It's been my experience that the best way is to avoid any expression of anger. Play the frustrated victim appealing to the Customer Service Rep for help. Always document your calls (names, dates, verbal agreements, etc.). When you talk to them later, if you're able to show a history, they're more likely to see things your way. For most companies, they really want you to go away happy (there are still some that just want you to go away).
From US News:
Jon Yates wants to help you. As the official problem solver at the Chicago Tribune, he specializes in getting companies—and government bureaucracies—to do what customers want. Whether you’ve been over-charged by a credit card company or are still missing a tax refund from last year, Yates can probably help.
[50 Ways to Improve Your Finances in 2012]
Not surprisingly, Yates is inundated by requests and can’t solve all consumer crises on his own. That’s why he wrote his new book, What’s Your Problem? Cut Through Red Tape, Challenge the System, and Get Your Money Back, which is designed to help frustrated consumers fix their own problems. With dozens of strategies to overcome even the most stubborn customer service representatives, Yates argues that we can often win the fights we have with companies, as long as we’re persistent—and willing to take our business elsewhere, if necessary. U.S. News asked Yates about his top tips and how he applies them to his own life. Excerpts:
How have you applied your problem solving techniques to your own life?
People ask me all the time if I can simply call a company that has wronged me and tell them who I am— the Problem Solver for the Chicago Tribune. I wish I could. It would make my life a lot easier. But the newspaper's ethics policy strictly prohibits me from using my position for personal gain, so when a company or corporation treats me badly, I use the techniques I've outlined in my book without mentioning my job. And make no mistake, they work.
Recently, my AT&T modem broke, and the telecommunications company wanted to charge me $83 for a replacement. I told the customer service agent that unless they removed the charge, I would take my business to a competitor. When they realized I was willing to cancel service on the spot, they caved, and gave me a credit for $100 to buy a replacement modem of my choice.
It's my cardinal rule of problem solving: always threaten to take your business elsewhere, and follow through if the company doesn't respond. As consumers, we should never reward bad customer service or uncaring corporations. In the book, I relate several other personal consumer triumphs, including one with a local plumber and another with my former health insurance company, which unfairly tried to bill me $14,000 after my daughter was born. It took months to win that battle, but I didn't have to pay a dime.
Have you ever utterly failed at getting the response you want from a company, even after trying your hardest?
Unfortunately, I have failed from time to time. My success rate as the Problem Solver is well over 90 percent, but there are times when a company or contractor simply is not persuaded by the threat of bad publicity. The most frequent example is with companies that have gone out of business. Sometimes, they simply don't have the money to refund customers, or they're knee-deep in litigation that prevents them from issuing a refund.
[How to Complain to Companies (and Get Results)]
What are your top tips or strategies for someone who feels like they are really not making progress with a customer service rep?
If you're not making progress, I always suggest hanging up and calling back. Almost always, you will get another customer service rep, hopefully one who is more understanding and willing to help. I've spent time in a customer call center, and the reality is not all customer service representatives are created equally. Some are really good at what they do, others simply aren't. If you call enough times, you'll eventually get a good one.
If you don't, my advice is to skip the customer call center altogether and go straight to the top. Find a number online for the company's corporate headquarters and call there directly. Ask to speak to the chief executive. If you can't get through, write the chief executive a letter. It works way more often than you'd think. Often, a company's leaders have no idea that customers are being treated poorly, and are so appalled by a disgruntled consumer's letter that they help almost immediately.
What are some common mistakes people make when dealing with companies?
The most common mistake people make is giving up too soon. Often, I talk to people who get frustrated after one or two fruitless calls. Persistence pays off—and so does being a pain the rear. You have to make it clear that you won't stop fighting for yourself, and that not helping you will cost the company more in the long run. I think people often get intimidated and think they can't fight a big corporation, or city hall, or whatever entity they're fighting. It's simply not true. If you have the truth on your side and a willingness to battle, you can almost always win.
Do companies respond quickly to you because you are a reporter, or could the average person without a platform also get those results by applying your strategies?
I definitely have an advantage when I call as a reporter. Companies absolutely hate bad publicity. But you don't have to be a reporter for a major newspaper to get results. The average person who applies good consumer strategies can and will win their battles, if they're prepared, persistent, and willing to do the required work. Besides, you don't need to be a reporter to wield the power of the press. Often, all you have to do is threaten to go to the media, and a company will do the right thing. I get letters all the time from people who say they dropped my name and an erroneous bill was immediately fixed. The power of the press works, even for non-journalists.
[Why Customer Service Has Gotten So Bad]
What's your favorite problem solver story?
