There are many reasons why a customer may choose to file a complaint with a business. Regardless of the reason, if you feel you have experienced particular difficulty with the service of a specific business, you should consider filing a complaint. Most companies take customer complaints very seriously and will do their best to resolve the issue quickly.
However, if a company is unwilling to resolve your issue, there are agencies and organizations you can turn to for help. If you feel you’ve experienced difficulties filing a complaint recently, try contacting the following organizations:
The Merchant
For businesses you have a dispute with, the first step is always to try to resolve the dispute by contacting the company itself. To start, call or email customer service and explain in detail what happened and how you want to resolved the issue (e.g, a refund, store credit or a replacement item).
Most companies will try to accommodate your request to keep you as a customer, so it’s always worth contacting them first. However, if you’re unable to resolve your issue properly, you should then contact the Better Business Bureau.
Better Business Bureau (BBB)
Your local Better Business Bureau keeps records of companies and gives them a rating based on a number of factors (such as the rate at which they resolve disputes). To file a complaint with the BBB quickly, do so on their website.
First, find the name of the company on your local BBB website and locate the page to file an online complaint. Read and follow the directions carefully, as they’ll help you throughout the process. If supporting documents are required such as copies of receipts or bills, the BBB will contact you after reviewing your complaint.
After you have successfully submitted your complaint, the BBB will contact the company on your behalf. In many cases the company will respond to the BBB and attempt to end the dispute, but no company is legally required to respond to the BBB. In that case, the BBB closes the file after a period of time and gives the company a low rating.
The Attorney General
If contacting the BBB doesn’t resolve the problem, the next step could be to contact your state’s attorney general office. While each state does things differently, in most cases you can find a complaint form online and send it electronically or print it out and mail it to the department for consumer protection. In many cases you can also send a letter describing your issue in detail.
As with the BBB, you may need to supply copies of supporting documents. The attorney general’s office reviews all complaint, but may not respond to all of them. If the office sees a pattern of complaints against the same company, it may take legal action, so all complaints filed are taken seriously and kept for future reference.
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