One of the most important principles of living a frugal, money-conscious life is making sure you always get what you’ve paid for. So often, timid people accept bad food at restaurants, appliances that don’t work as they should and other money-wasting problems as just a part of life. But you can complain and get what you want. Creative complaining makes the process easier and more fun in some cases.
At a restaurant, you can ask to speak to a manager and then try to be humorous and charming as you explain the problem. Just don’t insult the manager or the food. That takes it from creative complaining to escalating an incident.
When you’ve bought an appliance that you notice right away doesn’t perform well, take it back to the store for a refund. Just because there’s a piece of paper in the box that tells you not to return the item to the store and instead to send it for factory repair, that doesn’t mean you have do what it says.
When you notice after several weeks that a product is bad or experience a problem with a product or service when there’s no manager or employee around who can help you, send an email to company. Try to be funny, brief and interesting rather than laying out the facts only.
And here’s the most important part of creative complaining: tell them what kind of resolution you want. You aren’t likely to get what you want unless you ask.
The hardest part may be finding the right email address. Use an online form to submit your complaint if you have to, but try to search online for email addresses for the store or company you want to contact. Someone may have already located the best email address for you.
Of course, even your best efforts won’t always work. But being mean or getting upset makes it less likely that the low-level employee who gets your email will forward it on to a manager or supervisor who can actually help you.
Disclosure: As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. This site also participates in and links to other affiliate and advertising programs. When you click a link on this page or make a purchase after clicking a link, I may make some money.