Are you the kind of person who doesn’t followup when something you’ve paid for turns out to be unusable? Let me give you an example. I bought a pint of Haagen-Dazs ice cream from my grocery store awhile ago and when we opened it to eat it, there was a chalky weird texture to it. The question is whether to throw it out and forget about the money spent, or, to report it to either the manufacturer or the grocery store (or both)? If you take a moment to report it you’ll be rewarded with a refund or replacement from most grocery stores and if you call Haagen-Dazs to report it, they’ll give you a coupon for a replacement. If you do nothing, you are sending a message to the universe that you don’t value money (so why should the universe send any more to you?). In addition, by calling attention to the problem, you are helping to be part of a solution and getting closure on it. This is good for your karma and good for your feng shui. I have helped friends who had nightmare airplane flights write letters to the airlines and subsequently they were given coupons for free upgrades and one time even a free international flight. The burden of proof is on the complainant, but if you feel you have enough proof and you take the time to present your case well, you will be rewarded.
Another time we were at the movies. There was still a half hour left of the film when a theatre employee pushed a noisy trash can down the aisle. We stayed to watch but our concentration was broken. I would have walked away, dissatisfied but thinking it was no big deal. My friend went to the manager to complain. Guess what we got? Two complimentary passes to another show.
Then we ordered an expensive high end ping pong table that arrived scratched up. We felt we deserved an unscratched pristine surface so we emailed photos of the damaged table. The manufacturer sent us a new table top without requiring us to send back the damaged one. Hmmm…now we have two ping pong tables for the price of one. Setting the record straight can often bring you bigger benefits than you were even expecting. And that is abundance at work.
Do you have any stories of consumer satisfaction to tell? Do you walk away from money or followup with complaints? Do tell!
Interesting post! I usually do call attention to problems, mainly because I worked in various customer service positions for so many years and believe that truly worthwhile companies will and should do whatever it takes to retain loyal customers. I don’t believe we do anyone a service by keeping bad customer service experiences to ourselves. I never really thought about it being good for my karma, but you’re right. Not only does it tell the Universe we don’t value our money, it sends the message that we don’t believe we are worthy of first-class service!
Well put, Karen! Thanks for the additional insight and for stopping by my blog.