Mike Carruthers

Like, who do you send it to?

Because it seems like if you just send it to some generic complaint department, not much is going to happen.

So how do you figure out, like, how to navigate that letter, and then what does it say?

I don't know if it's fair to say that you complain a lot, but you are obviously more comfortable in using complaints as a way of getting what you want.

And so since you probably do it more than many of us do, how successful are you?

What's your batting average?

And you have better success with letters than with phone calls.

But it does seem like people on the phone are really just trying to placate you and move on to the next customer, where if you send a letter to the top guy, it seems like that gets a little more attention by somebody who has a little more authority, and they know that you took the time to write, the setting is set, the place is set for a better resolution than screaming and yelling on the phone.

Well, given your track record of getting compensated more times than you don't, you set up maybe up to 85%.

It certainly gives people reason to consider that complaining, if you do it right, can well be worth it.

I've been talking with Eric Z, and the name of his book is The Art of the Constructive Complaint, How to Speak Up, Get Heard, and Turn Everyday Frustrations into Fair Outcomes.

And there's a link to his book at Amazon in the show notes.

Hey, Eric, great.

Thank you for sharing what you know.

I swear, this happens to me all the time.

See if you can relate.

You walk into a room with laser focus, and as soon as you walk into the room...

you forget why you came in.

And believe it or not, it's not dementia, it's not inattention, it's your brain doing something called event segmentation.

Cognitive scientists have shown that every time you cross a boundary, like a doorway, your brain creates what they call a new event boundary.