My favorite story was one I worked on several years ago, about two individuals—one from India, the other from Poland—who had written me separately saying their applications to become U.S. citizens had become gummed up in the federal immigration office. They had both passed their naturalization tests, and had been told they would be sworn in as citizens within months.
Instead, they had waited years to clear the final hurdle, which was a seemingly innocuous FBI name check. Both were extremely hard-working and patriotic. They wanted nothing more than to become Americans. I called the federal immigration office, and within weeks, the logjam was cleared. Turns out, both has simply become "stuck" in the system, a spokeswoman for the federal government told me. Both were scheduled to become naturalized on the same day, and I attended the ceremony.
It was truly inspiring and humbling. It's the type of problem I like tackling the most—the problems that have deep impacts in people's lives, and also shed light on needless corporate or governmental bureaucracy that needs to be corrected.
You write that you only help people who first tried to help themselves. What do you do differently than they did on their own that makes that difference?
People sometimes become frustrated too quickly and give up before the battle is truly over. As a consumer advocate, once I take on a "problem," I'm like a pit bull. It's not in my nature, but I've learned that such an attitude is often what it takes. I think we could all use a little more pit bull in us.
Showing posts with label company. Show all posts
Showing posts with label company. Show all posts
Wednesday, January 11, 2012
Friday, May 20, 2011
Stop Shrinking My Food - the continuing saga
I've written about this before. But, since new stories keep emerging, I'll keep writing.
Food companies are shrinking packages as a way of increasing prices without actually increasing prices. They say they're holding the line on price increases, but since you're getting less, the price per ounce is going up - often by quite a bit.
Among the problems with this are the increase in packaging per same amount of food, increasing the cost of freight, etc. Personally, I think each food item has an ideal size, and that's what it should remain at. What happens after they can't shrink anymore? "New larger size!" they're sure to boast. What they'll omit is that it's the same size they sold you five or ten years ago, but now the price is two or three times as much.
From The Consumerist:
Myron Reducto is at it again, turning his Grocery Shrink Ray Gun on Odwalla juice, zapping it down to 12 oz from 15. The price is the same. Like other food packagers, Odwalla is combining the shrinkage with a packaging redesign that it hopes will get more press. In this case, they are simultaneously rolling out bottles that are made from 100% plant based HDPE plastic.
Food companies are shrinking packages as a way of increasing prices without actually increasing prices. They say they're holding the line on price increases, but since you're getting less, the price per ounce is going up - often by quite a bit.
Among the problems with this are the increase in packaging per same amount of food, increasing the cost of freight, etc. Personally, I think each food item has an ideal size, and that's what it should remain at. What happens after they can't shrink anymore? "New larger size!" they're sure to boast. What they'll omit is that it's the same size they sold you five or ten years ago, but now the price is two or three times as much.
From The Consumerist:
Myron Reducto is at it again, turning his Grocery Shrink Ray Gun on Odwalla juice, zapping it down to 12 oz from 15. The price is the same. Like other food packagers, Odwalla is combining the shrinkage with a packaging redesign that it hopes will get more press. In this case, they are simultaneously rolling out bottles that are made from 100% plant based HDPE plastic.
Monday, March 14, 2011
The Consumerist announces the brackets for Worst Company in America
From The Consumerist:
For the sixth year in a row, we asked Consumerist readers to send us their nominations for our Worst Company In America tournament. And this year's response was the greatest by far.
The 32 companies listed in the above bracket are the result of thousands of nominations. Once again, the two most represented fields are telecom — including reigning champ Comcast — and banking/credit, each taking up six slots.
One area that saw a cut in the number of nominated companies is airlines, which dropped from four nominees in 2010 to only two this year. This might come as a surprise to some given the number of negative headlines about air travel in the last year. We chalk the decrease up to three factors: 1) That the increase in fees was attributed to the airline industry in general rather than any specific carrier; 2) That voters didn't blame the airlines for the TSA's procedures; 3) Two of last year's nominees — United and Continental — are now one flying behemoth.
Among the businesses new to this year's tournament is BP, whose public image was tainted by its troubles in the Gulf of Mexico. And then there's newcomer Johnson & Johnson, whose McNeill division must have set some kind of record for the sheer number and variety of brands recalled from store shelves in a single year.
Starting tomorrow, we'll be posting two matchups each day until we get down to 16 companies, and then 8, 4, 2 and ultimately the company that earns the right to hoist the golden poo.
Best of luck to everyone and may the worst company win!
