What to Do When You Get Bad Service

 

The past few months we've had readers ask us what to do about:

1. Bad construction from a Florence window company

2. Bad service from a Colbert hardware company

3. Unbelievable service from a Florence florist

We've always heard that the gold standard is a bad review sent to the Better Business Bureau. Here's some other ideas that may work for you:

If the seller does not resolve the issue, a government office, a consumer organization, or the legal system may be able to help.

File a complaint with government or consumer programs

• File a complaint with your local consumer protection office.
• Notify the Better Business Bureau (BBB) in your area about your problem. The BBB tries to resolve complaints against companies.
• If you think you may have experienced a scam, report it to the FTC. They may not resolve your problem, but they use complaints to help them investigate fraud.
• Contact econsumer.gov if you are complaining about items you bought online from a seller outside the U.S.

Seek legal help for your complaint about a company

If contacting the company, a government agency, or a consumer organization does not work:

• You may be able to resolve your problem through the legal system. Find free or low-cost legal help.
• Consider an alternative dispute resolution process, such as arbitration, conciliation, or mediation.

We recently purchased a horrible product from an eBay seller. It was so unlike the description/photo that we felt we had to give a bad review. We were contacted by the seller who offered a 50% refund if we would remove the unflattering critique. If after trying all these methods and still not reaping results, just remember that these businesses won't be open very long to cheat others.

Tomorrow: A lackadaisical county government office