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Writing: A Defense Weapon
By Joan Foley Baier
Someone refuses to return your refund (mine was over
$4,000); another person claims the product you bought is not
faulty; a third company has Customer Service personnel speaking
to you from another country, often in barely understandable
English. Their only job apparently is to record service calls,
not to take messages or provide help. Several calls later, you
still do not have results.
You have two options: 1) Do nothing more—be a victim; or
2) plan your defense—using your research and writing skills.
My secret defense weapon is to write, not to just anybody,
but to the PIP, the People in Power. (You could call this
Operation PIP Squeak.)
If the person/company who is doing you wrong is licensed to
practice in a particular field, there is always a regulatory
board that oversees the practices and abuses in that field.
Every state has a Real Estate Board, a lawyers' Bar Association,
etc. AARP the Magazine has a column, On Your Side, that
investigates and frequently solves problems. Email
ron@ronburley.com . And there is always
your state's
Attorney General.
For a specific guilty company, I go to its website and click
on the About Us button, which usually gives its address and
names of the CEO and other officers. If that search isn't
successful, go on line to a stock-quoting site (I use
http://scottrade.com ). Select Market
Information. Enter the
company name or its stock symbol and a whole page of information
appears. Usually its website is noted, but once I found no
names of the company officers there. So I clicked on its
Press Releases; one of its vice presidents was quoted in the
release, and even his email was included!
Once you have the PIP's information, sharpen your weapon.
1) Organize your records: what you paid, when you paid
it, and to whom. Include written notes on any communications:
the date, to whom you spoke/wrote, and the gist of the message.
2) Make copies of any and all pertinent documents to
send: receipts, checks, contracts.
3) Write a succinct, but thorough, complaint. The easiest
way to write it and for them to read it is to number the
progression of events chronologically. For example:
a) On [date], I signed a contract with [name] and paid him
$xxxx.xx. Explain briefly the service or object of the contract.
b) [date], the item, or service, was not received nor were
answers to my phone calls.
c) On [date] I called the supervisor [name, if possible]
and [received assurance that the job would be done] or [was told
they were not at fault] or…
4) Continue with brief but clear statements of the entire
chronology and then in a final, unnumbered paragraph, state what
you want and expect from the person to whom you are writing.
Include your name, address, phone number, email address, cell
phone.
When you go to the very top and methodically state your case
and what you want as a result, the immediate response is truly
amazing. My experience is that the PIPs don't want their company
names besmirched and demand a quick and proper fix. In one case,
the CEO gave me her cell phone number to call if I should have any
other service failures.
Just as we don't want providers to abuse us, it's wise to not
abuse the PIPs with minor problems. But with a major issue,
when all else fails and you are not getting positive results,
use this powerful weapon of self defense.
BIO
Joan Baier published short stories for children's magazines
many years ago. She has also written, freelance, for local
newspapers as a reporter/photographer and was a technical writer
at Eastman Kodak until her retirement. More recently, she has
been published in "Angels on Earth", "Grit" magazine, "Bread
for God's Children" and "Shine Brightly".
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