Serial Complainer?
 

I'm curious if anyone here has been labeled by a company (travel company or other) as a "serial complainer", or knows anyone who has been so labeled, or due to their present or past professional responsibilities knows what it takes to get yourself that label.

The reason I bring this up is that a new poster in the CO forum stated that CO had informed him that he had been identified as a "serial complainer" due to the frequency of his complaints and requests for compensation, and that CO no longer took his or her complaints seriously, even when they had substantial merit.

I think we all know the story of "The Boy Who Cried Wolf", but what type of actions and how many complaints does it take to get this offical label? I'd imagine it doesn't happen often, and I'd hate for it to happen to me.

Just curious. Any reactions or information would be appreciated. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif

Two years ago when I started flying NW often I sent a few (three?) emails detailing specific problems I had.

After my third email, I received an email that said:

"...we are sorry to hear that you continue to be disappointed..."

I made sure to send an email the next time I received very good service, which turned out to be not too long after that! http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif

I'm diamond with Hilton. When you travel a lot, you have lots of good things and bad things happen. Some people say nothing. Some people say something when only bad things happen. Some people say things about good AND bad things. I try to fall into the latter group. However, notes are generally only made of the negative things I say. Hilton seems to have labeled me a serial complainer, even though I've also told Hilton when they've done things right. However, last time I called in about something, they told me about all the times I've called and complained about something, and that because of this, I couldn't be taken too seriously, and nothing was done of my complaint. Diamond VIP no less.

Geeez.

Probably they don't keep track of the positive feedback. ;-)

I can't say that I blame any department, company etc that receives continuous complaints from an individual to ignore their complaint or label that person as a chronic complainer. Some people complain about anything, its ridiculous and they know who they are. Its one thing to cry on this board how poorly we get treated, what we didn't get, what we should get, what the book says etc but these are often things that we shouldn't be running to the Diamond desk (or similar) about.

I would agree with aflyer on the three categories that we fall in. I too try to be in the latter category. However I do make sure that when I complain that it is for a major problem, not something small and insignificant. For example, I would never complain that my chocolates were missing, my bed was not turned down, my water was missing, its just not worth it. Now when I don't have hot water, the upstairs neighbors are having a frat party reunion then I might say something. I try to write in the good as well. For example, I just sent in a HP comment card from the onboard magazine stating the excellent service from a particular flight attendant. I will do the same in a hotel if warranted.

When I do complain, I try to put as best a spin on it as possible. For example, I recently flew US Envoy and felt the service was a bit lacking and also made a couple of suggestions. I got back a letter from the Executive Office of Consumer Affairs that specifically addressed my concerns and said they had passed on my recommendations. Anyway, I digress slightly, in the letter I made sure to say that the reason I was writing was in hopes of my concerns being addressed and the service being better next time I fly Envoy.

I identify myself as a serial complainer versus Skyteam in general, and Delta and Air France in particular.
It does not seems to me that both these companies has taken that as a bad thing. I now have an identified person on Delta side, to which I can write my complains. I seldom request compensation, but rather point out the poor services. I do not hesitate also to mention the good points.

On the Air France side, unfortunately, I do not think that the same person is handling my various letters. It is not rare to receive two different answers for just one question. I received also a phone call last year from an Air France guy that was not aware that the case was solved. I do not see how they could put a label on a complainer in this case....

My opinion is that if Istrongly think that the airline is wrong, I do not request compensation. I just request improvement.
If no answer, I reiterate.
If nothing happen then, it is time for requesting compensation. That is a way to force the company to do something if they are not able to solve the issue differently.

We do not want money, we want service.
If they tell us: sorry, we wil never be able to provide you with this service, then, OK, the answer (my answer is): you owe me some money.

I would take every complaint from everyone seriously, except if that person constantly expected compensation.

It seems that it would not do the comapny any good to discount anyone's complaints. For every person who complains there may be 10 more who say nothing. I understand if the person makes constant requests for compensation, but if they are just expressing dissatisfaction, it seems that the company would want to know about it.

First and foremost, a serial complainer could in fact be a function of a serial failure on behalf of the airline/hotel, etc. I actually had FOUR UA trips in a row within a month of another that
1. luggage was lost AND not returned in a timely manner
2. special meals were not loaded EITHER direction after calling to confirm twice each way
3. upgrades were screwed up, again after calling twice to confirm that everything was OK
4. CSR at airport had OKd certain luggage transfer in advance in my record, but CSR on day of departure chose to ignore the record notation.

Yes, I called UA each time because I was THOROUGH in my effort, followthrough, etc. and UA just dropped the ball.

