I’m mildly anxious about this post. I’m reasonably happy to give feedback to many organisations, but not all, I’m not a hog wrestler*.

However, I do struggle when it comes to ‘faceless bureaucracies’. Particularly when it involves Tax Collectors. I’m sure they aren’t all feedback resistant, mean spirited, vindictive ghouls, but you never know… That’s the problem with faceless bureaucracies… you never know.

So, summoning up the courage to give feedback (gently complain) has been a big deal.

2 weeks might be 4 weeks and then it could be 12 more. I’m not going to say much more about my issues with the Tax Collector other than it’s been hassle to get information.

The 2 week wait for a decision might be extended to 4 weeks, ‘security measures’ being the suitably vague bureaucratic reason. Then after slogging your way through pages of alleged ‘help’, you find out you might have to wait 12 more weeks for any refund. It’s not a great experience.

It’s certainly much slower than what I’ve experienced when I owe the Tax Collector money; they are pretty slick then.

This all prompted me to leave some feedback (mildly complain) about my experiences. I’m not excepting any response in the style of ‘you said, we did’, but I’m OK with that. I really don’t want to poke a beast that might get irritated and vindictive because, ‘you just don’t know’ with a faceless bureaucracy.

Crossing the ‘complaints bridge’. In the spirit of ‘complaints are a gift we can learn from’ I’ve also had other conversations this week. I was trying to explain that complaining isn’t easy for lots of people; including me (see above).

It can be a big step to build up the courage to engage with a faceless bureaucracy. The point I was making is that, if people have gone that far, they probably have something to say and the organisation really should be listening to them. Complaining isn’t generally an ‘effort free’ pastime. People are doing it for a reason and purpose.

Anything less than fully engaging (properly listening, learning and providing feedback) is a lost opportunity in my view.

Also, if you’ve got more complaints than you can handle, that is often as much to do with the complaints / feedback handling process as the things people were complaining about in the first place. This is a drawing I found in my pictures that illustrates the point.

My picture. I can’t remember why I drew this but, ‘This is my process… I will defend it’ sticks out for me.

Is an AI Chatbot any less ‘faceless’? In the same week as my Tax Collector hassles I’ve engaged in a ‘live chat’ with the Police.

The circumstances were around some information I had about a missing person. I was keen to help and share what I knew and used a ‘live chat’ facility.

I’ve no idea if ‘Emily’ was a real person or a chat bot, but I was able to share what I knew. Most importantly, I was informed that the missing individual had been found and was safe.

It also generated a text record of the chat that popped up in my email inbox. So my wife now has evidence for my ‘are you being a decent citizen’ KPI. A win-win.

The learning from this is that I’m now looking for the Tax Collectors ‘live chat’ facility, in case things run into the sand. If there’s a record of my whinging as an email, at least I won’t have to resort to screen shots.

Surely this wasn’t deliberate? I’ve been reflecting on my experiences and wondering if this was all a bit deliberate? Tax Collectors aren’t known for their generous disposition I’m led to believe. Maybe it’s designed to be deliberately hard to get a refund? Surely not?

I’ll leave it with you to decide after reading this post by Paul Taylor, Poor Service Isn’t Always An Accident. It’s Often By Design. By the way, in the unlikely event that the faceless bureaucracy (Tax Collectors) read this, it’s just gentle feedback, I’m not complaining.

So, What’s the PONT?

1. It takes effort and a bit of courage to complain to a faceless bureaucracy because ‘how do you know’ what the response will be?
2. If someone has crossed the complaints bridge, bureaucracies really should listen, learn and provide ‘some’ feedback.
3. If you are getting complaints about the complaints process, it’s probably a warning flag.

*Hog wrestling. An explanation of why don’t I give feedback to everyone? To quote George Bernard Shaw: “I learned long ago never to wrestle with a pig. You get dirty, and besides, the pig likes it”. Good advice to avoid pointless arguments and conflicts.