When you have a complaint, a better strategy would be to avoid yelling at the receptionist, and instead calmly ask her or him to whom you should direct your complaint. Start with the supervisor of the person or the division with which you are upset. Put your complaint in writing, and then add all the pertinent details that go along with it: names, dates, times, etc. Here is your chance to really vent. This is the time when you can go into how upset you are, how disappointed you are, and how you are contemplating going somewhere else. While you should make sure to keep your language controlled—it is never all right to swear or to use insulting words—it is perfectly fine, and even advised, to spell out just how this experience has affected you and your view of the employee, the department, or even the entire company. Despite what you may think, companies do not want to lose their good customers, and this type of written communication can be incredibly effective.
Go as High as You Need to Go to Get Results
What can you do if the person to whom you have written refuses to acknowledge your complaint? The first thing you will want to do is to call that person and do a verbal follow up. It is easy to ignore a letter, but much more difficult to ignore a person who is determined to be heard. If you find that, after a reasonable amount of time, you are still not getting results, talk to the receptionist again and see who that person’s supervisor is. At this point you may spend more time speaking to the receptionist than you do the person you are looking for, so keep in mind that the receptionist is your friend, and not your enemy. Do not talk down or insult him or her; think of how angry you would be if he or she talked down to you. Just treat the receptionist in the same manner you would like to be treated: “I can’t believe how many people speak to me as though I am an idiot when they can’t get through to the person to whom they wish to speak,” says the receptionist. “For one thing, I would never speak to people in that manner, and for another, do they really think I am going to be more inclined to go out of my way and help them after they have insulted my intelligence?” Trust that the person you are currently speaking to understands your frustration, and is ready to help you take the next step.