As A Million Mile Flyer, I don't need to fish for compensation. I want these problems to be avoided, preempted, etc. I explain (always nice, calm, friendly) to the (usually beleaguered)) Customer Service staff. After the explanation,I ask them how they would have reacted in the ssame situation and what THEIR expectations would be for reasonable resolution. By empowering them and trusting their discretion, I have been universally pleased with their responses...whether or not compensation is involved.

I think they can smell when you really want to resolve a problem versus milk the system.

Yet can we tell when they really what to actually address and "fix" the problem(s) versus simply just getting rid of you? http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/wink.gif

I'm SURE that AMEX has me marked as a "serial complainer".

I wear it as a BADGE!!!!!

Everytime time that you have a complaint regarding an aircraft, insist that the Purser logs it in the planes log. If the airline hints that you are a "serial complainer" point out this fact, and also the fact that you will be informing the FAA about the entry in the log.

As a former AMEX charge card employee, I know that a rolling history file can keep tabs on anything said or promised to an AMEX employee, which can even include complaints, yelling, attitude, and even curse words recorded as s*, f*, etc. The history file could be assessed by any rep on all future calls. I'm not sure if travel agents and airline agents have similar history files, but I think they must, based on poor service I have now got accustomed to. Examples: I've never been asked in 5 years by my travel agency if I would like to upgrade anything based on my status. I always call the airline after getting my ticket to upgrade. This week is typical. My Hertz Gold number (I'm 5 Star) was not put in my rental reservation and my Marriott number was left off my hotel reservation. It might have been a few complaints years back or it just might be that I am a high volume, low revenue customer. I hadn't figured out which may be influencing the poor service more. Maybe I'm labeled as a serial cheapskate. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/wink.gif

I often send NWA complaint letters when they perform poorly. I have always received a form letter first, followed up by a letter that specifically addresses my complaints. If the letter offers constructive criticism and/or clearly details the problems, it is certainly in their own best interests to respond.

Last weekend as I was flipping through channels on the TV, I came across an hour long special on travel. They had one segment on this paralegal who proudly claimed he could find or create a negative situation on every segment of travel, and then would sue them in small claims court. He boasted of winning nearly every case and that he always came out ahead of the game.

Example, he always orders special meals, knowing that it's a high probability that he won't get what he ordered and then demands $50 compensation. This guy went on and on about tips on sticking it to the airlines, hotels, etc... Very sad.

I wrote three letters of complaints to United over 6 months, but got only replies to 2. When I chased the other one up, they said that as they had received so much correspondce (2 letters is surprisingly considered 'a lot' by United), that they had assumed the second letter was a duplicate.

So it seems they actually don't read the letters, just match the Mileage Plus numbers, look at the class of service, and send out the appropriate voucher.

I've not bothered to write for the past 6 months to hopefully change their view of me as a serial complainer.

I fall into the third category as well. If something is done right, or above and beyond the call, I'll write a letter. If something goes REALLY bad, then I write a letter. But I also try to work things out before I start making call. For example, I had a REALLY bad stay at a doubletree last weekend. This stay was to make up for the previous bad stay I had, well it was bad again. I did take the courtesy to write and fax a letter to the general manager and let him have the chance to respond to me. After 2 days without even a phone call from anyone at the hotel, I called corporate and they got the ball rolling. I don't like to compalin, but also I don't like getting walked over or withheld benefits that I'm entitled to, or have paid for. I have also used my status to help other lower elite FT'ers get some help when the red-tape needed to be cut. It goes both ways...

I have a friend who works in CS and I'm sure people in the same field can confirm this:

1% of people are responsible for 1/3 of all complaints
2% of people are responsible for 1/2 of all complaints

There are just some people who have been dealt a poor hand in life and seem to think being perpetually whiny will somehow remedy this. I mean, really people, we can't all be shiny beautiful people so chin up and stiff upper lip. Sorry if I seem over talkative about this but just the other day I rode a Greyhound bus where the driver spent 2 hours talking about how terrible his job was and how terrible rich people are... jeez...

I serial whined when they took Frankenberry off the market. I was mad a General Mills for weeks! Fortunately, it, Countchocula AND Booberry are all back now http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/biggrin.gif

Serisouly though, I trust all professional whiners will visit www.saveunitedconnection.com

We could use some professional whiners http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/biggrin.gif

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www.saveunitedconnection.com

I won't quibble with your statistics, straight-flava, but I disagree that these "are just some people who have been dealt a poor hand in life and seem to think being perpetually whiny will somehow remedy this". It is much more likely that the bulk of these people have legitimate complaints and that the reason the majority of complaints are from 1-2% of the people are that those 1-2% choose to write when they have an issue! The rest of the population, many of whom have probably experienced similar problems, choose to do nothing. BoSoxFan45 is correct in stating for that every ten people who experience a problem only one will raise the issue.

