If You Want Something, Ask For It.

The other day I took a mid-morning caffeine break with a friend and headed to the Dunkin Donuts. This friend happens to love blueberry cake donuts, and was saddened to see the DD was out. She decided to settle for glazed munchkins, but she only wanted one (this friend is also walking the fine line between pregnant and figure conscious). She said “I wonder if they would sell me just one - the sign says only dozen or half-dozen.” “Of course they will sell you just one”, I responded, and promptly ordered her one with my coffee.

Given the increased (and entirely inappropriate) level of entitlement our society seems to be supporting, I have to wonder why these same self-indulged people are so timid when it comes to straying from a meager printed menu at a fast food joint. IF YOU WANT SOMETHING, ASK FOR IT.

This is an important lesson - not just for purchasing but for customer service. I find that people are very quick to complain when something doesn’t meet their expectations but surprisingly unable to articulate what would ease their discomfort. What you want to do is so much more than complain. You want to reimbursed in some way for your dissatisfaction. Stop thinking that saying you don’t like something will result in you getting it for free. Take control of the situation and actually ask for what would make you feel better.

Not sure this life lesson applies to you? Here are some familiar situations to get you started:

• There are plenty of things you can buy that aren’t explicitly listed somewhere. Sometimes they cost extra, but often a company will customize something or provide you with a variation if that’s what you’re looking for. An old roommate of mine only ate “plain” things, and ordered buttered noodles every time we ate out. Every restaurant with any pasta on their menu made it for her with no issue.

• There are always special circumstances. If you happen to need a hotel late at night, say after midnight, several hotels have a 50% discounted rate since you’ll only be using half a night. Half a night is worth more to them than an empty room but they won’t offer it unless you ask.

• If you paid for something but received something else, the company that provided the service should fix it. I once got a car rental company to drive a new vehicle over an hour from the airport rental agency to our rented house in Park City Utah because the one they rented us should have been 4-wheel drive and wasn’t.
  

There’s another lesson here I want to make sure I touch base on. If you’re unhappy with something you’ve paid for, the time to express that unhappiness is as soon as you realize you’re unhappy with it. Don’t eat your meal, tell your server its fine, then ask for it to be removed from your bill when you get the check.

Be pleasant, not angry, when complaining to an establishment. Be firm, not threatening, when asking for any sort of compensation. If you’ve talked with multiple people at an establishment retain the details of those conversations (names, dates, etc) so that you can effectively negotiate. If you’re not getting anywhere with the first-level folks ask for their manager. You won’t always get what you ask for; its unreasonable to think just by asking someone will always oblige you, but the likelihood that you will get something, either what you asked for or some portion of it, will be infinitely increased if you tell the person what it is that you want.

When you’re the customer, it is your business that drives the success of the company providing you a service or product. Companies have a vested interest in making you happy and its your responsibility to tell them how to make that happen. Caveat Venditor.