Consumers are learning to fight for what they want, using the Internet to track down business addresses, phone numbers and executives' names. Scores of new Web sites encourage consumers to speak up when they're unhappy. It definitely has shifted the rules for companies. In about 70 percent of Planetfeedback's complaints, the businesses responded and resolved the issue, Blackshaw said. The site gives companies grades based on their ratio of complaints to compliments.
Today there's a lot more channels for consumers to go out and express their opinions about products.
Most successful businesses know that customer service is important, Ramos said, especially in highly competitive industries. The Internet makes it far easier for customers to share praise or criticism with family, friends and even strangers. But just because many businesses are eventually willing to resolve consumer complaints, it doesn't always happen quickly or easily. Sometimes consumers need to write or call numerous times. We asked consumers to tell us how they got what they wanted from a business.