Complaining to Your ISP
August 27, 2008 at 1:07 pm
So you’ve spent hours on the telephone and sent more e-mails than you thought was possible, and you still feel that your ISP hasn’t dealt with your problems properly? Then your next course of action is to do something very old fashioned – write a letter of complaint.
Companies are legally obliged to respond to all correspondence and if you’ve decided to take the plunge and write one, then you need to do everything you can to make sure you get the resolution you need.
Here are five key tips for making successful complaints:
1. Read your terms and conditions
Before you make any complaint, check the contract you agreed on to see if it mentions the issue you are complaining about, then write your letter in accordance with the points covered there. For example, most ISPs state in their contracts that they won’t refund you for calls to customer service lines. If you have run up a huge telephone bill for a lack of service, make sure that you phrase your letter so that you aren’t explicitly asking for something you can’t contractually have.
2. Get a name
Every ISP has somebody responsible for complaints, so try to make sure you get their name and then address your letter to them. Your complaint will probably not be answered by them, but it will likely be dealt with more quickly by being addressed to them.
3. Get others to write as well
Attaching letters from your local trading standards office, Citizens Advice Bureau, local newspaper, politicians or lawyers will make your ISP realise how serious you are and should lead to your case being dealt with more quickly.
4. Don’t get emotional
We all know how frustrating having trouble with broadband can be, but remember the person answering your letter will likely be a minimum wage employee under pressure to meet response targets. Sending them pages of emotive text, rather than straight talk, is likely to fill them with contempt for you.
5. Be prepared to persevere
Companies have a legal obligation to reply to all correspondence, but that doesn’t mean that they will give you the result you want first time. The more letters you send, however, the more likely you are to succeed.
