How To Demand Quality And Service From A Company Of Any Size (January 7th, 2004)

Someone said on one of the email lists here in Trinidad & Tobago

that they aren't sure how to deal with companies when it comes to

substandard service, quality or both. So I wrote this, and maybe some

people will find it useful:

(0) Don't sign anything until you KNOW what you are signing, and you AGREE to it.

(1) Stop working with 'what a friend told you', even if your

friend works for the company in question. This is BUSINESS, not

PLEASURE. Verbal conversations (including those on a telephone) are

worthless - as many people who have repeatedly gotten nowhere will tell

you. The amount of times people get nowhere before realizing this

varies, apparently.

(2) Save your documentation, be it a receipt, a lease, a

contract. Read it. If you're going to sign it, know what you sign

before you sign it. I think I may be the only individual who looked

over the TSTT ADSL contract, got a lawyer to look at it and knew what I

was getting into BEFORE I signed it. More people should do this.

(3) Start getting *written* documentation when you have a problem

- signed by a representative of the company or organization, preferably

on a letterhead - and keep it.

(4) When problems are not resolved with lower echelon people, ask

for the manager. If they don't answer, go up another level to their

boss, and so on. Never hand them ORIGINALS of your documentation,

always hand them copies - and where applicable, have them PAY for the

copies, or at the least mention that you copied them at your own cost..

You may even mention that your friends know about the problem, and it's

a matter of time before more people know about the problem.

(5) If you don't get anywhere after going AS FAR UP as necessary

- which is extraordinarily rare - make others aware of your problem -

even the press, if warranted (and if they'll print the story) but make

sure you have the facts STRAIGHT. Here's one example of even using the

internet for this purpose: http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&q=%22Diamond+Motors%22+Trinidad&btnG=Google+Search

Allow them a few days to react before proceeding. If you give an ultimatum - Live By It if you want to be taken seriously.

(6) If you have the documentation, and documentation showing you

followed the first 4 steps, you have something worth showing a lawyer.

Their case is all right in front of them. All they have to do is

present it.

This works well with individuals. Sometimes you want to get more

people involved, and we talk about Class Action lawsuits and so on (in

part 6). But here's an interesting fact that everyone may want to

consider: Scientology became classified as a religion in the United

States because every SINGLE scientologist filed suit against the IRS,

and the IRS buckled under the pressure of all the INDIVIDUAL lawsuits.

That's what everyone can do. Nobody can save the world, but everyone

can look after their own back yard, and by extension, the commons.