I was surfing around the web for free samples as part of my ongoing addiction when I came across an article on wikiHow on How to Get Companies to Send You Free Stuff.

Whilst the title caught my attention my ethics and morals started to scream when I read through the contents of the article. The article describes writing complaints to companies to receive free product samples from them.

I believe such tactics drives up product prices, especially if companies are flooded with complaints that are not legitimate. I’m sure there is enough pain in the arse customers without us joining the queue

Here is an extract:
“The company wants to keep you as a customer and will try to make you happy. Don’t be irate but try to sound as if you’re really unsatisfied with their product. The more they think you are upset about your experience, the more free stuff they will send you.”

“Don’t call in with a complaint from the same address any more than once every 3 months.”

I’m sure companies trust consumers enough that they only make complaints when they are making a true and legitimate complaint and have actually purchased their product.

The article does warn against making false claims to companies, though this did give me inspiration to contact a few of the companies listed to see what their policies are on determining between false and truthful claims. Unfortunately none of these companies have provided a response.

My thinking…it would just be easier for them to send free products to consumers that complain rather than wasting more time and effort in investigating such claims.

What do you think of this practice of complaining direct to manufacturers for personal gain?