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Web can provide customer satisfaction
Corporate America says that "the customer is always right" (although anyone who has worked in retail might beg to differ). Why? Business legend has it that a happy customer recommends the company to a mere handful of people, while an angry customer bad-mouths the company to just about everyone he meets. As a result, companies usually will do their best to make you a happy customer. But what should you do in cases of poor service, defective products or fraud? The Internet can help you demand satisfaction.
There is an art to complaining, and some techniques work better than others. Legal Consumer Guide's How to Complain After You Buy http://www.legalconsumerguide.com/legal_information/safety_and_health/consumer/how_to_complain.html is a great starting point for the dissatisfied customer. It contains step-by-step advice for contacting the company, including who to address, what to say and how to say it.
Most consumer problems can be resolved quickly by direct contact with the company. Unfortunately, sometimes you'll need to contact a third party. WIVB-TV Channel 4 in Buffalo operates "Call 4 Action!" http://www.wivb.com/global/category.asp?c=2739, an information and referral hotline that takes your complaint, attempts to mediate the problem and then follows up with you. Who knows? You might even make it onto the 6 o'clock news.
If you have made a "sincere effort" to resolve the dispute, to no avail, you may wish to involve the appropriate government agencies. New York State Consumer Protection Board's Consumer Assistance Unit http://www.consumer.state.ny.us/comunit1.html contains an online complaint form. After your complaint is submitted, the board will contact the company and attempt to reach an agreement. On the national and international level, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission Office of Consumer Protection http://www.ftc.gov/ftc/consumer.htm has an online complaint form for cases of suspected fraud. The FTC does not mediate individual disputes, but investigates and alerts law enforcement agencies to the problem. This site also contains helpful articles, categorized by topic, about consuming wisely and avoiding fraud in the future.
No matter what the outcome, you can share your experiences on Planet Feedback http://www.planetfeedback.com/consumer/, an active and entertaining message board community where users post complaints, as well as compliments, to any company. You can search "Shared Letters" to see what others are saying about specific companies, view "Best and Worst" company rankings and reply to others' consumer woes. Many companies also respond to the feedback, making this an excellent place to get their attention.
—Jennifer L. Behrens, University Libraries