Irish people don't complain enough

ballooba

I wish irish people would complain more. It would mean that we would get better service in the long run. I know americans are a bit nuts when it comes to it but there is an in-between.

I went to Burritos N' Blues in Ranelagh about two weeks ago for some after work nosh. I went straight to the counter as i knew what I wanted, I had 20 bills in my hand and I stood politely waiting for the attendant to take my order.

The attendant proceeded to hand out orders past me and take phone orders. I saw someone who looked like the owner come out from the back and walk outside. The second time the guy answered the phone I decided I had enough.

I walked outside and asked: 'Is this you restaurant?'
She was quite proud in replying: 'Yes' so I felt kinda bad.
So I said: 'Look, I'm not happy, you have an excellent restaurant here with excellent food but your customer service is atrocious. Your staff are letting you down.'

She was quite taken aback by this and explained that she had potential investors in the day before who had been very impressed with the service. I explained my issue and stood outside with her for a few minutes watching the guy on the counter. She was shocked at how the guy was dealing with customers. I explained that it was not the first time this had happened and not the only attendant.

She then apologised and offered me a free meal. To further reinforce my point and not have her thinking that I did it for the free meal I declined this offer. I explained that I would prefer tgo to Magno's where I would get proper service but that i would be back.

neacy69

i agree completely Irish people definently do not complain enough. I was on a J1 in New york for the summer and the americans get exactly what they want when they want it and what do we do here in the good old emerald isle- get crappy service and crappy products and all at a rip-off price.:mad:

Tazz T

Americans have much more choice. Complain here and it's as if you're the one in the wrong. The only thing you can do is not go back.

On a couple of occasions recently I've asked a barperson, to top up my Guinness because the beginning of the head was below the harp motif on the glass (not unreasonable I think) and the looks I've received is as if I'm the one that's ripping them off.

ballooba

If i ever go into a shop and see something is ridiculously overpriced I will leave and bring whoever is with me without buying anything and I will say it to the person behind the counter why I am leaving.

I went to buy a lighter in Rathmines the other day and they tried to charge me €2 for some cheapy chinese piece of cráp. I started laughing and asked her did she have anything else before walking out of the shop and buying a quality Djeep one for €1 just 200 yards up the street.

LegacyUser

Thread title should be changed to reflect that, "Irish people complain, but aren't pro-active about actually doing anything about the problem. The will complain to their peers, but when it comes to actually doing anything about it, i.e. speaking to a person involved, a manager etc., they shy away from the confrontation."

DonkeyStyle \o/

Ah, I can't be arsed complaining... most of the time, the only person you're going to get a hold of is some random monkey who couldn't give two shíts.
Complaining to the right people is hard... even if you ask for the manager, you might get some young wan' trainee assistant supervisor coming out rolling her eyes at you.
And what glorified cashier is going to tell their real boss that someone was in earlier complaining about the standard of customer service?

Irish companies are as much to blame as Irish people for the lack of complaints... in a lot of places there's just no procedure for escalating complaints, so the staff are like "yeah whatever, g'way with ye, and stop annoying me, what do you expect ME to do about it?"

Maybe it's a chicken and egg situation, where if we complained more, there would be proper procedures in place, so your complaint reaches someone who gives a shít... but then, do they even know we're complaining half the time?

ballooba

Way to do that is to make sure your complaint goes to the right person. Normally I wouldn't give shít but if it is somewhere important to me, then I will make sure it gets to the right person. God forbid I ever went into Magno's in Ranelagh and wasn't happy. I would be straight on to Magno the next time I saw him.

In the local Mc Donald's you expect to be treated like a vagrant. If Spar ain't treating you right you go to Centra.

I got a pizza delivered from Godfather's two weeks ago and it was delivered an hour later. I rang up and told them that when the guy came that I wasn't giving him any money. Thought they would give me the pizza for free but they didn't. The guy wasn't surprised when I didn't take it.

They told me it was because the first one got burnt. Now i'll excuse that once but if it happens again in the near future I will be calling around to the Don himself. He lives across the road from me.

whiskeyman

Apathy.... huge problem in Irish society tbh...
As bruchain pointed out, we're just not pro-active.
Just look at the state of politics here...

DonkeyStyle \o/

I'm worse than that, I can't even be arsed enough to be apathetic. :eek:

Slice

See my reply on a thread in Business/Finance/Economy called Dissin' A Company Online for the best way to go about complaining

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2054846851

BrianD

Yes, they either don't complain or go completely over the top by threatening hell and high water to the retailer. Usually a rude verbal outburst with a nonsensical arguement. A reference to a solicitor is always included and an order to see the manager (or higher authority). This approach is usually as effective as not complaining in the first place.