For the sixth year in a row, we asked Consumerist readers to send us their nominations for our Worst Company In America tournament. And this year's response was the greatest by far.
The 32 companies listed in the above bracket are the result of thousands of nominations. Once again, the two most represented fields are telecom — including reigning champ Comcast — and banking/credit, each taking up six slots.
One area that saw a cut in the number of nominated companies is airlines, which dropped from four nominees in 2010 to only two this year. This might come as a surprise to some given the number of negative headlines about air travel in the last year. We chalk the decrease up to three factors: 1) That the increase in fees was attributed to the airline industry in general rather than any specific carrier; 2) That voters didn't blame the airlines for the TSA's procedures; 3) Two of last year's nominees — United and Continental — are now one flying behemoth.
Among the businesses new to this year's tournament is BP, whose public image was tainted by its troubles in the Gulf of Mexico. And then there's newcomer Johnson & Johnson, whose McNeill division must have set some kind of record for the sheer number and variety of brands recalled from store shelves in a single year.
Starting tomorrow, we'll be posting two matchups each day until we get down to 16 companies, and then 8, 4, 2 and ultimately the company that earns the right to hoist the golden poo.
Best of luck to everyone and may the worst company win!
Friday, February 4, 2011
The original reason the Aspen Skiing Company will never see another penny of revenue from me
When I moved to Colorado in 2001, I was advised to purchase a "Classic Pass" from the Aspen Skiing Company. At that time, their four-day pass cost $99. This season, they offer the Classic Pass only in a five-day version for a price of $259.
If that seems like a big price increase, it is. The average per-day rate jumped from $24.75 to $51.80 - and increase of 109%
During that same time period, the Consumer Price Index (CPI), or inflation rate, increased by 23%.
Why is the Aspen Skiing Company raising prices at nearly five times the rate of inflation?
When they jack up prices so high that the choice is between a day of skiing and buying a week's worth of groceries, I'm opting for the groceries.
If that seems like a big price increase, it is. The average per-day rate jumped from $24.75 to $51.80 - and increase of 109%
During that same time period, the Consumer Price Index (CPI), or inflation rate, increased by 23%.
Why is the Aspen Skiing Company raising prices at nearly five times the rate of inflation?
When they jack up prices so high that the choice is between a day of skiing and buying a week's worth of groceries, I'm opting for the groceries.
Yet another reason the Aspen Skiing Company will never see another penny of revenue from me
From The Aspen Daily News
SkiCo spokesman Jeff Hanle confirmed Wednesday that Mulcahy has been banned from the ski areas and all company-owned property since Dec. 30, when he distributed fliers to guests in the SkiCo-owned Little Nell and in the Silver Queen Gondola Plaza criticizing the ski school’s pay policies.
Mulcahy slid the fliers under hotel room doors and distributed them in the Little Nell’s dining room during one of the busiest days of the season. The fliers criticized SkiCo’s owners, the Crown of family of Chicago, for allegedly not paying a living wage to beginning instructors while the company reaps profits from expensive lessons.
The move was the straw that broke the camel’s back for SkiCo officials, who say they’ve had performance issues and behavioral problems with Mulcahy since 2006. As a result, he was terminated.
“Lee is currently banned from all Aspen Skiing Co. mountains and property, until we make a decision otherwise, for his inappropriate behavior and harassing our guests,” Hanle said, adding the ban is indefinite — “until he proves that he is not going to harass our guests or employees.”
Hanle added that Mulcahy hasn’t proven that he can hold civil discourse when it comes to his issues with SkiCo.
Mulcahy was suspended with pay for a week and then three weeks without pay for passing out the pamphlets on company property, which also advertised his group “People 4 a Living Wage,” which is in favor of unionizing ski school and other mountain employees. Currently, only the ski patrol is unionized among SkiCo divisions.
Mulcahy, an instructor since 1996, said Wednesday he found the ban on him “fascinating.”
The ban doesn’t allow him to buy a lift ticket, hike up the mountains, eat in any of the restaurants or step foot on anything owned by the SkiCo; all the base areas of the four mountains are private property.
If he does enter SkiCo property, Mulcahy will be arrested for trespassing, Hanle said.
Hanle said because the SkiCo leases land with the U.S. Forest Service, the public land is under SkiCo’s purview. He added that people have been banned from SkiCo property in the past.
Mulcahy last year ramped up his effort pressuring SkiCo to increase the starting wage of $69 a day for beginning instructors, since the company charges $625 for a full private lesson, even if taught by a rookie.
In recent weeks, his campaign has become a bitter and public dispute between him and his bosses, as well as the community at large, through the opinion pages of local newspapers.
