5 Mistakes People Make When Complaining to Companies

Companies win most consumer disputes. Not because the law is on their side, but because the consumer runs out of patience, makes a procedural slip, or hands them an easy excuse to delay. Every mistake below is one I have watched unfold, usually at the point where the case was about to become difficult for the company. Each has a concrete fix.

1. Complaining verbally

Over the phone, in a chat window, at a branch counter. You explain the problem. They agree something will be done. You put the phone down and relax.

Nothing is on the record. The representative you spoke to is off shift in seven hours. Their internal notes say whatever they say, and you cannot see them. The clock on the complaints process never started because, formally, you never complained.

The fix. Put every complaint in writing, and keep a copy. Email with a clear subject line that includes the word "Complaint". Post with a Royal Mail Signed For receipt. Online web form only if the system emails you a dated confirmation. A phone call is useful for intelligence-gathering; it is not a complaint until it exists in writing on both sides.

2. Accepting the first offer

The first offer is an offer to make you go away. It is calibrated against an assumption that you will not escalate. In most categories the first offer is substantially below what the ombudsman would award, and in some it is a small fraction of it.

The fix. Do not accept, reject, or negotiate the first offer until you know what the ceiling is. Check the relevant ombudsman's decisions database for similar cases. Check the FOS, CISAS, Energy Ombudsman, or sector regulator guidance. If the first offer is below the typical award for your type of case, say "thank you, I will consider it" and go find the real number.

3. Missing the deadlines

Consumer law is full of statutory clocks that only the consumer can stop. The 30-day short-term right to reject under the Consumer Rights Act 2015, section 22. The 8-week internal complaints window before you can escalate to the Financial Ombudsman. The 6-month reasonable opportunity to repair or replace. The 6-year limitation period for breach of contract. The Ofcom auto-compensation triggers. The FOS escalation window.

Miss one of these and the company will cite it at you for the rest of the case.

The fix. Capture two dates at the start. The date of the incident or purchase. The date you first complained. Then read the relevant legislation or use a tool that does. EvenStance's deadline tracker does it automatically per category; you can also do it by hand if you are careful. Diarise the hard deadlines before you need them, not after.

4. Writing an emotional letter

Complaining to a company is not catharsis. It is advocacy. A letter that explains how upset you are, how long you have been a customer, and how poorly you have been treated reads the same to a complaints handler as every other letter on their queue, and it does not change the pile of rules they have to follow.

A letter that sets out the facts in numbered paragraphs, cites the specific statute or regulation the company has breached, quantifies the loss in pounds, and sets a deadline gets routed to a senior reviewer because it has to be.

The fix. Structure the letter like this: one paragraph of factual chronology, one paragraph citing the specific legal basis (with section number), one paragraph setting out the remedy you want (with a number), one paragraph with a deadline and the escalation route you will take if you do not get it. Leave the adjectives out. You can tell the company how bad you felt; you cannot make them care. You can show them what the law says; they have to care about that.

5. Letting the silence win

The single most common reason good cases fail is simple: the consumer stops chasing. The company's standard move is silence. Your last email sits in their inbox for 14 days, then 30, then 60. You check it every other day, get angrier, then forget about it for a month because life. By the time you come back, the momentum has evaporated.

The company has not forgotten. They have been waiting you out, because historically that works.

The fix. Build the chase into a system, not your mood. Three dates: 14 days (first chaser), 28 days (firm chaser with the escalation threat), 56 days or the statutory escalation deadline (escalate to the ombudsman or regulator). Diarise them the moment you send the first letter. Send the chaser on the day, not when you remember. EvenStance auto-generates all three and tells you which day to send each.

The through-line

Every one of these mistakes is a win for the company. Every fix is about moving the case from your emotional calendar to a procedural one. Consumer law is on your side more often than people realise; the issue is almost never whether you have a case, and almost always whether you execute the case cleanly.

Pick a current dispute. Read the five above. Work out which one or two are costing you. Fix those first.

Stuck on a dispute? Start a free case on EvenStance and the platform will handle the deadlines, the letters, and the escalation sequence for you.