OLD SCHOOL

Polite persistence and a pen that’s mightier than a sword allow Betty to enjoy customer satisfaction

(WHILE ALL THE PEOPLE in this book are real, several did not want me to use their real names or locations. That’s the case here. All the other details of Betty’s story are true to life.)

It was a sunny day in Grand Junction, Colorado, when Betty Elizabeth went to the attorney’s office to close on a small home for her retirement years.

The sixty-five-year-old widow was buying a 1,100-square footer for $90,000 at a very competitive 3 percent interest rate in March 2008. She got that fantastic rate through an affordable housing organization in her state.

Though she was assured everything would go smoothly with the closing, there were inevitably some bumps in the road that day. The lender questioned her debt-to-income ratio and pulled a surprise debt pay-down request on Betty.

“One hour prior to closing, they made me pay off my $10,000 car note, which was at 0 percent interest, and a Discover card that had a $250 balance,” Betty tells me. “I suspect they thought I could not do this at the last minute, but I cashed in a 6 percent CD in order to get this great rate.”

So there she was, scrambling across town to her bank to do an early CD withdrawal as the close of business approached. Thankfully she arrived in time to cash out the CD and run back across town to close the deal.

“I had to fight for that rate, but I got it,” she says.

The next day or so after closing, Betty knew that what happened wasn’t right. Her lender was trying to pull a fast one on her, and the $10,000 CD she cashed out had been earmarked as her burial money. So she contacted her congressman’s office.

Betty met with the congressman’s secretary, who told her to write down the details of her complaint in a letter. The secretary then took her letter and wrote a more formal one on her behalf that got things straightened out. Ultimately, Betty was able to recoup the lost interest and penalty she had to pay to cash out the CD before its term, plus some extra money to compensate for the trying experience.

“I was very frustrated but proud of myself for fighting this rip-off and so happy I did all this to get my house,” Betty says.

This story shows two important things. First, elected officials are attuned to their constituents’ needs—particularly when they’re up for re-election. Second, there’s a lot of power in the written word, specifically in the letter.

Today, Betty spends April through August in Colorado and snowbirds in Florida to be near her daughter. Her monthly mortgage payment in Grand Junction, including insurance and taxes, is $483.

Down in northern Florida, she found a two-bedroom duplex about one mile from her daughter and sixty feet from the beach. She rents it completely furnished for $437 a month, including utilities.

“I reside there from September through March each year and can only do this because of my low housing payment back in Colorado and this good deal down in Florida,” she says.

Betty’s monthly income includes about $1,500 from Social Security and $98 from an annuity, plus quarterly payments of $262 from another annuity. (I am generally not a fan of annuities. Visit ClarkHoward.com and search the keyword “annuities” to read why I think they stink.)

I like Betty’s story because it shows how you as the little guy can take on big companies and win with surprisingly little technology. It’s the David versus Goliath tale in modern American business.

The mortgage episode wasn’t the first time Betty used the power of the written word to get satisfaction when she felt she’d been wronged by a company.

Just two years before that incident, Betty went to buy a new car by herself. She spent hours at the dealership and got worked over by the salesperson during “the grind” and then worked over again by the F&I (finance and insurance) man when it was time to finalize the deal.

“I was told everything I was paying for [at the closing table] was necessary. But then I reviewed the contract when I got home and saw I was paying $500 for LoJack and even more for an extended warranty!” she says.

Betty got so fired up that she wrote a letter warning people away from the dealership. She intended to circulate it among friends. But before she did that, Betty wanted to give the dealership a chance to make things right. “I went back the next morning to the dealership at eight a.m. with twenty copies of the letter in hand before I mailed it to my friends,” she recalls.

She got a meeting with upper management. Having the letter in hand gave her some leverage. When the dealership read what she’d written, she was offered a refund of part of her money for the LoJack and extended warranty—both of which were not necessary purchases, by the way!

The lesson learned? “Don’t ever go by yourself to a car dealership if you’re a senior citizen,” Betty says.

What can you take away from Betty’s story?

Don’t overlook low-tech approaches to issue resolution.

• There’s an old saying, “The pen is mightier than the sword.” We tend to forget that in an era of tweets and Facebook posts. But that fact isn’t lost on Betty, who comes from a generation that’s not shy about putting pen to paper.
• If you want to try this old-school approach, begin by writing a letter with three pieces of information: an explanation of your problem and who you spoke to about it; what attempts you’ve made to solve it; and what action you want to resolve it. Be sure to name a reasonable time frame for any resolution to take place.
• Make the tone positive and friendly. But above all, be brief in what you write! Your letter should be short and to the point. The longer you write, the less someone reads.
• If you don’t get a response, send a second letter with a copy of the first attached. Always keeps a copy of your letters. If you are repeatedly ignored, then try sending it one last time by certified mail.
• Failing that, you might have to take the matter to small claims court. See the tips after the profile titled “Chronic Illness and Never-Ending Bills” in the Health Care chapter for more advice on going the small claims court route.

Contact your government representative.

• Many elected officials have constituent services people whose sole job is to handle complaints from voters. But you have to be sure to contact your representative at the right level.
• If you have a problem with your city water bill, contact your city councilperson. If it’s about your county property taxes, contact your county commissioner. If it’s about your state-issued driver’s license, contact your state representative or state senator. If it’s a federal issue, contact the office of your congressman or U.S. senator.
• The first job of every politician is to get re-elected, regardless of what political party they’re affiliated with. So that’s a key point to remember when you have an issue that you can’t seem to get resolved on your own.

Try picketing in front of an offending business.

• Disgruntled customers seeking satisfaction from business owners used to picket outside the business. That approach has largely been supplanted by virtual griping online in this digital era. Still, it’s worth remembering how people used to do things and seeing if it makes sense for your life today.
• Historically, I’ve had four pieces of advice for picketers: First, check with local authorities for rules governing a picket line in your town. Second, stick strictly to the facts with your complaint when you actually picket; say nothing about the character of the person who wronged you. Third, pick the busiest day of the week for your protest. For many businesses, that’s typically a Saturday. Finally, get your children out there picketing—or borrow a friend’s kids! Nothing else has the same impact as a nice family picket outside a business.

Use polite persistence.

• Polite persistence is the key to so many things in life. Some five years ago, my wife, Lane, was involved in an auto accident. While everybody involved was OK, we were having problems with the other driver’s insurance company. They didn’t want to pay for damage to my wife’s car and kept pushing us to file a claim with our own insurer—a process known as subrogation.
• The problem with subrogation is that two insurers can cut a deal, leaving each driver with an at-fault accident on their driving record. In this particular case, there was no question that the other driver was the one who hit Lane.
• While the insurance struggles were going on, we were able to use a spare vehicle to get around. The insurers like to play a waiting game because they know that not everyone has more than one vehicle. So most people eventually roll over and just go the subrogation route. But instead I was politely persistent. I got on a first-name basis with the investigator and called every single day. On the eighth day, the other person’s insurer agreed to pay for damage to Lane’s car.
• And that’s the message: Be patient and be nice. Demanding anything rarely works.