For business people who travel, things to complain about can appear around every corner. From dirty hotel rooms to less than stellar rental cars, from late airplane flights to cold bowls of soup served in crowded all-night diners, business trips provide the opportunity to get an awful lot off your chest. Complaining, after all, is sometimes the traveler’s favorite pastime.
Yet, there is a right way and a wrong way to mumble and grumble. Criticizing things or people too often, or without any tact, may worsen your trip dramatically, giving yourself something to really complain about.
Know that Less is More: Nothing will take away the validity of a complaint faster than a person who complains all the time. If you maintain "the boy who cried wolf" complex — and find a need to complain where it isn’t warranted — you will never have your complaints taken seriously. Instead, you will simply be written off with the label of "complainer," a label that says you’re worthy of being ignored.
Timing is Everything: As a traveler, you may find something you feel warrants complaining about: you may have paid for a king-sized bed, but given a double. When this sort of thing happens, complain right away instead of waiting till later. Waiting too long gives you time to stew, leaving you to go up in temper and down in tact for a situation that may be very easily fixed. It also leaves the staff wondering why you didn’t say anything right away. If you don’t speak up immediately and wait too long, they might assume your complaint isn’t that big of a deal. If it were, you would have said something sooner.
Don’t Go Over Heads: "Can I speak to your supervisor?" is often the complainer’s personal mantra. After all, getting to the person in charge may be what it takes to get things remedied. Occasionally, speaking to a supervisor or manager may be needed, but most of the time, people who are lower on the corporate ladder can help you just the same. Instead of going over their heads and possibly getting them in trouble, try going to the person at the source of the problem. If they can’t or won’t help you, then ask for someone else.
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