How you can fight for your rights
Consumer alert
By M.R. Pai

HERE are some easy methods of fighting consumer battles.

Across the counter discussion

Consumers who are charged more than a fair price or sold sloppy goods or get poor service do not have to accept the same meekly. A little courage even to ask a question or two, or to protest mildly helps a great deal in finding a suitable solution. At any event, the vendor finds that he cannot get away with whatever he wants to do. He will be compelled to be consumer friendly in order to retain customer goodwill, and eventually to protect his business itself.

Written complaints

If verbal requests have no effect, then ask for the "suggestion book". The answer invariably will be that there is no such book. The next request should be: "If there is no suggestion book, please give the complaints register". All public sector establishments as also good private establishments maintain a complaint book. Write a factual complaint, expressing your dissatisfaction with goods purchaged or services rendered. In the case of railways there is an excellent system. The complainant gets a copy of the complaint as also an acknowledgement. He can follow up his complaint with higher authorities, if there is no response within a reasonable time.

A written complaint becomes a useful tool for writing to the press or going to the consumer court, if need be. If a person is earnest about his complaint, he will be willing to put his signature to the paper, and that carries weight so far as the vendor is concerned.

While writing complaints, it is useful to write to the top most person in the organisation, e.g., managing director or marketing director of a company. Preferably, it should be addressed by name. In many companies, letters addressed to the top most persons are generally opened only by themselves or their confidential P.A.s. Even if the top person makes a casual remark on the complaint letter such as "please look into this"or "report" there will be panic down the line.

This strategy works wonderfully well. Once, the author had publicly exhorted consumers to write complaints to the top most person. The speech was reported in the Press. After some days, a lady phoned in to say, "you don’t know me, but I would like to thank you for your help. I had a problem with a public utility, and the local staff was indifferent. Taking a cue from your reported speech, I wrote to the prime minister, with a copy to local authorities. The very next day, the local people turned up and attended to my complaint, pleading that in future I should not write to the prime minister!"

In the corporate sector, more and more companies are setting up consumer cells, under the supervision of the chief executive. Particularly with the market economy, and growing competition, consumer care is becoming an important item on a company’s agenda. It is essential to follow up complaints, if there is no response. After a reasonable period, say a month, a reminder is in order, enclosing a photocopy of the original complaint. Such persistence pays.

When a grievance is attended to, even a post card of thanks is helpful not only as a matter of courtesy, but also in building up a bridge of understanding with the vendor. Such complainants become valued customers.

It is unfortunate that even well-educated persons with all facilities do not bother to write letters of complaint but meekly grumble that "things are going from bad to worse!" Such persons have no right to grumble, but have to accept suffering as a penalty for their apathy!