Why don't the British like to complain about bad service?

[cassa333]

I have just had the worst hair cut of my life and it cost me (in my eyes anyway) a small fortune.

I didn't say a word, although she knew I wasn't happy as she kept making those petulant, eye rolling faces when she thought I wasn't looking. I think she either forgot there was a mirror or she didn't realise she was doing it lol. I Just paid the money and left.

Although I won't bother going back I couldn't see the point of making a fuss. My hair will grow back in a couple of weeks and I hate it when people complain just so they can get money off.

[tigwig]

I am the queen of complaining! Not just so I can get money off but more of the principle of the matter. It bugs me when things arent how they should be so why the hell shouldnt people complain? Once at a hairdressers I decided to have my hair coloured after usually doing it myself at home. It cost a lot more obviously and when it was done you could barely see the colour on it even though I had clearly chosen a redish colour and discussed in length with the stylist how it would turn out beforehand. I almost didnt say anything as I didnt want to offend her but then I thought I cannot pay all this money for something that you cant see! You could tell after I said it she wasnt happy and it was 15 mins before closing time so she ended up working late too. She mixed up the brightest red colour you can imagine and slapped it on my head, not being very careful round the edges. This time when it was finished the bits of hair that go around your face were practically glowing and I looked a total pudding. I just said there is no way I am paying full price for that. The manager looked horrified and apologised and said I didnt have to. It took ages for the colour to come off my bloody face and since then Ive stuck to home colouring.

[cassa333]

I just don't like to make a fuss.

It was apparent from the outset she was new and when I asked her how long she had been there she just showed me her 'junior styleist' bagde. I then asked her how long she had been qualified. She wasn't she was still at collage.

Still being at collage isn't a problem. We all have to get experience but she was just so useless she shouldn't have been there yet. And she wasn't supervised at all.

It took her over an hour to do a very simple trim and even now there are tufts all over that are either longer or shorter than the rest.

[doomey!]

Some people don't like to complain in person. Complain via letter.
Although I do sympathise with your ordeal, it is not acceptable what has happened, and thus you MUST complain. Other wise the practice will contain, we can only learn from our fallacies.

[rabbitygirl]

Good hairdressers usually have model appointments. This means you get a cut price hair do on the understanding it is done by someone still in training. They are always, in my experience, fully supervised throughout.
I've been a model about 3 times and always been pleased. There is a tiny risk of getting a hairdo that's not 100%. And as you have found out, a hell of a risk if they are not supervised. Go back and complain. Not good enough at all.

[ladybird49]

I am in the middle of a wrangle as i type , an event we paid for but didnt get , ive involved trading standards
( who said i had a good case against them for services not recieved )and hope i get the outcome i deserve

[R1Geezer]

That's a rather sweeping statement, I'm Britsih and I always complain. In fact I set it out first what I want and pay only when I get it.

Why did you pay? They gave you YTS bird of the week, that's not what you paid for. It's precisely because of this kind of "i don;t want to make a fuss " attitude that we have bad service.

I paraise good service when it happens and scould bad.

[milly143]

You should have complained to her boss Cassa. If she is just a junior she obviously isn't at a stage where she should be left unattended but if people don't complain then perhaps her boss will think clients are happy with what she is doing and leave her to it. It sounds like she could do with a few pointers on attitude too.

Saying that, about 2 years I had the most horrible haircut of my life at Toni & Guy. It's the only time I didnt go to my friend to get it done, who is a hairdresser. My hair was below my shoulders with long layers and a sweeping fringe. I just went in and asked for a trim but the girl got a bit scissor happy and cut the length above my shoulders and cut the layers so short they were the same length as my fringe around my crown. She basically gave me a mullet and I didn't say a word. It all got such a mess trying to grow it out that I had to have it all cut off a couple of months ago and it's now a very short bob. I hate it!

[Old_Geezer]

Whereas everyone is an individual, I think it is generally true to say that compared to other nationalities the British tend not to complain.

IMO the thing is that it is an embarrassing situation which the national psyche tends to avoid. Folk tend to be so self conscious and wanting to not cause a scene that they have to get so raving angry that they no longer care about self image and the like.

For most simple annoyances the preferred course of action is to have decided it was a lesson learnt, instead. To decide not to deal with the perpetrator in the belief that enough people get fed up with them, and they'll fail at whatever they are trying to achieve anyway.