Companies ignore customer complaints at their own risk...and this risk is even greater now in the age of the Internet than it was before since word of problems reaches much farther.

How do you complain? When I have a problem with a hotel, I usually stop at the front desk to get the problem resolved; I've never had a problem worth writing to the corporation about, because the front desk staff (or manager if necessary) has been able to rectify the situation. As others have said, I'm not looking for compensation, I'm looking for service, comfort, etc. I'm much happier to get the problem fixed than to live with it and hope to be compensated by the parent company down the road.

That being said, I usually complain/compliment directly to the airline/car rental customer service folks, just because I usually don't have time to deal with the local counter staff, gate agents, etc. I either have a plane to catch, or need to get to work. With the hotels, it's easier to deal with stuff in the evening after work, etc.

This past winter, I called CO WE-CARE2 # about a problem I had with CO cancelling a segment on another carrier (I won't go into that story, except it was FRA-LIS). The first thing the agent said was "I see that you had a complaint last year also." Sighhh

My partner had a complaint with Canadian Airlines before it keeled over....

He spent TONS of time on the phone trying to solve an issue, and it never was solved.... We were given two tickets to anywhere in the world when we were bumped on an international Canadian flight, but it was impossible to use them... No matter where or when we tried to book, nothing was available... for a full year... We eventually threw the tickets away... They were useless...

A friend who worked for another airline looked up my partner's file on Canadian, and found that it said that my partner


"complains and gets upset" but "if you just let him complain while acting like you were agreeing with him" he would "calm down" and "wouldn't need to be dealt with" after that....

What a great thing to have in your file for everyone to see when you don't even know it's there....

When we found out, we stopped flying Canadian Airlines... and we all know what happened to them http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif

OK, maybe not *just* cuz of us, but it felt like justice in the end when they went bankrupt....

KevinB

When I was in 9th grade English, the teacher had us write a letter to a company. My complaint letter resulted in free stuff, and things have never been the same since http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/biggrin.gif.

Seriously, I do enjoy writing letters to firms, because I find that if written properly, they will often be taken more seriously than phone calls answered by minimum wage "customer care" people.

One thing I did learn though is that it makes a much better impression if you tried to resolve the situation at a lower level but were shot down. I now try this approach, partly after reading on this board about the risk of being labeled a serial complainer.

Another thing that I sometimes do if I write to complain and get a form letter is to write again, and include the following text at the end:

(edited to fix formatting)

[This message has been edited by yonatan (edited 06-29-2001).]

A major reason I strive for top program levels is that "complaining" does not suit me. Well, formal type complaining anyway.

Top level in hotel programs means being given a decent room away from noise. It's what I expect as a frequent guest. When staying at a Marriott (not a member) I expect nothing......and that seems to be what I receive.

Recently, I was on a delayed AA flight. Returning three days later was a couple that had been sitting in front of me on the delayed flight. They called to complain, were given $180 travel voucher and suggested that I do the same. Told them it is not my style. Two weeks later, I receive an unsolicited $180 voucher from AA. Pretty cool.

It seems to depend upon the company. Most companies take your comments seriously, as long as they are given in a manner that politely raises your concerns. Correspondence that comes across as vindictive or with malice will probably be treated as such. When I had problems being credited for miles from the Healthy Choice promotion last year I wrote to ConAgra directly, as a last resort. ConAgra responded to my concerns immediately and then soon followed that up with the three vouchers for 1500 miles total on US.

I also point out people such as Adam, a Hilton employee who actively monitors these boards and takes all concerns seriously.

I like to use the proper forum depending upon the severity of the action (or inaction). It is so easy these days to whip out an E-mail that it probably doesn't rate any more weight than a phone call. If the faux paux is serious I find out the name of the person that handles such situations at the corporate level and then write them a letter. I also refrain from sending letters to the Chairman or CEO. Those people just don't handle consumer complaints! That is how you may be labeled as a serial complainer.

As someone who has worked for catalog sales, phone companies, and a brief stint for a reservation company as customer service agent for everyone them, most of these companies had only four of us handle all the major complaints.

We had two main types of complainers that we would keep track of between us. Those that were always demanding something when they wrote in, and those that did ask for something, but it was done in a pleasant way. The thrid was the ones that write to suggest ways to improve the company, and some of the suggestions we actually did.

It really helps it if you are nice when you write in. We would always go out of our way for the latter of the two main complainers. The ones who screamed in the letters were always worked last.

