How long should it take for a company to respond to a complaint letter?

Question

Ok. I wrote a complaint letter to Starbucks. I wrote the complaint letter, because the service in the Starbucks near me is really bad. The employees are rude, and they snob costomers and job applicants way more then they should. Plus they always fill the cup only half way. I wrote about that in the complaint letter. I went on starbucks web site, and got the addresse for the costomer relations office, and it is in Seattle. I mailed the letter monday, and I live in New Jersey.

I don't know how long it would take the mail service to mail the letter from NJ. to Seattle. But should I re-copy the letter and send it again if they don't reply? I gave them my e-mail addresse, my addresse and my cell phone number to contact me back.

Answer 1

when one considers that they have closed over 600 outlets in america, and also closing some down in australia, i wouldn't hold out much hope of an answer, maybe your complaint is vindicative of the the whole problem, bad customer service

Answer 2

What do you want from them? No offense intended, but why do you need a response so badly? You didn't really need to give them your e-mail address and home address and cell number. They should at least attempt to fix the problem, or you'll be disappointed with their services. All their response will contain is something like "sorry you didn't enjoy our services, we'll fix it, thanks for the feedback". Really, it's probably not going to be personal. If Starbucks does write out long personal letters with details about what they're going to do for everyone who gave them feedback...well, it would take a while, not to mention the cost of postage. I wouldn't expect a response, but since you gave them your number they must know you expect them to. I'd wait about 2 weeks for a response, otherwise you're probably not getting one. If nothing happens in your local Starbucks, then you should probably just stop going and wait until it stops getting business. But since Starbucks is so large, it can't just change everything because one person writes them. It probably takes the comments of Starbucks customers as a whole, and then makes changes based on what the majority wants. I wouldn't expect a satisfying response.

Answer 3

If they reply at all, I'm sure it will take awhile. This is a rather large company and the mail system can be slow (receiving it, shuffling through it, and finally having someone really care to read it). For a company as large as this, writing them a letter is a good as getting Brad Pitt to read a fan letter you've sent him.

I think your best bet would be to call the company, as the telephone system is way faster and they always answer.

Answer 4

Most big companies won't reply to a complaint.  They get so many complaints they can't respond to most of them.  Sometimes the only way to get any response from a big company is to sue them.

When you send a serious letter to a company, you should always send it Certified-Return Receipt Requested so the company cannot claim they never received it.  The Return Receipt is a greenish card that is taped to the letter by the post office (will cost you more to use these) and you check the box that say signature upon receipt required.  The post office will deliver and someone at the company has to sign for it.  Then the card is sent back to you with the sig on it so you know it was received and, in the future, if you decide to take action you ahve that receipt.  Also, if you can get an actual name of a person of power in the company, that would be better; simply directing it to To Whom It May Concern or Customer Service or any of those generics will just get your letter jammed into the complaint file with all the rest.

For your complaint, you'd have more direct action by reviewing your Starbucks on whatever consumer review websites you have--Yelp, City Search, whatever.  Most people who like Starbucks are going to continue to support the place no matter what you say; but at least you know you spoke up and tried to save someone else from having to deal with the bad service, etc. there.  I know I stopped going to Starbucks because of the lousy service (and I didn't like the taste of their coffee, there are just too many really good alternative coffee shops to settle for Starbucks)--I'd wait patiently in the "Order Here" line, put in my order, pay for it, wait in the "Pick Up Your Order Here" line and wait and wait.  After 10 mins. I asked one of the girls just standing around gossiping behind the counter if she could check on my order but was told to just wait.  After another 5 mins. I demanded some action and after checking the other gossiping kids behind the counter and none of them had my order, was told I hadn't put in an order; I waved my receipt at them and was then told I must have picked up my order and drunk it all and now wanted a free one.  I'm old so I know to call in the manager who got me my coffee--but 30 mins and a lot of juvenile stupidity is not worth Starbucks over-priced coffee.  I'm glad Starbucks is cutting back and withdrawing.  They forced out too many small independent cafes with their steamrolling techniques.

Answer 5

I wrote a complaint letter to KFC and got a response and a 5 dollar coupon in 3 weeks. I guess it depends on the company.