I find a polite conversation with the retailer outlining the issue in a reasoned manner is always effective. You should always allow at lease one metre between you and the member of staff and never point. Hands by your side and open.

Shrimp

Irish people do complain, but out about the most insignificant and unchangeable things. EG. Oh I was charged a euro extra on my shopping bill... or the famous, weather.

They dont complain about the stuff that matters, also it's not just about complaining, it's about following up on those complaints, and actually doing something about it!

Irish ppl whinge, not complain.

Slice

Being agressive in complaining isn't necessarily the best way and I don't mean to give that impression in my post on the "Dissing a Company Online" thread. I'm just saying this is the best way to go about complaining but your tone is up to you.

Being confrontational works but only if you've convinced the company that you're a complete psycho that wont leave them alone unless they give you what you want.

Otherwise the best thing is to be reasonable - put out your argument thoroughly and show that you've experienced poor service or have been hard done by. I deal with complaints at work sometimes and definately I'm more compassionate to those who argue a genuine case constructively as oppose to destructively. And if that company has any value for their customers you'll find they'll more than compensate if you're right

naysavig

I have now lived in ireland for about 3 years. I am american and yes we do complain a lot and sometimes it's not a valid reason. I find in ireland that a lot of people take what is given to them and they accept the way companies treat them. Over the years i have been through a few experiences with companies that i am not happy with. I'm glad i found such a forum. I believe that if people are paying a company for a service that person should be 100% satisfied, treated with respect and should be able to voice their opinion to the company. the companies needs us to go to them in order to stay in business and that's why i believe the people have a grand power. If people did stand up and voiced their complaints and their GOOD experiences it would be very healthy for all the people and would help the businesses. I just wish there was a site in ireland where people can post complaints along with good experiences so others in ireland can go to the site and check out what other people have said about them. If there where such a site, companies would make sure they keep an eye on the site and would try to dissolve any bad flux on themselves and would learn from us all on what the people of ireland need, demand and expect. If there is such a site please let me know. and i promise i won't leave a litter trail of absurd american complaints

Doctor DooM

You kidding me?


Work in the service industry or retail for 2 weeks and tell me Irish people never complain.


Some people complain about everything and anything.

These people are just as much a problem as people who never complain. They create a bad signal to noise ratio. How are companies to decide which complaint warrants their time?

Then there are the people who go so far over the top about their complaints that, no matter how valid the complaint is, that the issue gets lost in the simple and undesireable desire to either not give in to the complainee or to get rid of them as quick as possible.

Then there are the people who complain to the wrong person. Random people on the shop floor don't effect price or policy. There is simply no point in complaining to them.

Then there are the amatuer laywer/ Ryan Duffy types. Saying "I know my rights!" doesn't mean you actually do. Threatening to go to Gerry Ryan or Joe Duffy is still a threat, and most places won't give into it.

So, yes, complain. But only complain :
1) When your complaint is valid.
2) Calmly but firmly.
3) To the people who can make decisions to solve your issue.
4) When you have researched your issue
5) Without making threats you are not sure you can carry out.

Most of all, if a company shafts you customer service wise, take your business elsewhere and let them know why.

Business is busniness. money talks. Customer care is budgeted like anything else and merely a tool to make more profit.

Let them know they're not spending enough on caring for the customer, and if enough people do, they will take notice.

shinny

I just had to share my experience of when I complained recently!!

I'd gone to a local cafe/restaurant and ordered a take away lunch. I was in a hurry and didn't look at the contents until I got home. Anyway, there were a lot of problems with what I had just purchased and it was rather expensive for what it was. I didn't have time to go back so I decided I'd follow up when I had some time.

I decided that I would e-mail the cafe/restaurant of my experience. My mail was very polite and merely pointed out my grievances. A week went past and I hadn't heard anything back, so I replied basically saying that clearly they don't value their Customers opinions and that when asked about their cafe/restaurant, this is what I would tell other people.

I finally got an e-mail from the owner. The first paragraph was telling me that this was highly unusual and that they would like to offer me a refund for the money I had spent. Great, if it had stopped there. The next 3 paragraphs were basically blaming everyone but themselves. She blamed their supplier for not taking the shell off the egg and then she had the audacity to, in a round about polite way, say that my expectations were unreasonable.