Why are you asking? Did you get some company upset at you, and they take away all your toys? http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/biggrin.gif

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axicano= A Chicano
Austin,TX Live Music Capitol of the World

Interesting. At one point in my checkered past, I ran the customer service (help desk) for a small software company. When the reps on the phone had someone who was really unhappy, they would send him (always a him) to me. I would then be privledged to hear how our software didn't work, the company was a mess, and that the package was ugly (or some such nonsense).

My classic response was "What can I do for you?" Usually, the person would then repeat the complaints, and I would repeat "What can I do for you?." Most complainers had no idea what they actually wanted to accomplish with the phone call - a refund, a new product, a free T-shirt (this always seemed to satisfy them !?!).

If you give someone a reasonable solution to the problem you will likely be taken seriously. If you just bi*ch and moan, you will be treated as a problem. However, in all cases, I would suggest that you save your fights for the ones that matter. Let minor things roll off your back (Yes, I know that you are special and should be treated like a combination of the Pope, Shah, and King). Remember, the person you are dealing with may also be a customer of your company and may in the future have a less-than-perfect interaction with someone in your organization.

You can always take your business elsewhere if the company is treating you that badly constantly.

(PS - I dropped my AMEX card when it became more work than it was worth to keep it. Now, I have no complaints with that company.)


Edited for spelink (sic)

[This message has been edited by AA since 85 (edited 07-02-2001).]

Always a good idea when compaining. Figure out what would satisfy you, give a few suggestions how to change it, and the Customer Service Agents will thank you. If you want a free night, ask for it. If you want vouchers, ask for them. It never hurts to ask :-D

Sheesh. This guy only serves to drive up the cost of doing business for the rest of us. I've had special meals screwed up, but I just tell the flight attendant and then they usually hook me up with free liquor or something like that.

There are two sides to the statistics.

On the one hand, 20 percent of the people send in 80 percent of the complaints. That's the old 80-20 rule: the same one that says 20 percent of the people drink 80 percent of the beer, fly 80 percent of the miles, earn 80 percent of the As (or Fs) in school, etc.

On the other hand, 20 percent of the people have 80 percent of the bad luck. That's the same 80-20 rule. If 1 percent of all flights are cancelled, one person out of every million travelers is going to have three flights cancelled in a row. Ditto for lost bags, missed special meals and all the rest. If that person writes in about them, he/she is NOT a serial complainer. It was just his/her week to be dumped on.

Companies generally know this. Someone who complains a lot is either (a) a serial complainer or (b) someone who randomly got more than his/her share of doo-doo.

They have to be able to tell these two apart. That's where the tone of your letter makes so much difference. If you come across as "I'm not blaming you, but I had this series of problems, and here's what I'd like you to do about it," your chances are good. Something along the lines of "I know it happens every so often and this must have been my turn" can help. If you sound like "You did this to me so you are the devil incarnate," it will not help your case.

OK- so who can help me write a complaint letter to Honda Customer Service

About a month ago the car ( a 97 Passport) started dying 'n flight'. Had it towed to a Honda dealer. Both they and AAA said nope not the alternator( which is what my teenage son thought it was) - you need a bigger battery to run this aftermarket stereo ( which had been running fine for 6 month http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif.

OK- bought bigger battery. Car dies again about a wk later. Back to Honda - Service dept keeps it 2 days and tells me these gold things are shorting out the battery and disconnects entire aftermarket stereo system,because they wont work on them. Well you guessed it - next day dead car - wont even jump start. Back to Honda ( I've already been told how stupid I was to bring it back there so we can leave those comments out of the replies please http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif

Now of course they say it needs a 600 dollar alternator.

I know what I want - the cost of the alternator that they probably broke and what it will cost me to have the stereo system reinstalled. Is this reasonable? How do I ask? And I dont even know if the car was fixed as alternator is just being put in today and I am , of course, not in town

All input appreciated

aka Pareto principle.

On the other hand, 80% of the time, its the fault of the system, not the individual. This includes inadequate staffing/high workload, overly long hours, and not empowering the employees which may appear to be the fault of the individual to the outsider, but which are really management shortcomings.

As a former Front Office Manager for a number of hotels, I can assure you that 99% of complaints directed to me (or for that matter to any of our desk agents, hotel operators, etc.) are responded to in favor of the guest, particularly when we feel that it is in the best interest of both parties to compensate the guest. We of all people know that we are human, and that our hotels are things that are never in "perfect condition", and we create or exaserbate these problems. Typical scenarios include: numerous "screw ups" on our side, including failure to meet reservation requests, staff that are not in the best of moods, or in the place that they are supposed to be, noise from construction or ballroom parties, bad plumbing, old/tired rooms, late or incorrect room service or restaurant meals, airport transportation delays from our shuttle, excessive phone/movie charges (another topic to be sure, but we do try to be fair), outside resources/vendors that we endorse who purposely "rip off" our customers, etc.