[wildwood]

I'm with R1Geezer totally. You need to complain when the product/service is not acceptable. Always be reasonable though. Most larger firms are experienced in handling complains and can soon weed out the ones who are 'trying it on'.

At the same time, say thank you when you are satisfied, no matter whether it is a gorgeous assistant (notice the gender free reference! lol)) that is serving you or a teenager. I have been astonished how 3 or 4 people in a row say nothing during the whole transaction to the teller at a supermarket checkout.

[DTCwordfan]

We are not as bad as the Chinese in complaining. They just don't say a thing and walk away and never come back. In the Far East, westerners are important for gauging service levels therefore.

Some companies (like the airlines for example) do track complaints and letters of thanks/compliments etc - my experience on offering the latter has been a number of upgrades etc........ also hotels, if you don't ask you don't get is the old adage and therefore I have tended to avoid the 'intermediaries' of the internet, I have struck better deals on a direct basis - maybe not financially $ for $ but in terms of securing a suite for the cost of an ordinary room........

[237SJ]

In my experience the British like to whinge rather than complain constructively. Americans complain constructively but the British haven`t learned to do it yet. I was working a couple of nights ago and a customer was having a go at me (to get things off his chest) and I gave him a form so that he could complain properly. He was reluctant to take it because he just wanted to have a go at the nearest person in uniform which was me. I told him that if he wanted to change anything he had to complain to the man at the top.

[ludwig]

It's because of the British class system. - hear me out before you tell me I'm crazy.

In Britain we have this weird inherited thing that people in shops are somehow a slightly better class than their customers, because they're in business, whereas the customers are just working class scum.
That's why when we go into a shop the shopkeeper ignores you, and generally acts like you're a nuisance, and the customer is like 'I'm really sorry to bother you but I wondered if you'd mind serving me - lowly scum that I am'.

And then they give you totally the wrong thing that you asked for, but you just accept it and pay over the odds for it anyway, because you're so grateful that the snooty person lowered themselves to serve you, and you don't want to make a fuss in case they get angry and won't serve you again.
Shops ands restaurants , exactly the same.

In America (for example) they have no such inherited nonsense. The customer is king. They realise that if they don't serve you they're out of business, and the customer knows it as well, so they expect, demand, and usually get good service and aren't afraid to say so when it isn't forthcoming.

[welshlibranr]

If unhappy with anything, I will always complain!...........not prepared to pay for bad service!.............If I hate a haircut, then I will say so!...........

[Invictas]

I am 62,and so therefore was born in 1948.
So WW2 ended 3 years before that.
All through my childhood all I can remember my Mother saying was "Don't complain,just be grateful.In the war we had to put up with wjat we could get"
So people of my generation don't usually complain as we have their parents mantra in their heads.(I do complain BTW)
I believe that this ethos is still in place in lots of people,and even in younger ones has been passed own from their parents.
My Mother also admitted that befor the war many people complained (of all classes) but that 6 years of war had effectively erased the complaining mechanism.
However,I do agree with Ludwig that a lot of the modern problem could be class based.The upper classes expect good service,the middle class is grateful to get good service,and the poor old working class is resigned to not getting good service,and to not complaining because it's "not done" and besides doesn't get them anywhere.

I think people should remember,it's THEIR money they are spending,so it's THEIR right to expect good service in return.

[joko]

yes i agree the main reason we dont is because of people nearby...its very deflating and also annoying when you are quite rigjtly angry about something...or even just having a minor disagreement about shoddy service when ypou glance around to see every bidy rolling their eyes, shaking their heads or smirking, or even looking angry at you for moaning.
we should support fellow customers with a grievance - provided its genuine of course and person is not acting like a psycho...we should be able to complain without fear of ridicule

as said its the only way providers can alter their behaviour...

i have had numerous things happen to me ...years agomy hair was once hacked so short because a perm ahadnt taken and the girls said to go back every week for a conditioning treatment then shed do it again - she obviously didnt expect me to because on the 3rd visit she seemed furious and just cut it much shorter in the hope the curls would show...i foolishly walked out saying nothing...

[starone]

I have just complained to Hovis about a loaf of bread which had a great clump of black stuff embedded in it. I sent them a sample with the bar code and date of buying the bread. I had a very nice letter back from them telling me what it was - carbonised dough which had unfortunately been left in one of their tins and baked into my loaf. They also sent coupons for three more loaves of bread. I wasn't looking for reimbursement for the bread but just wanted to know that what I was eating was not going to poison me. It does pay to complain sometimes.