Sometimes you don’t get the best service from your cable company, supermarket, dentist, bank, etc.  When this happens to me, I make sure that business and/or other people know about it.  I feel that it is important to complain for 3 reasons:

1. I want to get a good service and product for my hard-earned money

2. I want the next person who spends their money on this business to get a good product and service as well

3. I want the business to know when they are not doing a good job for their customers so that they can change and do better.

That being said, I try and be as civil about it as possible.  I put in my two cents, and if I am treated well and feel that I am being heard, I will come back to the business.  If not, I’ll go elsewhere.  If the business is some sort of monopoly like the phone or cable company, I make sure others know this business is not doing a good job -  this is where blogs, social networks and word-of-mouth come in.  But again, I try and state my case as civilly as possible because I don’t want others to think I’m some crazy loon who has nothing better to with my time.  ;-)

Believe it or not, one person can make a change;  see what happened after Jeff Jarvis blogged about his displeasure with Dell Computers.

So, next time you feel you didn’t get the best service or product from a company, stand up for yourself and do something about it. It’ll benefit everyone in the long run.