Complaining when necessary is extremely important to protect your rights. You’ve purchased an electric toaster. Then wake up and go to have breakfast the next morning, take it out of its box, only to find it doesn’t work. Clearly, you should have checked it was working when you bought it. Either way, you’ve got every reason to return and exchange it if it’s faulty.
There are a few patterned faultfinders. One type has a general complaint because without a solution then the problem will continue. Obviously, there is no option apart from resolving the issue. It might be a quick fix depending on its level of difficulty to sort out. If customer service is kind and helpful then they will exchange it on return. If to the contrary then it is time to raise your bar and fight for your rights.
Sometimes, complaining doesn’t help, but making your feelings known can encourage others to go outside the box, meaning to find another way to advise you how to resolve the dilemma. An example of this scenario is trying to make a fast payment (PIX in Brazil). In the process of buying a new vehicle after making a previous deposit, a larger balance needed to be paid, in order to close the deal.
At the shop the salesman provided his company's bank details. By app a PIX payment was made. It was within his financial limits, and was deducted from the bank account as the online balance showed it on the app.
The new client sat awaiting to send the salesman a copy of the transaction, but it never came. The salesman even mentioned that that specific bank is the only one he had known to take some 20 minutes for approval. The buyer got confused because the bank had never withheld funds entering his account. Actually, they were quite proud of it! In other words, they never blocked deposits, and to the contrary the bank utilized the funds.
After 30 minutes, he contacted his bank manager who advised him that sometimes it is the central bank, and could take 30 to 60 minutes to resolve. Her client was flabbergasted! He felt she was trying to divert the blame. An hour later, completely worn out from having to keep checking his mobile, he noticed the payment sum had been returned to his balance.
That scenario left him tense, so he left a message for his bank manager to show his frustration, asking how to sort it out, as the salesman was waiting patiently to receive the funds, and he himself had other things to do.
Timing is everything for resolving issues quickly and efficiently. She suggested a TED payment which the salesman was reluctant to receive because he knew it would be a long winded affair.
He sent her the shop’s bank details, and she set up a receiver. Once ready, he used the ap to make the payment. This time it worked and a receipt was provided which was sent to the salesman. In order to proceed with the car sale, the funds needed to enter the shop’s bank account, so the actual car documents could be completed, and the vehicle taken by the new owner.
Sod’s law had it that after waiting another hour, the money still wasn’t in the bank account. In the end, the buyer had to leave because another obligation needed to be done. The vehicle couldn’t be taken!
Several hours later the money was transferred. On reflection all three parties had the problem resolved even though the operation took around four hours. Brazil’s bureaucracy leaves a lot to be desired.
Later the client received an SMS message from his bank asking for an assessment of how much he recommended his manager, between 1 for poor and 10 excellent, based on the last service received. He gave the top score of 10, as she cannot be held responsible for the bank’s posture, or Brazil’s bureaucracy. She dealt with the matter ethically and professionally.
Finally, he discovered that Brazil's central bank had a setback with PIX payments on that particular day. Oh well he thought, just another blemish for society!
Take care!
Prof. Carl Boniface
Vocabulary builder:
Faultfinders (n) = critics, complainers, grumblers, grousers, nitpickers, whiners
Raise your bar (idiom) = that means to set a higher standard or expectation, or to set higher goals. It can be used to describe when someone's performance is much better than others. For example, in the workplace, raising the bar can mean: Setting higher expectations for yourself, challenging yourself in unexpected ways, and working harder than you thought was possible. “I’m going to raise the bar with my work output.”
Go outside the box (idiom) = to explore ideas that are creative and unusual and that are not limited or controlled by rules or tradition.
That that = The first “that” would have to be a conjunction (e.g.: “He said that”, “She felt that”). The second “that” would have to be a pronoun or determiner (e.g.: that book [determiner]; that was terrible [pronoun]). When put together, it will look something like this: He said that that book is interesting.
Flabbergasted (adj) = stunned, shocked, astonished, staggered, amazed, dumbfounded, astounded, surprised, knocked for six
TED = A TED (Transferência Eletrônica Disponível) is a real-time electronic transfer method in Brazil that allows money to be moved between bank accounts
Sod's law = a British culture axiom (saying), states that "if something can go wrong, it will". The law sometimes has a corollary (effect): that the misfortune will happen at "the worst possible time"
Lot to be desired (idiom) = if you say that something leaves a lot to be desired, you mean that it is not as good as it should be. [disapproval] “The selection of programmes leaves a lot to be desired.”
Blemish (n) = a small mark or flaw which spoils the appearance of something.
"the merest blemish on a Rolls Royce might render it unsalable"
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