Effective Complaint Resolution in Ten Easy Steps

In January of this year, my company received an erroneous bill from our security alarm monitoring company. Although I had paid the last quarterly bill from 2004, and given the company thirty days notice to cancel their services, they still managed to prorate the ending bill for January and February of 2005.

In January I wrote the company a letter, calmly explaining that I had canceled their services with 30 days notice and had paid my last bill, so I did not owe them a penny.

I attached a copy of the cancellation letter and my last two bills to show that I was a quarter to quarter customer. Additionally, I pointed out that their records could show years and years of my paying per quarter, and that my file would show that I did not have a contract promising to remain with their company any particular length of time, but that I "renewed" my contract on a quarter to quarter basis, simply by paying the next quarter's bill.

By February I began to get dunning notices to pay the prorated bill or be sent to a collection agency. The company was willing to ruin my good credit over a bill they could not prove that I owed!

March came around and my post office box produced yet another computer generated letter threatening my credit status. I called the company's accounts receivable department, got the clerk who took care of my account and explained the situation.

She told me that my contract stated that I owed them for monitoring services until mid-February 2005, and I politely asked her to fax me a copy of this contract. She promised she would fax me the contract, but to no avail. (I knew the contract didn't exist because I had signed no such agreement, and figured this would prove my point and she would write off the erroneous charges to my account.)

No such luck. April's bill came and I called back, asking to speak to the department manager. I again explained the situation, and he promised to send a copy of the contract. He did not. I figured he would see the error, and write off the bill, but he did not, instead sending me another computerized bill.

You'll note, I didn't get angry and yell at the bill collectors (this never helps solve the billing error in your favor.) I did deal with it in a manner prescribed by our company's policy and procedures, which indicate that all bills should be paid promptly, and that we keep all original documentation when signing on for a company's services.

Also, we contact the vendor directly, and on a consistent basis (every month when I received the erroneous bill.) I make sure to note on the bill, the date, time of call, telephone number and contact name of the person I spoke to, and brief notes on what was said.

I always begin communications with the person who deals directly with my account, establishing a relationship with calm, logical steps so that we can solve this to our mutual benefit. (As their residential customer, I wanted to keep our relationship professional, to assure we could continue using their services for our home.)

After working with the clerk for several months without getting a resolution, then and only then, did I go to the next level and speak with the manager of the office.

Once I had dealt with the head honcho, and still received neither the contract (to prove I owed the bill) nor a letter writing off the balance, I went to the next level.

The Better Business Bureau has a computerized complaint procedure. Once you have reported the situation and recorded it in their files, the company you complained about gets a printout showing they are now in the complaint files of their local BBB.

Anyone calling on the company for a good referral will now see the complaint about their billing procedures. The next computerized bill I received, I returned to them with a copy of the BBB printout and a promise that the next complaint I lodged would be with the organization that monitors their industry, the Fire and Burglar Alarm Association.

Needless to say, after seven months of diligently, logically and calmly proving my point, they finally sent me a letter explaining that they were writing off their error. I received a statement showing my zero balance.

To recap, complaining and getting a resolution to your complaint is like following a formula. To be good at anything you must practice and be consistent. You must document your every step toward resolution and you must be willing to take actions that are appropriate to every level of the negotiation.

Ten Steps to Effective Complaint Resolution

1. Document every phone conversation and keep a copy of every letter you send.
2. Have a procedure to follow, be consistent and polite.
3. If the situation makes you angry, go ahead and write your angry letter. Get it out of your system, then tear it up and write a letter the next day, when you are not angry. Explain the error in short sentences that detail only the actions that have taken place, without rude commentary. This will go a long way toward effecting the outcome you want.
4. Begin communications with the person who deals with your account first, remember you want to start small and end up with the head honcho only after you have exhausted all other avenues.
5. If this fails, move on to the next level of management until you reach the person who has the power to make the decisions that can change your situation.
6. If this doesn't work, go to the next level and start again. Do not get more aggressive or angry, remember the new person does not know the story, so have patience and be polite every step of the way.
7. Don't give up and don't get angry.
8. If the company will not resolve your situation, go to the Better Business Bureau to lodge a complaint.
9. Most industries have an organization that controls and regulates that industry. Each company wishes to have a good reputation within their industry and this organization can bring pressure to bear on their errant members. Find out who the organization is, and file a complaint with them.
10. Keep copies of every letter you send out. Write notes on every conversation you have with the company regarding your billing error.