Tuesday, July 21, 2009

It Pays To Complain

Ok, so I wouldn't call myself a complainer exactly, more like I'm opinionated and if something is wrong with the product/service I'm receiving, I'm gonna let someone know about it.

This isn't specifically food related, but it definitely could be! I order sort of like Meg Ryan in When Harry Met Sally. I want it how I want it.
Don't think I'm one of THOSE customers though, I used to work in retail/waitress/barista positions and always treat my servers nicely if they do the same to me.

Anyway, I'm writing this inspired by my recent victory against Express, you know, the store in every mall. To make a long story short, I hate shopping for "necessities" (boring work clothes, black pants, the perfect pair of everyday jeans) and Express cost me a bunch of time running to 2 different malls and ordering something online that never came, leaving me with, well, no new summer work pants and a bunch of time wasted. So, instead of complaining to my friends and in my head, I wrote it out to their customer service e-mail and very nice lady called me and said they're sending me a $50 gift card. Score.

We've also gotten a free night at a hotel and 50% off another hotel stay when we let the mgmt know about really crappy service, uninvited wake up calls, dirty rooms, etc.

It's so worth it to complain, especially when it doesn't hurt any one employee, and it's some big chain giving you the payout, no one is feeling that hit.

Tip: Make sure you do it in writing though, then you have something concrete and can forward it on to another person if necessary.

So, something food related: That "Chinese Spinach" I mentioned in the last post? The stuff that didn't taste good raw? Well, I sauteed it with olive oil, plenty of garlic and soy sauce, and verdict = STILL NASTY. Just to warn you.


Tonight we're off to drink wine by Minnehaha Falls with our book club and discuss "The Song of Hiawatha", an epic poem by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. Wow, that sounded really cultured, but I didn't pick the book and just had to look up the name of the author. Our club consists mostly of drinking and making fun of the book. =)

Cheers,

K

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