Well, maybe not. But complaining to the president or CEO isn't just a tired cliché. The tactic works, even at large corporations, because executives have elite service staff dedicated to solving problems quickly, says Sherry. "They are sensitive about the reputation of their company, so their team is very motivated to help you."
Thanks to the wonders of Google, you can easily find the phone number or e-mail of top-ranking executives at companies both big and small. If a quick search doesn't yield results, dig up the address and phone number in a company's registration statement, free at
the SEC's EDGAR site. Other websites that are rich in contact information:
Jigsaw.com,
Hoovers.com and
Google and
Yahoo Finance.
This technique has worked for many MONEY readers, including Ric Franchetti, a 58-year-old finance consultant from Plano, Texas. When the battery on his electric lawn mower from Home Depot stopped holding a charge after a year, he was told that the extended warranty didn't cover the batteries because they were expendable. Undeterred, Franchetti dashed off a polite letter to the $68 billion company's CEO. Six days later, the local store manager was at his door. When replacement batteries didn't fit, the manager gave him a new mower. "They even took my old one away," he adds.
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