A long time ago, my watch wouldn’t keep time. It’s a Seiko Kinetic with a dark green face. I like it a lot: it’s a mechanical (analog) watch, but it’s electronic, keeps extremely accurate time, and I never have to worry about batteries. When it stopped working, I sent it to be cleaned at a local jeweler, and then they sent to the factory a couple times, but the problem persisted.

My good friend and business partner Stuart suggested that I Fedex the watch to the President of Seiko, with a nice note asking what can be done. About three weeks later, my watch came back, working perfectly, no charge. And it has continued to function perfectly to this day.

Why did this work? Like Seiko, every company president has a team whose job is to take care of problems. They are charged with “making things right”, so the problem doesn’t even need to reach the desk of the president.

If you’re receiving poor customer service, find out the name of the president of the division or company – the higher up, the better. (Google is your friend).

Prepare a short, polite note telling why you are disappointed by their service. Give specific details about the problem, and what you have done to try to resolve it. Name names, if you wrote any down during your calls.

Summarize with something like, “So I decided to ask you for help.” and make a clear request for what would make you happy. (Make sure it’s something they have the power to fulfill.)

Send a real letter – physical stuff still has power at companies. Use overnight or two-day delivery to give bigger impact, and also to confirm they received it. Include “Personal” in the address – it might get more attention.

At the worst, it’ll cost you a few bucks for the Fedex. If they blow you off, you can savage them publicly. But if they do the right thing – and lots of times they will – they give you a great story for social media.