Bad service has become something we all know and love in South Africa. How many times have you gone out and tried to get help with your computer only to be blitzed with buzzwords from a computer sales consultant. Or gone to the motor mechanic and when you don't know what that one bit in your engine is called he grunts, looks at you like you're a retard, fails to fix your car and charges you double. Or waiters at a restaurant take forever to serve you and just seem to laze about.

Well, now is your time to get back at those people who seem to think they're doing you a favour by informing the world how inept they are. I'm talking about making your complaint on websites like HelloPeter.

On HelloPeter it gives power to the consumer in that it helps you speak out when you're mistreated and it also helps you avoid shops where the service is bad. Venting and writing down exactly what happened will go a long way to making you feel better.

It also gives companies the chance to fix their errors and improve on service. They can turn a dissatisfied customer, who informs all his friends of how terribly he was treated, into an extremely positive proponent of the company just by listening and addressing his issues. 

HelloPeter is not the only website that deals with customer complaints (but it is one of the most internationally used). If you're looking for a more South African website then try out some of the following.

-  Bad Service SA

-   Shoutbox

-  Pantsonfire

Outside of the web there are other services like  Don't Go which involves smsing complaints and getting companies to answer for their crimes on the mobile platform

So the next time you receive bad service, complain about it , maybe you'll save the time of the next guy and get the guy who mistreated to learn a little bit about consumer power.