don’t kick up a fuss. Now I’m officially old and grumpy I’m wondering what I can do with the money I saved – maybe I can put that grand of mine towards a train spotting hobby or something else suitably obsessive and nerdy.
I’ve complained to the Telco company who left me without a phone or internet for weeks, I’ve complained to the auction house who tried to deliver my 60 kilo table to my mums house but didn’t send anyone to help carry it. I’ve dragged a dodgy accountant across the coals after he managed to get my tax return wrong twice but still wanted to charge me $385 for the pleasure and recently I socked it to my bank who, bless ‘em, wanted to charge me a $45 dishonour fee for simply pressing the wrong button when internet banking.
My advice, next time you get some dodgy fee for something or someone gives you really bad service – complain! Put it in writing, refuse to speak to the kid who answers the phone and ask for the manager and if you can support your complaint 9 times out of 10 I reckon you’ll get your money back. The scary thing to consider is if you don’t how much of our money can get frittered away on all this stuff when we don’t kick up a fuss. Now I’m officially old and grumpy I’m wondering what I can do with the money I saved – maybe I can put that grand of mine towards a train spotting hobby or something else suitably obsessive and nerdy.
posted by Kate Browne at 10:59 PM
1 Comments:
Kate I live in the country which makes Ausie complainers look like mild-mannered choirboys. No-one can complain like a German, and having dealt with the buerocracy here I realise it's because they have more reason to. People complain about having to work until five, they complain about having to keep to the speed limit they complain about people crossing the lights ont the red, other people complaining all the time, about the weather, about the government, about the Americans, about the education system, the health system, about having the staff at Walmart pack their bags for them, about there being no parking, about it being too cold, too hot, too crowded, to noisy, they just like to complain. It's like breathing. If you don't complain no-one does anything for you, it's as simple as that. Simon and I have lived in this house for two months and we have one set of keys. This is not likely to change, no matter how much I complain, because I still can't complain anywhere near as well as the average German. Sad, but true.
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