I never contact customer service with a complaint, I just don't use them again. But I have, very occasionally, contacted customer service with a "could you pass on my thanks to ..." for a particularly good product or service. The last a couple of months ago to Marks & Spencer for whoever it was who discovered their Len de l'Ell wine, which is fabulous. I was so insulted by the AI response that I'll never do that again.

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duskdozer 3 hours ago | parent | next [-]

Don't you run out of companies to use?

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john_strinlai 3 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

>I never contact customer service with a complaint, I just don't use them again.

my phone provider double-charged my credit card so i had to call in and get it reversed.

would you just accept the double charge, cancel your contract (and pay the cancellation fee), and then move to one of the other handful of providers?

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randallsquared 2 hours ago | parent [-]

I mean, you quoted them as saying "with a complaint", but your example is of something that needs to be fixed. I also very, very rarely complain to customer service, and am more likely to use another company if my ire rises to the point where I am considering a complaint.

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john_strinlai 2 hours ago | parent [-]

>but your example is of something that needs to be fixed.

i'm a bit confused at this distinction. i think everyone who complains to customer service is doing so because they want something fixed?

like, in the article, they complained about the malformed calendar invites because they want them to get fixed and no longer be malformed.

i can't even really think of an example of a customer service call that isnt looking for some thing or situation to be fixed

	▲	randallsquared 9 minutes ago \| parent \| next [-]
		My wife complains to customer service without any expectation that something will change. If she gets a refund or partial refund, she's somewhat more mollified, but she will definitely write a complaint even if she has no expectation that there is anything that can now be done about her experience. She mostly wants to vent, and for the company to validate that they screwed up and seem apologetic about it. Contacting customer support doesn't make me feel better, and it's almost always more bother than any refund I could get, so I don't do it much. The article is indeed about trying to get something fixed, but I wouldn't call that a complaint. It's more a suggestion.
	▲	masfuerte an hour ago \| parent \| prev \| next [-]
		I don't know how you draw the line but to me there's a clear distinction between "you've fraudulently taken my money" and "this is shitty for everyone could you fix it please".
	▲	bluefirebrand an hour ago \| parent \| prev [-]
		> i think everyone who complains to customer service is doing so because they want something fixed When I worked customer service a substantial number of complaints to customer service seemed to just be to complain. They won't care if you fix the thing, they'll complain about that too.

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sublinear 2 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

Can we not tell these stories? This isn't reddit.

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shevy-java 3 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

I think ideally a product should not need customer service in the first place.

I had wildly different results. A lot of customer service sucked, other customer service was ok-ish. But in general it always takes away my time. Often a really well-designed manual, FAQ etc... solves most issues. Only in a few instances I had to rely on customer services.

	▲	StilesCrisis 3 hours ago \| parent \| next [-]
		That seems unrealistic? If my order gets destroyed in shipping, or I need to order a replacement gizmo, I'll need to reach out to the company.
	▲	reaperducer 3 hours ago \| parent \| prev [-]
		I think ideally a product should not need customer service in the first place. That's what I tell my boss when she asks what can be done to increase the number of visitors to our web site. I keep telling her, this isn't Burger Hut, it's healthcare. If people are visiting the web site, it's because things are going poorly, not because things are going well. If the doctors do their jobs, I don't have to do mine.