I seem to have lost my previous post about the benefits of complaining. Must have happened during the Server Outage of ‘04. The gist of that first post told how I was craving a Nutty Buddy, or ice cream Drumstick, or whatever you wanna call it. I went across the street to Walgreens, where I found they were out of all ice cream cone-type frozen treats. Instead, I ended up purchasing a pint of Walgreens brand Scoops ice cream - waffle cone flavor. It was supposed to have bits of waffle cone, a caramel swirl, chocolate pieces and peanuts. After eating several bites, I noticed there was none of that in my pint. When I got down to the last few bites, I found one bit of a peanut. I was pretty annoyed and looked for a customer satisfaction number on the package. Nothing. I looked on Walgreens’ Web site and found a contact form. I filled out my complaint and expressed my disappointment.

A week later, I finally got an e-mailed response that thanked me for telling them about my experience with Scoops, that it would help them work better with their supplier to provide quality ice cream for their customers. Well, that’s just great, except I didn’t care about their relationship with the supplier. I wanted my money back or free ice cream. I forgot about it soon after.

Fast forward an entire month. I get a phone call from some guy at Schepp’s Dairy. He tells me they’re the supplier for Walgreens’ Scoops brand. He explains why there might not have been anything mixed into my ice cream, that my pint may have been filled as their filler machine was switching flavors or something to that effect. He asks if it’s okay to send me coupons for a couple free pints of Scoops. I say sure. A couple days later, I get a letter in the mail from Walgreens that says it’s good for two free pints of Scoops. A couple days after that, I get another letter that says the same thing, only it’s from Schepps. I’m loving life at this point. But it didn’t end there! Another month passes and I get another letter from Walgreens explaining everything I already know. It also basically says next time I get a bad pint of ice cream, I should just take it back to the store rather than eat it all and then complain. Whatever. Call me an optimist, but I hoped the carton would have some waffle bits somewhere, and I was going to find them. I didn’t know it would be a lost cause. Anyway, this letter contained a $5 Walgreens gift card!

Now, a little more than a year later, complaining has paid off once again. On this occasion, I got a package of Munchies from the vending machine out in the hallway at my office building. For those who don’t know, Munchies are packaged by Frito-Lay, and contain an assortment of cheddar-flavored products: Sun Chips, Cheetos, Rold Gold pretzels and Doritos. I opened the package up and put a handful of chips in my mouth. Stale. I looked for a customer satisfaction number to call. (By the way, this is when I discovered they were a product of Frito-Lay.) I waited on hold for a little while, then told my problem to the guy that answered. He asked me all sorts of questions, including the product number, the package weight, et cetera. He also asked if there were any holes in the package. I’d found a small one while looking for the phone number, and I told him so. He thanked me for calling, then asked if I’d mind if he sent me a few coupons for $1 off Frito-Lay products. I said that’d be fine and gave him my address.

And that, my friends, is why you should complain. Get to it.