Contact 6: Website helps customers resolve complaints online

MILWAUKEE -- FOX6's Contact 6 has some tips for angry customers who want a company to hear their voice -- to get their gripe across online.

With today's technology, instead of writing a letter to a company or calling customer service, complaints can be made online.

Contact 6's Katrina Cravy took to social media, sending out the following tweet on Twitter: "This is a test -- this is only a test. If I had a #customercomplaint, would @TJMaxx, @Kohl's, @Macy's, @TheBostonStore respond?

TJMaxx responded, but reaching out to a company via social media isn't always successful.

Dave Carroll had his guitar smashed by a baggage handler. He posted a video on YouTube that got over a million hits, and the airline resolved Carroll's issue.

Now, Carroll has started a website called GripeVine.com, where consumers can post complaints, and GripeVine takes those complaints to the company.

The site is different from RipOffReport.com and some of the other online complaint sites, because it focused on getting a resolution for the customer.

"We give them the opportunity to be notified before the story goes out of control and goes viral to give them a fighting chance to manage their brand and resolve the problem. Overall, the whole idea is to resolve the problems and not fan the flames and bring brands down," Carroll said.

FOX6's Contact 6 says it's important for customers with complaints to remember to be respectful. The person on the front of the customer service line is most likely not the decision-maker and screaming (or going ALL CAPS) is not going to help. The best thing for a customer to do in this situation is state the problem and have a resolution in mind.

If that doesn't work, there's always Contact 6!

CLICK HERE to file a complaint with FOX6's Contact 6.