Mulcahy this past fall filed two charges with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) in Denver, claiming the company violated federal labor law.
One charge claims that SkiCo “unlawfully” restructured its ski school in 1993. In the second charge, Mulcahy says he was taken off the “Diamond Pro” team “in retaliation” for his discussions about unionizing.
The complaints are currently under investigation by the NLRB.
SkiCo maintains it has acted within the law.
Mulcahy, who has hired an attorney, said his performance and past behavior as an employee is not the issue, and that he is being unfairly targeted for speaking out. He added that for many years, he was the top revenue producing instructor at SkiCo.
“I don’t have anything to lose,” he said. “Everything I did, I stand behind it.”
Here are just two of the many letters-to-the-editor supporting Mr. Mulcahy:
(This letter was originally addressed to Auden Schendler, vice president of sustainability for Aspen Skiing Co.)
Editor:
I was gonna wait until we could have lunch to visit but...
I will choose my words carefully because of our long friendship and our positions in the Valley community.
Lee Mulcahy has been my ski instructor for about 10 years. We would go out three or four times a year except this year because of my back surgery. He is singularly responsible for giving me the confidence to go into the double black areas and back country that before I found totally intimidating. I would never have attempted this without his expertise and the confidence, which he instilled in me. I would bet that I was not the only one he affected this way.
He was in no way anything other than a totally professional instructor. I never heard him say anything derogatory about SkiCo. He always checked on anyone who had fallen, knew everyone on the mountain and was extremely polite to any and all we encountered. I think he has a doctorate in philosophy from the University of Texas and we talked a good bit about the struggle his Dad had with cancer and our respective families, especially my wife and daughter. I find it very disappointing that SkiCo could find no other way to resolve this situation but by his termination. In my estimation this does not speak well of SkiCo — which leads me to the second bone I have to pick with SkiCo.
That would be the insistence of having outside live music events at Elk Camp until midnight or after in the summer? This was despite a request from Department of Wildlife (DOW) to limit them to 10 p.m.
After I read about this in the paper I spoke with several DOW people and others about the health of the elk herd nearby the cow/calf ratios, the other wildlife etc. You and I even exchanged e-mails about this. I was especially disturbed when one person who I have a great deal of respect for, told me “SkiCo doesn’t give a damn about wildlife.” Somehow it seems to me that SkiCo may be getting a little out of touch with the community that it serves, and that also serves it. A strain in the symbiotic relationship if you will. Say it ain’t so Mr. Kaplan.
Auden, please do not feel obligated to respond to my concerns but I would appreciate you forwarding this to the powers that be so they can hear from a down valley local who heretofore mostly skied Snowmass and whose teenage daughter was at the X-Games for three days. I still look forward to that lunch at Woody Creek we have been planning. SkiCo’s turn to buy.
Frosty Merriott
Carbondale
Editor:
SkiCo’s response to a diamond level instructor trying to help his less experienced co-workers receive a higher percentage of the lesson fee is reprehensible. Paying employees approximately 10 percent of the lesson fee is absurd and I, as a patron of the mountains operated by SkiCo, am outraged. SkiCo receives not only lift ticket revenue but also 90 percent of the lesson fee? SkiCo may not like instructors trying to support each other, but isn’t that exactly the type of employee you would want helping you — both on the mountain and off?
Dale Keats Lipnick
Washington, D.C
Ousted ski instructor banned from all SkiCo properties
Lee Mulcahy, a former Aspen Skiing Co. instructor who was fired on Monday, also has been banned from the company’s four ski areas and its privately-owned properties.SkiCo spokesman Jeff Hanle confirmed Wednesday that Mulcahy has been banned from the ski areas and all company-owned property since Dec. 30, when he distributed fliers to guests in the SkiCo-owned Little Nell and in the Silver Queen Gondola Plaza criticizing the ski school’s pay policies.
Mulcahy slid the fliers under hotel room doors and distributed them in the Little Nell’s dining room during one of the busiest days of the season. The fliers criticized SkiCo’s owners, the Crown of family of Chicago, for allegedly not paying a living wage to beginning instructors while the company reaps profits from expensive lessons.
The move was the straw that broke the camel’s back for SkiCo officials, who say they’ve had performance issues and behavioral problems with Mulcahy since 2006. As a result, he was terminated.
“Lee is currently banned from all Aspen Skiing Co. mountains and property, until we make a decision otherwise, for his inappropriate behavior and harassing our guests,” Hanle said, adding the ban is indefinite — “until he proves that he is not going to harass our guests or employees.”
