I haven’t followed him back yet. =)

Thanks Marja!

There are many people on Twitter who “pity follow” by the thousands. I simply don't have the stomach for that anymore. Tried it months ago. Never going back.

I'll post a comment with my response when I get a few minutes to figure out what I'll tell him.

Thanks!

Or, if he's really bugged you maybe you want to toy with him a bit: follow him for a few weeks and then unfollow him shortly after and see if he notices. Nah, just kidding on this one, he's far too needy and sensitive to be played like that.

Re the best way to complain. I had some shocking service from a UK bank recently and acted with a series of polite emails and phone calls asking them to fix the problem over a month or so. They did nothing. My husband said I needed to get angry with them, so I wrote a letter saying how fed up I was and threatening to report them to the appropriate ombudsmen (a wonderful chance to use the word), unless they sorted it out pronto. That finally got them to deal with the problem. Sometimes you do have to get angry, or at least pretend to be.

Anyway, we all need an awkward client or two to give us something to moan about. No job would be complete without them. I look forward to seeing what action, if any, you decide to take! I'm sure you have bigger fish to fry:)

Ummm, no you won't.

When it comes to complaint letters — and I've written a coupla doozies in my time — I try to keep the voice as friendly as possible; to convey the message as I'd want it conveyed to me (no one likes a whiner). In the vein of “you'll catch more flies with honey than with vinegar”, I have found it most effective to disarm customer service agents, etc. by actually being friendly; by acknowledging that my complaint is, by no means, their fault.

As for Mike, I suppose telling him to “suck it” is out of the question? Barring that, I'd encourage him to engage with @s and the like, instead of wasting his time moaning and complaining. That'd be much more effective in helping his Twitter tree to bear fruit.

Although I haven't written many letters or emails of complaint, I have called companies with complaints. During these calls, I do my best to be polite, concise, and to-the point. I also try to remove the 'blame' factor from the conversation, as fault or responsibility it is usually quite evident already. Most of all, I realize that there is a PERSON on the other end of the line, and try (note the try) to treat them accordingly. So far, this strategy has been quite effective. Amazing how far a little human kindness goes!

As for 'Mike'… following on twitter isn't always a two-way street. I follow quite a few people who don't follow me back, usually learn a huge amount from them and am quite grateful for that. There are many very positive ways of engaging people, and building relationships via twitter and elsewhere. Using threats isn`t one of them.

And also most of the time emails “get sent to the spam filter” or disappear. How convenient.

Fuck off.

Yours aye,
Obo

As we've discussed before, there's a big gap in the tech use between certain countries. In the US, you can usually sit down and pound out a quick email. No need for the handwritten stuff.

Not going to lie though. I'd get a kick out of somebody sending me a handwritten note about how they didn't like the way I use Twitter.

A classic.

Thanks Justin!

Good call!

I have a 48 hour “cool down” rule on blog posts I've written in a fit of passion. I treat emails with the same rule in the knowledge that someday one of my emails will probably be turned into fodder for a post on somebody else's blog. It's definitely helped me avoid saying things in the heat of a moment that I'd regret later.

I think I'll give him the quick version…minus your suggested bits at the end. It's always tempting to include them though. That's what the cool-off is for, eh?

Thanks!