Consumerist: ron burley

Get Your Complaint Resolved By Posting It To The Company's Stock Forums

Ben Popken — Fri, 07 Sep 2007 13:29:17 EDT

Another of Ron Burley's techniques for getting large businesses to fix his complaints is to post it in the message boards devoted to discussing that company and its stock price.

Most major companies have at least one person whose job it is to monitor these forums. Go to a place like CBS MarketWatch or Yahoo! Finance, and make a post containing the following:

You are a longtime customer

The company has treated you poorly recently and it would so simple for the company to solve you if they weren't adhering to dunderheaded policies

Say you're taking your dollars elsewhere and you know of other longtime customers who are doing the same.

Include your contact number or email. This way they know you're for real instead of trying to nudge the stock price.

Investors, writes Burley, "all have their fingers to the wind, looking for trends. A potential decline in consumer confidence in a company is a strong wind indeed. The company watchers know this and will respond quickly to stifle a cool wind from the wrong direction."

You can then expect a call from the company, which you should respond to in a cool and professional manner. Think like a business and talk like a business. You're making a business deal, your goal is either some kind of service or remuneration, not an apology.

(Photo: Getty)

How To Never Ever Get In Trouble For Recording Calls With Customer Service

Ben Popken — Mon, 27 Aug 2007 13:30:37 EDT

Now you can record your phone call without peeing your pants about whether it's legal to do so in your state, or worrying that the rep will end the call right after you inform them you're recording. Ron Burley starts every customer service interaction with getting the rep's name, employee number, direct line, and call center location. Then he follows up with this

Me: Boy, I sound just like you guys. [Chuckle. Then state clearly:] This call may be recorded for training purposes. [Little laugh.] Maybe you could put in a good word for me?
Representative: [Laughs] Sure.
Me: [Laugh] Thanks. Anyway, here's what's going on with me today...

...He's been informed, and therefore I am within my rights to record the conversation. It's not my problem that the customer service representative might not have taken my statement seriously."

It's easy to get started recording customer service calls using your computer and free or low-cost software, learn how here.

Get What You Paid For

Ben Popken — Fri, 24 Aug 2007 14:00:00 EDT

Consumer advocate Ron Burley describes the reasons the state of customer service is in such disrepair, and the basic gist on how consumers can get what they paid for when things go wrong.

Figure out the material benefit you're seeking. If there's none, get on with your life.
Ask yourself if your time is really worth the material benefit you're seeking, and valuate your free time hourly wage more than your working wage.
on't scream, threaten, or write a letter, instead...
Go in and execute a cold, logical plan that will
Convince the company that it will cost more to ignore you then to pay attention to you.

As he points out in his book, most companies DO get things right most of the time, but when they don't, proactive consumers can take measures to get what they deserve.

Can You Do Simple Math? Good, Then You'll Soon Realize Why You Need To Resolve My Complaint...

Ben Popken — Thu, 23 Aug 2007 15:02:34 EDT

I'm continuing to read Unscrewed, and in this paragraph, author Ron Burley distills the basic premise behind forcing companies that have wronged you to give you what is due:

...one simple principle I have discovered that was extraordinarily effective in getting a fair resolution to a consumer problem: companies will act only in a manner that will benefit the bottom line. In other words, to get what you deserve, you must convince your opponent that helping you will be to his or her advantage.

Do the right thing? Corporate citizenship? Ethics? Plain ol' fairnes? These words and phrases mean little to many big companies for whom churn, the rate at which customers leave and take business elsewhere, is a basic part of their business model. But they do understand the simple equation of incurring the least costs. Make the company realize that it will cost more to ignore you than to help you and soon you may find the tables turning in your favor.

(Photo: foundphotoslj)

Company Ignoring You? Fax 'Em To Death

Ben Popken — Tue, 21 Aug 2007 16:14:13 EDT

Giant corporation ignoring your repeated and valid pleas? After exhausting traditional methods of complaint resolution, including, but not limited to, at least calling at least once and escalating to a supervisor, try "Faxing For Dollars," another get-em-by-the-balls technique described by Ron Burley in his book, Unscrewed: The Consumer's Guide To Getting What You Paid For.

1) Draft a good, cogent, spell-checked, grammar-checked one-page complaint letter (here's how), with your full contact information.

2) Find the fax numbers for executives. These can be found by Googling for: SEC filings, Financial documents, often found in company's investor relations section, press releases, Internal promotional events, like charity auctions and golf tournaments, sales materials, contracts, other legal documents...

Be sure to look at the roster of executive officers on the company website, and cross-reference it with the management information available for most companies under finance.google.com

You can also try calling the company switchboard and do a little social engineering to get more fax numbers, Burley says to say something like:

I'm with the firm of Hurley & Burley. I've got a balance sheet that I'm supposed to fax to Ms. Jones' office, but all I have is the district fax number, and I certainly don't want to send it there.

Hi. Ms. Ramona Jones requested a list of tee times for October. She didn't give me a fax number to send it to. Can you help me?

3) After harvesting as many executive fax numbers as you can, fax them all copies of your complaint letter, again, again, and over again, until you receive a call on your telephone. If you don't have a fax machine, you can send faxes online with a service like eFax.

4) When that happens, keep your head screwed on, and your voice even and professional. Burley says say something like, "Thank you for calling. I realize that you are a busy person, so I hope that we can come to a quick resolution of the matter."

Burley writes,

The executive may have assumed that you are a crazy person or a zealot; just show her that you are sane, that your request is reasonable, and that all you want is your acceptable goal. She will quickly do the math and realize that it is in the company's best interest—in time, effort, and energy—just to take care of you, whether or not she believes that you are right. It's called "paying you to go away.

And that, friends, is called winning.

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(Photo: Getty)