Hanle added that Mulcahy hasn’t proven that he can hold civil discourse when it comes to his issues with SkiCo.
Mulcahy was suspended with pay for a week and then three weeks without pay for passing out the pamphlets on company property, which also advertised his group “People 4 a Living Wage,” which is in favor of unionizing ski school and other mountain employees. Currently, only the ski patrol is unionized among SkiCo divisions.
Mulcahy, an instructor since 1996, said Wednesday he found the ban on him “fascinating.”
The ban doesn’t allow him to buy a lift ticket, hike up the mountains, eat in any of the restaurants or step foot on anything owned by the SkiCo; all the base areas of the four mountains are private property.
If he does enter SkiCo property, Mulcahy will be arrested for trespassing, Hanle said.
Hanle said because the SkiCo leases land with the U.S. Forest Service, the public land is under SkiCo’s purview. He added that people have been banned from SkiCo property in the past.
Mulcahy last year ramped up his effort pressuring SkiCo to increase the starting wage of $69 a day for beginning instructors, since the company charges $625 for a full private lesson, even if taught by a rookie.
In recent weeks, his campaign has become a bitter and public dispute between him and his bosses, as well as the community at large, through the opinion pages of local newspapers.
Mulcahy this past fall filed two charges with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) in Denver, claiming the company violated federal labor law.
One charge claims that SkiCo “unlawfully” restructured its ski school in 1993. In the second charge, Mulcahy says he was taken off the “Diamond Pro” team “in retaliation” for his discussions about unionizing.
The complaints are currently under investigation by the NLRB.
SkiCo maintains it has acted within the law.
Mulcahy, who has hired an attorney, said his performance and past behavior as an employee is not the issue, and that he is being unfairly targeted for speaking out. He added that for many years, he was the top revenue producing instructor at SkiCo.
“I don’t have anything to lose,” he said. “Everything I did, I stand behind it.”
Here are just two of the many letters-to-the-editor supporting Mr. Mulcahy:
(This letter was originally addressed to Auden Schendler, vice president of sustainability for Aspen Skiing Co.)
Editor:
I was gonna wait until we could have lunch to visit but...
I will choose my words carefully because of our long friendship and our positions in the Valley community.
Lee Mulcahy has been my ski instructor for about 10 years. We would go out three or four times a year except this year because of my back surgery. He is singularly responsible for giving me the confidence to go into the double black areas and back country that before I found totally intimidating. I would never have attempted this without his expertise and the confidence, which he instilled in me. I would bet that I was not the only one he affected this way.
He was in no way anything other than a totally professional instructor. I never heard him say anything derogatory about SkiCo. He always checked on anyone who had fallen, knew everyone on the mountain and was extremely polite to any and all we encountered. I think he has a doctorate in philosophy from the University of Texas and we talked a good bit about the struggle his Dad had with cancer and our respective families, especially my wife and daughter. I find it very disappointing that SkiCo could find no other way to resolve this situation but by his termination. In my estimation this does not speak well of SkiCo — which leads me to the second bone I have to pick with SkiCo.
That would be the insistence of having outside live music events at Elk Camp until midnight or after in the summer? This was despite a request from Department of Wildlife (DOW) to limit them to 10 p.m.
After I read about this in the paper I spoke with several DOW people and others about the health of the elk herd nearby the cow/calf ratios, the other wildlife etc. You and I even exchanged e-mails about this. I was especially disturbed when one person who I have a great deal of respect for, told me “SkiCo doesn’t give a damn about wildlife.” Somehow it seems to me that SkiCo may be getting a little out of touch with the community that it serves, and that also serves it. A strain in the symbiotic relationship if you will. Say it ain’t so Mr. Kaplan.
Auden, please do not feel obligated to respond to my concerns but I would appreciate you forwarding this to the powers that be so they can hear from a down valley local who heretofore mostly skied Snowmass and whose teenage daughter was at the X-Games for three days. I still look forward to that lunch at Woody Creek we have been planning. SkiCo’s turn to buy.
Frosty Merriott
Carbondale
Editor:
SkiCo’s response to a diamond level instructor trying to help his less experienced co-workers receive a higher percentage of the lesson fee is reprehensible. Paying employees approximately 10 percent of the lesson fee is absurd and I, as a patron of the mountains operated by SkiCo, am outraged. SkiCo receives not only lift ticket revenue but also 90 percent of the lesson fee? SkiCo may not like instructors trying to support each other, but isn’t that exactly the type of employee you would want helping you — both on the mountain and off?
Dale Keats Lipnick
Washington, D.C
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