By not speaking up when something is wrong with a product or service, young people and students are losing themselves a collective estimated $16.5 million every year. Kadie Wilson, an advisor for consumer services at MBIE had some words to share with students about the benefits of making a fuss when something isn’t what it was meant to be.
Whether it’s cars, concert tickets or clothes, 51% of young adults have had some kind of consumer issue in the last two years, and 38% did nothing about it. This may be because we don’t know how to complain, or who to, or because we’re worried we won’t be taken seriously, or the opposite: that we’ll be considered a “Karen”.
But, as Kadie emphasised, “saying something in a calm and respectful way doesn’t have to be confrontational. You’re entitled to fair treatment and you’re not asking for anything special or extra, you’re just asking to get what you paid for.”
The first step is to go back to the business, you can even avoid a phone call and send a short email saying the product or service isn’t what you expected. The business may not even know that something’s wrong, so “more often than not they’ll actually want to resolve your issue.”
The Consumer Guarantees Act sets standards for products and services, so while you may not have any for that one situationship, when it comes to products and services, you’re actually protected. Things you buy have to be fit for purpose and of acceptable quality, and when these standards aren’t met this act gives you the right to speak out and receive a repair, a replacement, or a refund.
There is a ton of support out there for these issues—trying to be an adult gets hard really quickly. The Consumer Protection website has step by step instructions on how to complain, the Citizens Advice Bureau can talk you through options one on one, or you can even look into taking your issue to the dispute tribunal further down the line.
While speaking up “doesn’t guarantee an outcome, it does open the door to a fair resolution,” and with the current prices we’re coming face to face with every day, we all deserve to be getting what we’re paying for.
