In her weekly column for the Guardian, Anna Tims solves readers consumer problems – ranging from the devastating to the ridiculous. She’s online now to answer your questions and share her wisdom Sign in or sign up to post your question davidabsalom asks: Have you ever had a company press department speak human to you, admit the fault without dressing it up in PR-speak and get the problem fixed promptly? Anna: Problems are often fixed with remarkable speed - within hours on occasion - when I alert the press office, but I can’t recall a time when the official response was heartfelt. It’s not that the press officers themselves don’t feel the pain over the phone; it’s that they are forced to toe the corporate line in writing. And the rationale of the corporate line is usually: don’t admit liability in case they sue. That’s why “compensation” is almost always called “goodwill” and distress or hardship is renamed “inconvenience”. Or my greatest bugbear when a customer’s life has been blighted by service failings - “any inconvenience”. Anna: You’ve answered your own question. Patronise the companies who go the extra mile. I always check out review websites and rankings by online consumer publications before committing. And I make sure that the company has published a complaints procedure on its website along with a proper address (not a PO Box), email and phone number. It’s a red flag if firms fend off customer contact by making themselves incommunicado. You’re absolutely right that outsourced customer helplines have, arguably, made it harder to get problems fixed. The motive of the company is to cut costs. The experience of the customer is likely to be low-paid operatives who are disconnected from the core business, disempowered from taking personal initiative, and forced to stick to an official script. Continue reading...