As Manager of a photography store I receive complaints as a normal part of my job.

There are 2 different types of customers that complain. The first ones are the ones who have a genuine complaint about the service or the product they have received.

There is also a certain type of customer that complains for the sake of having nothing better to do and who wants to receive something for free. Career complainers is how I refer to this second group.

Then there are 2 ways to go about complaining whatever group you fall into.

The first, and proper, way of complaining is to ask politely to speak to the manager and to be calm, rational and polite.

The second, and totally wrong way, is to scream, shout and make a total idiot of yourself and demand, yes demand that we do something for free for you. Failing something for free, you then threaten to escalate the issue to a higher level of management.

Let's look at the correct way to complain.

First of all if you have a genuine reason to complain then please let a manager know. After all how else do we know we have failed you as a customer if you don't tell us? Constructive criticism is always the best type of criticism and will enable us to improve and hopefully keep you as a future customer, as well as a happy customer. If you ask to speak to a manager and you speak calmly and rationally and point out what the problem is, then we can have an adult discussion about what the problem is and how we can sort this out to both our satisfaction.

If you approach a manager by screaming, swearing, shouting or a mixture of all three, then I will be polite to your face, because I have to be, but I will be wishing that you never come back to my store. Manners cost nothing and it is an adage that more people should remember and live by.

Being in the photography business we see a lot of people who are not happy with their photos. I remember a time when you took a roll of film, had it developed, took them home and if something didn't turn out very well, thought "oh well" and that was it.

What is it about today's society that is not satisfied with what they get?

We hear all sorts of complaints ranging from "This is too dark/light/blurry/you name it we've had the complaint. With the advent of digital photography you would think it would be easier to get a good photo. Think again. There is a breed of people out there that think by buying the best and most expensive camera in the store that they are

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