Complaining for the collective: sharing feedback with the consumer community

Our series on complaints and well-being has explored many aspects of making a complaint that are often overlooked or taken for granted.  

In this final article, we want to underline how any complaint can become the foundation of something incredibly positive – a collective resource for a community of consumers and consumer champions.

We will think about the importance of sharing your feedback on negative experiences with a product, service, or a company’s customer service.  We’ll also offer some advice on how you can make your feedback as clear and helpful as possible for the wider consumer community.

The importance of leaving constructive feedback 

You cannot undo a negative experience with a product or service. And, unfortunately, you also can’t always get the resolution you want from the company. However, leaving feedback about a product, service, or company’s approach to customer care can turn your negative experience into a valuable resource that protects others by preventing them from experiencing the same thing. It also helps companies be accountable and know how they can do better in the future. 

In other words, one individual’s bad experience can become the foundation for other people’s good choices. 

Beyond obtaining an individual resolution, there is potentially a huge collective impact of making a complaint. However, to create this community value, consumers must take responsibility for sharing their experience of complaining with a wider audience. You also need to ensure that the feedback you give is both clear and constructive. 

When and where to share your feedback

Before you air your complaint about a company publicly it’s important to give them a chance to resolve the problem. Our system is designed to ensure that you can get in touch with a company, let them know about your issue, and give them the opportunity to fix it. 

Once you have reached the end of a complaint, whether it has been fully resolved or not, you can then share feedback on the whole experience so that others can know how it went for you. 

We always encourage our users to leave feedback on how a Resolver case went so that other people using the Resolver system can see what they should expect from a company’s complaint process. You may also wish to leave your feedback in another forum, such as Google Reviews, Facebook, Twitter, or other consumer platforms to ensure that as many people as possible see it. 

How to write a clear and helpful review

To ensure that the feedback you give can best inform and influence others, you need to make sure you cover all of the relevant details and write in a clear and concise way. 

Be specific

Make sure your feedback is as informative and insightful as possible by referring to specific details about the product or service you are reviewing and any problems you had.

You might want to describe how it did or didn’t fulfill your initial expectations and the process you went through trying to get the company to resolve it. Remember to give specific timeframes and details of your experience. 

Be accurate

It can be easy to exaggerate or slip into hyperbole, especially when you’ve had a negative experience. But for your feedback to really help people you need to be as accurate and honest as possible.

Ensure that you include both positive and negative aspects to give the fullest picture of your experience. 

Be respectful and constructive

Companies and consumers use feedback to improve their products, services, and customer experiences.

So even when things have gone wrong, or you are unhappy, make sure that your criticism is constructive: avoid profanity and make suggestions for how things could be improved in the future.

Write well

You don’t need to be a poet to write great feedback but you should check your spelling, grammar, and style.

Things like excessive use of capital letters or punctuation don’t add emphasis but will distract from the content of your feedback. Avoid overly short or overly long feedback – one or two short paragraphs is about right.

If you have any questions or comments we’d love to hear from you. Get in touch with us at support@resolver.co.uk.