Good Excuse to Complain
Who doesn’t love to complain? Admit it, when you are upset about some issue or perceived slight or unmet expectations, doesn’t it feel good to just let loose on the representative of said irritation?
I’ll cop to my share of venting inappropriately. With my advancing age comes greater experience and breadth of view. It occurred to me recently that HOW you complain can be the difference between getting a happy resolution or simply raising your own blood pressure.
While I hate to continue to quote tired old saws, “you catch more bees with honey than with vinegar” applies here. On the other side of the venting counter, customer service people (of which I am a proud member) often go above and beyond for those complainers who are polite, measured, reasonable and grateful for assistance.
The verbal abusers, liars, exaggerators, and demanders often get results far inferior than they could have achieved but for their surly attitudes.
If something goes awry and you need to have it addressed by someone else, the first thing to do is consider what outcome would make you happy. Once you have that firmly implanted in your cerebellum, then make sure your follow up actions all lead you to get that particular happy outcome.
While it might feel good in the moment, a huge release, to let loose on some poor, hapless customer service person, either on the phone, in person, or via email, you likely will only achieve a short-term ego victory. The real prize is controlling your temper in order to get your happy ending.
