It pays to complain.

That's brilliant. Well done.

There is a definite art to effective complaining!

I complained to B&Q via their website, no response. Strangely enough when I put a comment on their facebook page, they got in touch immediately!

There are also some key phrases to use, such as "this has caused me to lose confidence in your company/product" or "until such and such happened, I was always recommending your product/service, however I would now be reluctant to" etc

phoenix brings up an interesting point. Complaining to B&Q was an `inhouse` complaint - meaning only they knew you had complained, hence foot dragging. A complaint on Facebook or the like means that hundreds and thousands may view your concerns - a different matter all together.
The remedy for positive action is to make sure the culprit company knows that you intend to blow a raspberry that will be heard as far and wide as possible.

Well, I am still waiting to hear from the tour operator and the hotel chain from my awful stay in Bournemouth - it is now over a month since I had their acknowledgments of my complaint. Have sent reminders but don't hold out much hope they will actually do anything.

Justifiable complaints are worth making and persuing. I have had quite a lot of success just by politely sticking to my point which has always been justified. Some examples:

I damaged a suit jacket just after I bought it but the cc company said they would only pay for the jacket as they were separate items on the bill. I said this was sexist and they paid for it all.

Travel company screwed up booking for my son's return trip from Japan and said he had to come back 2 days later. I got them to bring him back business class.

B & Q - hasn't everyone?

Saga - terrible hotel and I got 29 of us moved to another. On return they offered us £100 compensation which we all felt was inadequate so I got the email address of Ros Altman and wrote to her on behalf of the group. We got it raised to £500.

I do all the complaining for this family!

I always check that tour operators are members of ABTA, which offers some help with complaints.
I once bought a pair of shoes that fell apart in the rain. I took them back and the salesgirl told me accusingly 'You have been wearing these in the rain'. She said she would send them back to the manufacturer and I told her she was welcome to do that to try to get a refund for the shop, but my contract was with her shop and I wanted a refund immediately. She was going to argue, until she realised I was prepared to stand there all day complaining loudly about their products whenever another customer came in.

I always laugh when I am offered one of those ridiculous extended warranties, which cost nearly as much as the product. I ask 'Is this item not reliable, then?' and I am always assured that it is very reliable, so I tell them that in that case I will rely on the Sale of Goods Act. That usually floors them. The problem is that they get a bigger commission on the warranties than they do on the product.

Unfortunately ABTA is paid for by the tour operators and will only look into your complaint once you have reached an impasse with the operator so it is probably better to use your whiles to get the maximum from the tour operator first. Keep calm, be logical, keep reiterating and don't give up. If your claim is justified it usually works.

Quite so, Alison, and it is wise to complain whilst you are still on holiday and get photos if possible. Also, try to write down the name of any member of staff and record any conversations. The mobile phone/camera has been very helpful in a lot of cases.

I have been dealing with Footsteps Clothing with about $158 worth of merchandise that I bought in 2010 and returned. My sister-in-law, mother, husband and I became ill. My sil and mother passed away. I forgot all about the return until the end of the 2011 when I was doing my taxes. I called and emailed several times. I was told they would refunded monies to me January 2012. I still have not received anything. They don't return phone calls or emails. Made a complaint on Facebook and it was deleted and blocked me. Any suggestions on how to receive Mt refund?

Do you have any paperwork with the address of their Head Office? You can look them up at Companies House and find the name and address of their CEO - going right to the top usually works.

I also complain about poor service in shops and restaurants. I'm not one of those people who complain bitterly about the food they are eating in a restaurant then when asked if they are enjoying their meal, say 'Oh yes it's lovely'. I think living in the States, where good service is expected if not demanded, I learnt not to be embarrassed about complaining. Not loudly hoping for an audience I hasten to add, I loathe people who do that.
I've also walked out. A friend and I took all our children out for the day and went to a cafe for lunch. There was 8 of us in all as her mother had joined us. As it was the end of September, no more tourists, the cafe was more or less empty. We waited for 20 minutes even to be acknowledged, finally had our order taken. Then a further hour went by, we'd only ordered soup and sandwiches. By then the children were eating the sugar cubes and becoming restless. So we got up to leave. The waitress rushed up demanding we stay but sorry by then we wouldn't have eaten there if it was free. We ended up in McDonalds !! sad to say the service was excellent, friendly and the children got some freebies.

I would always complain discreetly at first, but if I did not get satisfaction I would up the decibels.

I have friends who complain almost for a living. Whenever they go away they are always looking for what's wrong. They never accept the first hotel room they are offered and they just got 40% off their summer holiday after complaining vociferously about poor service, missing lights in the bedroom and (it has to be admitted) bedbugs in their rather smart hotel.

Complaining does pay, but it makes for rather an exhausting life. Starting from the assumption that you are being ripped off is rather dispiriting.

Which is no reason not to make complaints if things aren't up to standard, of course...

I approach every holiday, hotel, shop, restaurant, etc. with my usual cheerful optimism and complain only if there is genuinely something wrong.
For thirty years, I have taken my sister on holiday every year, at my entire expense, and she has never failed to find something to moan about, down to the bells on the goats in Majorca waking her up too early.
I really don't know why I put up with it, except my life seemed so much better than hers.

I complain when things are wrong but I also send emails to head office when I've had good service.

I always think you should complain if you don"t get the service you require .

Good companies will regard a genuine complaint as an opportunity to Improve their service.
However, some people complain without good reason with the sole purpose of getting 'something for nothing'.
In the end the rest of us pay for this, because the costs are factored into the price we pay. It's the same with fraudulent insurance claims.
Just to be clear, I am not having a go at anyone on Gransnet, just making a general observation

vampire I do that too. When we had brilliant treatment at Birmingham Airport for about the third time, I asked who I could tell and they were very surprised. This was after years of travelling from LHR and LGW which were not such good expereinces. Having said that we recently went the LGW again and I think they must have had special training for the Olympics as everything was much better.

I always do Tripadvisor about any hotel I have stayed in too.

I pointed to a few small fish bones that I found in my risotto and said, very quietly, to the waiter, 'You might just point those out to the chef.' And when the bill came the risotto wasn't on it. No fuss, just a quiet word - and if that doesn't work, take it further. Of course, I might have choked in which case it would have been a law suit!

I always do tripadviser.

I've never had to do a totally negative review but I have done sandwich reviews (ex teacher lol) where I put a postive, the negative and finish with a positive.

I have also written glowing reviews. The last only a few days ago for the most wonderful hotel in Harrogate.

When I was at Manchester airport last time, I put a £2 coin in one of the computers and it did not register. I looked for somebody who could help but there appeared to be no management representative - all the staff I approached said they worked for one of the concessionaires. I finally found Customer Service at the furthest end of the Departures Hall. It was unattended and the courtesy phone did not work. I have written to the airport management, but I don't suppose it will do any good. Of course I wasn't bothered about the £2 but it would have been nice to be able to pass twenty minutes surfing. It was the lack of any avenue to complain that really annoyed me.