The other day I went to put a diaper on my son and discovered that it was missing a tab. So aside from taping it, the diaper was completely useless. I was just going to let it go, but then I thought, “Hey, I have three kids in diapers. I NEED every diaper in this package.”

So, I called Huggies and told them what happened. They apologized, asked for some information and promised to send me some coupons to “Compensate me for my inconvenience.”

In today’s mail, I had a coupon for $3 off any Huggies product, and two $1 off coupons for any Kimberly Clark product., and an apology note. Sweet!

I don’t usually call and complain to companies. But when I feel there is a significant problem, I almost always do. For example, I got a $50 gift card and phone call apology from Sears following a really awful repair situation I had a few years ago. We had a set of Playtex bottles that didn’t have any holes in the nipples (poor baby!!!), and I got coupons for replacements and other products. I also got a coupon for a free jar of Kraft Miracle Whip because I couldn’t get the jar open. (Eventually I did, but SHEESH, it shouldn’t have been that hard… I mean, what if I was an old person – I could have died trying!)

Anyway, the bottom line is that YOU are the customer, and if you don’t say anything, how will they be able to improve on their product or service? So speak up, and you may be rewarded with better products and maybe some savings.