I was so annoyed. I didn't want the refund, that's not why I complained. I complained because the food was bad !

Anyway, my reply was actually along these lines that Irish people as a nation do not complain so that every time someone does actually make the effort to complain, they should treat is very seriously. In fact, they should probably quantify that against people who don't complain!! I also said that instead of being defensive, perhaps they should own the complaint and work to disprove it.

It just makes you wonder why you bother. Since then I've told lots of people of my experience and a lot of them are saying "Yeh, we had something similar and haven't been back since" - So in the end this cafe/restaurant is losing out. No skin off my nose, I'll never go back.

mikemac

shinny wrote: »

I decided that I would e-mail the cafe/restaurant of my experience. My mail was very polite and merely pointed out my grievances. A week went past and

Rule no 1 of complaining. Write a letter and use registered post if a possible refund warrants the extra cost.
Complaints by email aren't taken seriously, anyone can bash off an email in a minute or so.
But writing a letter shows you are serious.

Just my opinion anyway

Oh +1 to the idea of complaining to the correct person.
The teenage shop assistant doesn't decide price policy, that's head office.
I've had people complain when the price of cigarettes go up, eh take it up with the Minister for Finance. And if you can't buy wine after 10pm, roaring at the staff won't help anything, again that's legislation that have to comply with.

But I agree with the OP, in general in Ireland are not good at complaining. Or they complain about ridiculous things like a pint is 10c too expensive but they are happy to spend 200 euro per night on a hotel room??
A retailer would (or should!) welcome complaints. If you complain you give a chance to fix the issue and that's better for them that losing 15 customers which the customer bitches and moans to all their friends. And this goes on too often.

Oh and never say "I know my rights" if you don't. Remember that shop assistant behind the counter could be a law student in college so you better be sure!

englander

I expect bad service now wherever I go and whatever I am buying. You name it very few have met my expectations.

Tradesmen never tick all boxes of on-time, good job done, cost, not making problem worse. (plumber, carpet layer, eircom, esb, house designer, carpenter, kitchen fitter, gas people, painter..even the bloody window cleaner !). Honestly, every single person through the door has let us down.

Shopping, we expect to either get overcharged (in popular supermarkets on a regular basis) or nobody interested in taking our money !

Just yesterday I tried to give two irish DIY companies hundreds of euros (on insulation). They were so quiet they weren't interested in the one customer they did have (me) and were too busy discussing nail polish or something. I ended up buying off internet from UK at slightly higher price when taking delivery into consideration.

My thinking is why the fook should I give them free customer advice or research when they are either not interested enough in 'smelly' customers to improve their service or even not interested enough to know these things in the first place.

Just walk out and dont let them know about bad service or your experience - is my thinking. Let the feckers sink in Darwinism style.

foggy_lad

i have made some comments to the manager of the local woodies about the general state of dis-array and confusion in store and about most items not being priced properly and really he wasn't a bit interested, he started to blame staff for moving items around without moving the corresponding price cards but this would have to be going on since they opened in carlow for this to be the case. and also i noticed he was doing some type of stock survey at the time but was not interested in customers seeing correct prices (probably as if we were to see the price before getting to the checkout we would definilely not buy!)

generally shops are not interested in customer complaints at all as they operate in a certain way for their own reasons and basically if you dont like that go elsewhere.

parsi

I was in PC World (Mahon Point) on Friday and many of the items were had missing or incorrect shelf-edge labels.

I bought a Linksys USB adapter and it scanned for 10 euro more than the label.

I've logged a complaint with the NCA (putting the Consumer first) and not for the first time.

However it seems that the NCA is concerns itself more with glitzy surveys, press releases and conferences than with actual enforcement of existing legislation in respect of pricing etc. It's not much good telling us all to shop around if we can't see the bloody prices...

mickoneill30

Irish people whinge but don't complain properly. Shop owners and managers do actually want to know if you get crap service but they don't want to know if one of the sellers accidentally refunded you 5c less then they should have.

My other half was in a shop on Grafton St. a couple of months ago. She had to ask one of the sales assistants if they would take her sale (they were deep in conversation with each other) and when they tried her credit card it declined for some reason (there was credit on it). This was hilarious to the sales guy who thought it'd be funny to share with his co-workers. She paid with cash and when she got home she told me about it. We popped off a quick letter to the manager. We weren't looking for anything, we just pointed out the details and who the seller was (as it was printed on the receipt). A few weeks later she got a letter of apology and a reasonably large voucher.

