Discover the "Contact Us" link

Last week I was at a local used video game store browsing through the titles of games on the shelf. While I could plainly see what titles were available, I couldn't see the prices.

The games were under a locked cabinet and the only way to see the price of a game was to go to the service desk or checkout and request someone to come over. Since I typically buy games based on price, I wasn't about to ask someone to come over just so I could look at all of the price tags.

So, this morning I started thinking about how irritated I was at the time and I decided to visit the company's website to ask about their policy on preventing people from seeing the game prices.

I headed over to the company's site and clicked on the Contact Us link. There is a Contact Us link on almost every website. It is your gateway to asking questions (and complaining) to the website sponsor through email.

Rick and I use the Contact Us link for finding out who we should contact to get interviews with a given company for the show.

Sometimes sitting down and writing comments or complaints to one company will get you so excited that you will suddenly think of all of the other places you'd like to contact.

While I was at my computer asking the game store about their policy, I decided to contact another company about something that has bothered me for a long long time.

Rick will confirm that I have one complaint every time I eat Mexican food. I love spicy food, but it always makes me crave cheap soft serve ice cream. So, after years of telling people that I was going to do it, I finally sat down and wrote Taco Bell.

I nicely asked them to please add 99 cent white soft serve ice cream to their menu. You can click on the link above to add your support.

A few cautions about using the Contact Us link. On websites:

1. Don't act mad. This holds true with any type of complaint. When working in retail, I learned quickly that being calm not only gets the customer what they want when they come in to complain, it gets them what they want the next time they come into the store too.

If you get get angry and mean, you will likely get your problem resolved the way you want then, but the store won't feel bad at all about losing your business in the future.

In the case of email, swearing, anger and all capital letters will likely just cause the reader to hit delete and go onto the next message.

2. Keep in mind that you are trying to get your message to someone who can make a difference. All complaints and comments must make it through the first few waves of screeners before anyone with any authority will see your message.

A comment should me a message of persuasion. State your case then try to lead them into coming up with the desired solution on their own. No one working at any company wants to be told that they aren't doing their job right. Pose the problem and explain how it is effecting their bottom line.

When I was working in retail and a customer said, "I'm never coming back!" The managers would have a nice little snicker and mumble something like, "Until next week's ad."

The only way that anyone will work to solve a problem permanently is if they see a real problem. People are upset isn't a real problem. People not spending as much money as they otherwise would, is a problem.

3. Try other means of contact. If the issue is serious, you will also often find phone numbers and mailing addresses under the Contact Us link. The most effective method for reaching someone and getting something done is snail mail.

If a letter with a stamp comes in, companies know that someone cared enough to use both their time and money to get their message to you. These are the people who want change the most.

I hope that this article wasn't stating the obvious. If it was, print it out and keep it on your person to give to the next person you see yelling at a customer service rep. or fast food restaurant.

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