Comments on: Five Examples of Why You Should Complain to Companies About Bad Products

By: Neil Williams

Neil Williams — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 14:06:52 +0000

When I was much younger, I got into the whole Tazo thing too. My mother would buy a family size pack of chips every so often, as you’d generally get a few Tazos in them.

So one day, we got a bag that didn’t contain any Tazos. While I was disappointed (as any kid would have been), I was more than happy to let it slide, as it really wasn’t a big deal. However, my mother thought it would be fun if I wrote them a letter, mentioning the situation and that I was a big Tazo fan, avoiding going off at them and just being up-front about the situation.

A few weeks later, a package arrived at my place. It contained a note with a sincere apology that actually referenced what I’d said in my letter, rather than just a generic reply. On top of that, it contained a fair few packs of various chips, a ton of random Tazos, and one of those Tazo yo-yos where you could put Tazos in the sides of it, well before they released them to purchase. Well and truly made my day.

I even wrote back to thank them for replying and sending me cool stuff, and the same person replied back with another kind letter. Now that’s customer service!

By: Gomisan

Gomisan — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 01:38:49 +0000

I enjoy being what I call a ‘proactive consumer’ and will quite readily ring or email a company to provide feedback.

A few things I’ve done which yielded good results include campaigning for the return of Toobs, and Bush Biscuits. Both of which the manufacturers brought back!

A bottle of orange juice froma vending machine had mildew in the thread cap, and Coke provided a case of soft drinks as a replacement.

Blue chips ina packet os chips yeilded freebies. A melted ‘oven proof’ tray from a Macaroni & Cheese returned an apology and coles gift voucher.

More recently a packet of Mint Slices bought at a service station was 8 months out of date! I happened to mention it next time I was in there and the manager insisted on a free packet.

Companies take a lot of stock in what their customers are thinking, and your letter or phone call could make a difference in operations or even product choice! Go for, be proactive and not only will you benefit, but the rest of us might too!

By: Munnday

Munnday — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 12:14:11 +0000

@Benko – and that’s why many companies give no compensation at all, because of people trying to scam them…

By: Kate Kendall

Kate Kendall — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 10:03:59 +0000

I once email Carman’s Muesli about how their packaging was badly designed because everytime I poured a bowl of it, it went everywhere. They sent me four white plastic bag clips to contain it.

By: Benko

Benko — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 05:38:37 +0000

Wait a second… My brother loved those Tazo’s too so we tried to scam them by saying that he didn’t actually get any Tazo’s.

He got………. an apology!!! So Dan, it seems your friend got some of the Tazo’s that my brother was entitled to (but not really because we lied).

Other times I tried this (when I was actually lying) Australia Post, McDonalds and GreaterUnion. Worked everytime!

The best one however was at a restaurant in America. The meals were a little slow so I jokingly told the waitress I wanted to speak to the manager for a free meal. Lo and behold he comes out 2 minutes later and comps the whole table. I can only assume they were scared of my sinister Australian accent

By: alto

alto — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 02:28:33 +0000

I bought Berri “Healthy Balance” juice from Coles online, only to discover it was packed full of artificial sweetners, which I’m also allergic to. I sent off a cranky email pointing out the contradiction between “health” and “carcinogen,” & got a $5 giftcard that covered the cost of the juice at least. So it’s generally worth letting them know. Not that that works for complaining about tram drivers that try to avoid letting you off at your stop by any means (shut door in face and ignore repeated pressing of buzzer). After the 3rd time that had happened at the stop I use every day, I let Metlink know only to get a “we do try but some of our drivers are [bastards] difficult to manage” reply?!?

By: Complain About Products To Get Free Stuff | Lifehacker Australia

Complain About Products To Get Free Stuff | Lifehacker Australia — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 02:00:32 +0000

[...] Five Examples of Why You Should Complain to Companies About Bad Products [World Wide Jeb] Tagged:annoyancesaushopping [...]

By: charm

charm — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 09:13:16 +0000

kitkat – was only half covered in chocolate. called to complain. received $10 in coles vouchers, a pen and a mousepad.

coke – had a bottle of lift that was flat and off. this was 10 years ago at least, so instead of the usual vouchers a sales rep actually dropped off a case of 2ltr coke products on my door step.

you should have taken the pies and given them to a soup kitchen…

By: Dan

Dan — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 09:12:53 +0000

Remember Tazos? A mate of mine’s little brother used to collect them, and basically his potato chip intake tripled because he just mainly wanted the little plastic bits inside – it got to the stage where he’d buy the chips, take out the tazo, and throw the bag away.

So one day he opened a packet and there was no Tazo inside to be found. He reacted the same way you’d expect to see if someone had just shot his pet dog in the face at point blank range, but his mum took the time to write them a letter to say how upset he was. A week later, they sent him him the complete Tazo collection and a special binder to put them all in, as well as about a dozen packets of chips