Maybe the manager did something about it or maybe they didn't but at least they know now. I really think that in the next few months / years we'll see service improve in Ireland. Jobs have been plentiful over the last few years and people have had plenty of money so it was easy to sell and even if you didn't there were plenty more customers. Many places have had to accept whatever idiot walked in the door. Now with more people looking for work, they'll either have to provide good service or they'll see themselves replaced with someone who will.

thefinalstage

Believe me, Irish people complain a lot. They just complain to the wrong people.

Shelflife

I Think in general they complain allright but as the last poster said -to the wrong people, i value feedback from customers and take complaints as a form of a complement ( by that i mean that the customer is used to a high standard from us but that it wasnt met this time).

The owner cant be there all the time, so its good to find out that someone isnt doing their job properly or that standards arent being met.

Complain properly, politley and if the outlet is well run you should see the difference.

daheff

Well...I had a complaint with a shop in the Jervis centre a while back. I complained to the manager of the shop about it, but he basically brushed it off. When I said I wasnt happy with his response and asked for contact details for his boss...he had the audacity to tell me to contact the Jervis Centre manager!!!! Eventually I got the contact details of the person to contact and told them of this. they were appalled at what the manager told me!

Doctor DooM

SDooM wrote: »

.

Most of all, if a company shafts you customer service wise, take your business elsewhere and let them know why.

Business is busniness. money talks. Customer care is budgeted like anything else and merely a tool to make more profit.

Let them know they're not spending enough on caring for the customer, and if enough people do, they will take notice.

foggy_lad wrote: »

generally shops are not interested in customer complaints at all as they operate in a certain way for their own reasons and basically if you dont like that go elsewhere.

Foggy... did you and I just agree on something?

*Dies of shock*

Phototoxin

just go up the north. No price rigging gits there. Esp for high end/expensive electronics like cameras tvs etc.

andrewh5

Phototoxin wrote: »

just go up the north. No price rigging gits there. Esp for high end/expensive electronics like cameras tvs etc.

That's probably because the sale of goods and services act does actually get enforced in the UK

ScouseMouse

daheff wrote: »

Well...I had a complaint with a shop in the Jervis centre a while back. I complained to the manager of the shop about it, but he basically brushed it off. When I said I wasnt happy with his response and asked for contact details for his boss...he had the audacity to tell me to contact the Jervis Centre manager!!!! Eventually I got the contact details of the person to contact and told them of this. they were appalled at what the manager told me!

Ok, but did THEY do anything about it?

SerialComplaint

micmclo wrote: »

Rule no 1 of complaining. Write a letter and use registered post if a possible refund warrants the extra cost.
Complaints by email aren't taken seriously, anyone can bash off an email in a minute or so.
But writing a letter shows you are serious.

Just my opinion anyway

I disagree. An email to a generic 'info@' email address may well get ignored or get a minimalist response. An email addressed to the MD/CEO may well get serious attention. You can generally guess his/her email address once you can find any individual email address and the MDs name. Just follow the same format.

I've had individual responses from Willie Walsh (when he was CEO of Aer Lingus), Brody Sweeney of O'Briens Sandwichs and a fair few other top knobs. Having brought a banking complaint to the attention of the CEO of NIB by email recently, I got a substantial voucher as a goodwill gesture.

heyjude

We won a nice prize in a competition a few months back. The bottom line is that the prize never arrived, though I know that other winners in the competition received their prize months ago.

The company is a very reputable company, so we wrote to them with all our details and explained that our prize hadn't arrived. We seem to be getting no response and so have contacted them again with a further request for their help. I suspect that they are hoping that if they ignore us, that we'll just give up, but I recall reading a newspaper article before about some guy that complains everytime he has reason, and has had great success, his advice was to always go to the top,the chief executive or managing director. He had a gripe with an airline or courier company and they were ignoring him, so he took a claim in the local small claims court, which the company didn't defend, he won the case and decided to seize one of their aircraft until the debt was paid. Its a bit OTT, but if companies won't listen, then simple complaints can get out of hand and it does show the importance of perseverence.

I know that some people have said that the reason why Irish people aren't successful with their complaints is that they are too aggressive, don't have a justifiable reason to complain or complain to the wrong person.But I have found that a reasoned complaint, even if justified, often falls on deaf ears and until you get testy, publicise your complaint or threaten legal action, you seem to get nowhere. People knock the likes of Joe Duffy, but Joe probably does more for consumer rights in this country than the National Consumer Agency, the Consumers Association or any government minister or department.