Situations that we won't be held accountable for (although will sometimes compensate for, based on the situation) include hurricanes (water coming into the room with 90 MPH winds outside), noise from unruly neighbors/parties (after we have been informed and have corrected the situation), failure to recognize and upgrade accordingly the elite level of a frequent guest, delays and or problems with taxicabs or other outside parties, weather problems (can't use the pool, etc. as a result).

What DOES drive me totally insane are the 1% of people who, from the time of check in (or even from the reservation stage), who we KNOW are problematic. For example, the people, who are at the absolute lowest rate demanding upgrades (and I am NOT talking about frequent traveler perks here), people who eat an entire $300 room service meal (including licking the plates clean, and I am not kidding about that either), and then go on to say that the food was inedible, etc.

My favorite example was a few months back: we were fore-warned about a guest coming to the hotel, by the travel agent who handled this persons itineraries. The TA was kind enough to give us a head's up; we in turn made sure that she was put in the very best available room (inspected in advance by our Housekeeping Director, Director of Engineering, and myself), on our Concierge floor (at no additional charge). From the moment of her arrival, the complaints abounded. "The door shuts too fast" complaint was met immediately by our engineering dept, who adjusted the door. "The meal is inedible" complaint resulted in, upon investigation, completely "licked clean" plates. Attempts to reach her to discuss these issues were unsuccessful; on the first round of complaints, she demanded an upgrade; it was explained that based on the input to her "selective needs" we had already upgraded her, as a courtesy, she was unimpressed.


Prior to check out, this individual made a statement on the phone to me that she in no way was going to pay for her entire stay. We forwarded a complete log of our encounters to her credit card company, and let her battle it out with them. We of course submitted the full charges (minus the "inedible meal"), which we, in good faith, "ate".

Another example was that of a couple, who were, to be fair, put into a shabby room. We comped the first night, and then put them into a "model room" (renovation was just beginning, so they got the latest and greatest of the hotels newest product). The complaints continued, to include the insulation of the sinks hot water pipe (really!!!!, one has to literally get on ones' hands and knees to even see the insulation, which is designed to prevent a guest from burning their knees if they got too close), the fact that the curtain rods were not only on the front side of the curtains, but were a conflicting color, and the fact that the bathroom door opened "out", instead of "in" (this room was on a wheelchair friendly floor). They went on to criticize the design of the mattress (which is a very expensive, and comfortable design, by the way), which obviously they had never seen.

Needless to say, this type of behavior will result in being labeled a "serial complainer", and rightfully so.

LOL! The "door" never shuts fast enough on this type of client ...

I once worked for a very nice gentleman who was no longer allowed to fly United for various complaints. 1K, high revenue, international travel, the works. A United executive simply called him and stated that they could not meet his service expectations, so please don't fly us. He went on to book a flight and the travel agent was descretely informed to book him on another airline. I thought that there would be a lawsuit, but a couple of us in the office convinced him that it wasn't worth it, and anyway none of us were flying United anymore. Let's get the best of them.

I consolidate all of my serious travel to CO + partners, Hilton and now TWA/AA. On the rare occasion that I phone it is taken seriously.

On the bottom of a TWA printout I received, it has the following customer areas for remarks:

Profile
Lookups
Amenity History
Amenity Requests
Customer Miles Adj

Somebody's keeping track.

If I can throw my 2 cents into the ring, As one who used to work for a major Hotel Chain, yes you can become labeled as serial complanier, the trick is to write really postive things let the management know how great something is, and when something is wrong let them know with some positive critism. It works a charm.

I think that reading these posts a clear picture emerges. It is quite obvious that if it becomes obvious that there are three sorts of complaints. Genuine, trivial, and imaginary. I am certain that there are company's that truly believe that any old thing will do. There are equally customers for whom nothing will ever be good enough. It is a sad truth that these sort of people poison the ground for the rest of us.

If a company sees your track record of consumption and knows that you do complain but do so rarely, reasonably, genuinely, and (and this is very sad) truthfully; you will be taken seriously. If you are prepared to write and say "well done", your letter of "I'm sorry to point out" is taken much more seriously.

With some of the appaling examples cited here, I do not blame companies from keeping track of trouble makers. The danger of course is that it is open to abuse, and can be subjective and judgemental.