Having spent most of my adult life in Marketing, having done a decent amount of traveling and running my own personal travel web site, I've learned a thing or two about complaints.

It might interest most people to know that:
A) Very few people actually file complaints
B) Vendors (travel and otherwise) want to hear from you

My personal philosphy has also been if I feel I have a legimate complaint, I make it known. Now, what constitutes "legitmate" is probably always going to be a point of debate. I normally limit myself is issues related to poor product quality and poor customer service.

As to compensation, again this will always be an issue. Sometimes, I am not expecting compensation. Sometimes, a refund or product replacment will is sufficient. However, on certain occasions where I feel the complaint warrants, I will go in expecting a certain level of compensation. I find that if you have all the facts (who, what, where, when, why, how, how much, etc) clearly documented and present your case in a professional manner, I usually get the compensation I feel entitled to.

One final tip: if I have a complaint and am dealing with a large corporation, I always suggest going as high up the line as needed. This means that if I can't get satisfaction at lower levels (or if I hear "I don't have the authority"), I have no problem about going to the top. On several occasions, I have researched the name of the company CEO or President. I then call the corporate HQ during normal business hours and ask for his/her office. Almost everyone one of these people has a staff that is there to deal with the highest level of customer complaints and have the authority to resolve the matter.

Michael
http://www.biztrip.com