Complaining to a Business: What You Need to Know

Research claims management companies.

Why don't people complain about poor service? Is it too much hassle?

Do people not have time or think it's pointless? Is it too complicated?

These reasons are understandable, but is it worth paying someone to complain for you?

Claims management companies help with complaints, but they don't have a great reputation.

Some claims managers do a good job, but many just want to make money quickly.

Not all third parties who help with complaints are in it for the money.

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You can appoint someone to act on your behalf to make a complaint.

You need to confirm your identity and tell the business someone is representing you.

You can pay someone to make a complaint for you, but it's not always necessary.

Paying a third party can create a two-tier system of justice.

The government introduced ombudsman services to help with complaints.

Ombudsmen can help with problems like energy and financial issues.

Alternative dispute resolution schemes can also help with complaints.

Ombudsman and ADR schemes are free and accessible to all.

You don't need to use a paid service to make a complaint.

Claims management companies started by offering legal services.

But things changed when complaints about PPI exploded in 2005.

PPI was a big mis-selling scandal with 62 million policies sold.

Claims management companies made a lot of money from PPI claims.

The point of paying someone to make a complaint is if they can do something you can't.

Claims management companies have been criticized for not doing much to justify their fees.

In the case of PPI, people could have filled out the same form themselves.

Using a claims management company didn't make a difference in the outcome.

Aggressive advertising by claims managers led to their downfall.

Claims managers are back, but you don't need to use them to make a claim.

We're all busy, but that's no excuse not to follow up on problems.

People often don't pursue complaints because they think it's too late.

Here are common reasons people don't make complaints.

Not having time is a common reason.

The process of making a complaint can be frustrating.

Not being able to contact the business is another reason.

The business might resolve the immediate problem, but not the bigger issue.

Not knowing how to take matters further is a common problem.

Being unhappy with how a previous case was handled is another reason.

Martyn James is a consumer rights campaigner and journalist.

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