How to File a Store Complaint

Sometimes calling the manager resolves your complaint.

While stores strive to provide the best customer service they can, things can and do go wrong. Products are unreliable, employees can be rude or misinformed. Filing a complaint is different from writing an angry email or going to the store demanding retribution. It is a thoughtful, deliberate action meant to call attention to what went wrong and to elicit a resolution from the store. If the store is unwilling to take your complaint seriously, you can file it elsewhere in search of results.

Instructions

1. Take notes describing your experience in detail while it is still fresh in your memory. Write down the date and time of the incident, the person or people involved, the store location, any important quotes and product details. This helps you explain your situation throughout the process with specificity.

2. Contact store management directly, either by calling the store or visiting the store in person. Ask to speak with the manager. Explain what happened in a calm, even tone, reporting the details without embellishment. Be prepared to explain what you expect in return, whether it be a refund, an apology or some other type of reimbursement.

3. Call or email the store's corporate office, if possible. If the complaint was resolved by the store in question, you don't need to pursue the matter further. If it wasn't resolved to your satisfaction, contacting corporate can yield results. Most companies with corporate offices provide contact information on their websites and sometimes include special forms for filing complaints.

4. File an official complaint with your state. In New Jersey, for example, file a complaint against a store through the Office of Consumer Protection. In Texas and many other states, file a complaint through the Office of the Attorney General. The method of filing complaints varies from state to state.

5. Contact your local chapter of the Better Business Bureau. This accrediting agency works with businesses to resolve complaints, resolving more than 70 percent of complaints filed.

Tips & Warnings

• When explaining the issue you would like resolved, provide as many details as possible. You might need to provide documentation, such as receipts.

References

• Consumer Action: Sample Complaint Letter & E-mail
• Melissa Kaplan's Herp Care Collection: Writing Pet Store Complaint Letters
• New Jersey Division of Consumer Affairs: How to File a Complaint
• Texas Attorney General: File a Consumer Complaint
• Better Business Bureau