The problem with problems is that we rarely get around to fixing them in a timely fashion. We may grumble to our friends or co-workers, but long lags in collecting all the documentation, writing a letter that is concise and forceful, and then finding a stamp—not to mention following up—often leave your complaint on the "to do list". Whether the issue is a faulty product, a billing dispute, or a bad faith practice, this isn’t a good situation for either you or the company or individual on the other end of the grievance. You’re giving them bad publicity—probably lots of it—and they have no chance to redeem themselves. Meanwhile, you're still not getting what you want. Your airline stranded you in a strange city? Your phone service consistently overbills despite repeated complaints? A waiter was rude, lazy, wouldn’t replace your ice-cold dinner and then got abusive about the small tip you left? Don't you want to be heard? The rules of effective complaining are: Be polite. Make it concise. Say what happened and when, and who was involved. Say what you want. Send it - immediately. FastDue's online complaint form helps you to be concise and effective. Check all the boxes that describe what you’re complaining about—a billing or safety issue, a faulty product, a poor business practice, bad service, whatever. Check off the date that it happened, drop down to the box to describe your problem, and finish by asking for what you want. Tip: Be reasonable. If you opened a can of beans and it was bad, you’re not looking at a huge dollar figure. You’ll be offered a number of free coupons or a refund. If you are unreasonable, you will probably be ignored. Click to review the way your complaint will appear, edit if need be, and then hit send. That’s it. Tip: Copy your complaint to, say, the CEO of the company as well as the complaints department. (Ask the consumer relations department for this information, Google it, or search the Investor Relations portion of their website). If you were treated rudely by an employee, copy the VP of Human Resources. FastDue will confirm that your complaint has been sent out and will e-mail you again when it is opened. The respondent can use our interactive messaging option to ask questions or suggest a resolution. Your complaint will be saved in your free FastDue account so that you can keep track of necessary follow-up is needed on unresolved complaints. There. Wasn’t that easy?