European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - July 22, 1987, Darmstadt, Hesse Getting results from complaint letters by Betsy Wade now York times try a ,-.1 1f 1 Yaj. 1 .1" n c a Ira Pitt if to i i ii jew Mai Tii to fit try is a lid the. I e r looms tog a Orf Jrex Ion res of Tury i Yogi Anta cih4&tj Bulan ago say one irom o Oman a Tost her position m a mad dash 1o� a new Dopa Ruro Goto if you had stated that your seats Scro Only Tor Young male Marathon runners. I would not Havo purchased Lack Al " 1h be Cikity people have i wonderful relationship with a ten other Mother concludes Onty with passengers Are Hitty Tufty hostile and thoroughly unto Iuno of every hotel to have stayed a both in the u s. And Europe another traveler writes i cannot remember one with wort respect Lor a guests. Or employees Wilh poorer altitudes " who Tho hotel lobby was attractive we did not teem it to be of sufficient Merit to warrant spending an entire Day one lewd of our Hay in Rio there writes a voyager Back from a latin american trip. And to on. Page alter enraged Page one Eipel says in describing How her corporation Dali with ils complaint mail the first thing to do is to try to gel them to be less angry. We have to get them past thai Point so a can find out what needs to be done and what the customer wants. Aside irom the Heads of All the Board members of angry they Are some of the letters that jilt up on the morning tide fail to do the Basic thing specify what the customer wants. Ii May to Hal the output of Only feckless complainers ends up in the files of travel writers because Roy Dunfey. Senior vice president for guest relations for Omni Dunloy motels says that in his experience such an omission is relatively rare. Usually they Tell you they want their Money Back or apologies from the people they think Are he said nonetheless one Multi Page letter in the department Lile described each detail of a painful trip without Ever saying what sort of restitution was sought. It denounced he hotel the Chain the corporate owner Aad All ils ancestors and in the customary Coda said trial the offended couple would never stay in any of the associated hotels again. Bui the Leller provided Lillie Hinl of what the writer wanted to do other than ventilate. Of sol course you count this Hinl and Allol this .i1 .1 1-193 " letter willing 101-102 takes As a i u ii them what you want if in s an apology the i i night id give the name of the employee who is or or die to in s Money to specific one consumer advocate in the yield Christopher a Witkowski. Executive director of the aviation consumer a Lon project a Ralph Nader group warns against asking for too much lest the complaint be ignored. Witkowski says thai travellers who have a Day or Days of vacation destroyed often use As a basis for a class How much to or she would have earned in in had been a to Day instead. Unsurprisingly Allol the corporate officials interviewed for this report said that their organizations answered All complaint letters however Long illegible or preposterous pressed on this matter Linda Zirbes the Hyatt corp s manager of consumer affairs says thai before she tackles some letters she has an extra cup of Coffee bul that ultimately they All get dealt with. Witkowski dissents irom assertions Hal Long scribbles get As prompt attention As Short Crisp looking letters. Absolutely Type he says adding that use of a Letterhead can help if the company s business is important to the offending organization. People who Are Iraq enl pliers or belong loan Organ Zahon s Bonus program should make note of this he adds. An outsider with no obligation to respond to such complaints develops a More pronounced set of opinions after half a Day of choleric Reading so Here is what i advise keep the letter As Short As possible. Those who have to Type or write their own letters seem to be Betler at this than those who have dictated and been lulled into prolixity by the sound of their own words. The sympathy of a Reader tends to evaporate Wilh each Page. Get lha anger under control. Proposals sound better than demands which several experts said were offensive and tended to evoke a Lough response. Try to avoid Long dense looking paragraphs. 6 ship the cliches. Saying we always use your is just clutter in the opinion of Zirbes. Several expert give the question of where to Send the letter top priority suggesting that if the Leller meanders from one wrong desk to another the Chance of a speedy response is lessened in the Case of a hotel Zirbes said. The letter should go to the manager of the place involved who has the Power to decide on a suitable remedy in the Case of Auto rentals Diane Karl director of customer service for Avis said the Leller should not go to the Branch hut to the corporate customer service department with the number of the contract clearly Sla cd in the Lector so that it can be checked in the company s records Tho 800 number Lor a corporation will usually provide an address for complaints. No one interviewed Olf Rod any objection to Tho idea of sending a Carbon copy to some higher up in the company but Dunloy cautions that if Tho loiter is sent there to Start with in simply has to wind its Way Down to someone who can Deal with it. If the Teller charges unfair or deceptive practices by an air me. It May be worthwhile to Send a copy of the letter to the department of transportation office of Community and consumer affairs 400 seventh Streel . Room 10405. Washington . 20590. Other Points to remember when the flush of anger Dies include the number of any contract reservation or hotel room involved. Send photocopies of fronts and backs of airline tickets or other pertinent documents and retain the originals. Save a copy of the letter in Case the original b Tost. The aviation consumer action project has published a 20-Page pamphlet useful to passengers who want to know their rights. Feels s advice Lor airline passengers states that in an Era of deregulation Consumers do not have elaborate regulations to All Back on but that there Are still rules about being bumped or put Down in the wrong cily. As an example the pamphlet says a person involuntarily bumped to a flight due to arrive More than an hour later than the original flight but less than two hours later can collect an amount equal to the rare on the oversold flight up to $200. If the bumping is on an International flight and the arrival time is More than Lour hours later than the original flight the amount is twice the original Lare up to woo. There Are however circumstances under which these rules May not apply particularly if passengers do not Check in on time or a smaller plan Ethan originally scheduled must be used for safety of operations this pamphlet with a Section on coast Euclive complaining costs $2 irom the project. . Box t 19029, Washington. . 20036. The organization says it is not financially Able to bring suit on Behall of Consumers but tries to teach people to be their own Ralph sometimes in sees a trend in the copies of letters in receives for example. Claims that too few tickets at the lowest advertised Price were made available on a particular night and this View has Given Rise to efforts to Correct an Overall problem through litigation or by amending the rules. Erma Bombeck All earlobes Are not created equal i Don t know How All this his into the pallor nol the univ urst but it s 1 me Soffi ii Isle ii horns loss arc lat. Some have holes in them some Are nonexistent Altiers have a Dumbo Quality the discrimination thai is Sull ered or not having earlobes in this country is unbelievable in s the Only style where bigger and mutilated is bolter. All the Cule earrings Are or pierced cams. For those with immature lobes or those not served through Oldshore drilling the pickings Are ton. I have never shopped for a pair of earrings in my Lile Hal a salesperson has not stared a me like i jus i arrived from anole of planet. What did you have in mind asked one last week beam me up something special. I m marrying or. Spock As soon As the Sla ship Enterprise Page 16 the stars and stripes she apologized for Slang and said she had never seen anyone who did not have earlobes before. Then came la
