The real Victor Meldrew: Never afraid to right a perceived wrong. Photo: BBC
Like a lot of people I enjoy complaining. Put me in a certain situation and if I'm in the right (or perhaps wrong) mood I'm a regular Victor Meldrew - it's too hot, too cold, too busy, a bit empty, and so on. But that's only to the people I know. When it comes to taking my complaint up with someone who can actually do something about it, all too often I go quiet.
And I'm not alone. According to the government's complaint hotline, Consumer Direct, one in three people think complaining about dodgy goods or services isn't worth the effort. Least likely to complain were those aged between 16 and 29, which seems to suggest that for many people it's a confidence issue.
To help people feel more inclined to assert themselves and their rights, Consumer Direct has published some advice and template letters on its website. Among the tips to achieving success are to "act quickly", "stay calm" and "be clear about how you want the problem to be resolved".
As Kevin Anderson demonstrated on the Travelog blog last week, if you complain in the right way you can sometimes get exactly what you want without a fuss. Surely that should inspire us all to have a go?
My biggest issues come with complaining about services. While it's fairly clear if an item you've bought has a fault, problems with services are less cut and dried. Is the food bland or just not to my taste? How late is too late for a tradesman to arrive? Can I expect my dry cleaning to come back spotless?
Do you have the same problems? Or alternatively some tips on how best to complain about problems which could be dismissed as just being in the eye of the beholder?
