I'm not suggesting you storm the corporate headquarters and jump into the elevator with the CEO to exact a resolution for your problem, that type of action comes later and in the company of Pulp Fiction-style associates. I am talking about a less dangerous and much briefer form of problem solving. An elevator pitch is generally used to sell a product or idea in 150 words or 30 seconds and covers three key areas. You can also use it to resolve consumer complaints.

Elevator pitches must be short and convincing not because elevator rides are short, but because the decision makers don't have time for every detail about your consumer problem. So when you get in front of executive customer service either on paper or on the phone, keep it short and get these two simple items across.

1. Here is my problem.
2. Here is what you can do to fix it.
   

Compelling idea, isn't it. But you want to see the plan in action, don't you. OK: Here is a sample elevator pitch to executive customer service at Chevy regarding our recent car purchase.

Sallie Mae is a huge student loan company, and often times it can be difficult to get routed to the correct department to straighten out your loan issue.

Earlier this week I shared a simple plan for using your congressman to resolve student loan issues at any company, but today I'd like to share a way to get satisfaction if your issue is with Sallie Mae. The executive customer service department at Sallie Mae is known as the "Consumer Advocate Unit" and from my experience, is staffed with small group of knowledgeable and friendly people.

Both our congressman and our attorney general referred us to the consumer advocate unit, where we were given one point of contact. If this person was out of the office, whoever took our call would literally walk over to his desk and grab our file in order to help us out. On more than one occasion they called another lender on our behalf to arrange for the consolidation of loans away from Sallie Mae!

You can reach the consumer advocate unit at (888) 545-4199. Please use this number responsibly, and remember these people are empowered to help you. Treating the caller with respect and kindness, no matter your previous experiences with Sallie Mae, will greatly benefit you in the long run.

Sometimes all it takes is a little pressure to get the wheels of a corporation moving. It turns out that shortly after the story of Tom, a Sears customer who was charged $1070 for a TV he never received, gained traction in the media, Mark Ennis, from the Presidential office at Citibank service contacted him. Mark had tried calling the Sears store where Tom purchased the TV but was given the same treatment Tom experienced. Undeterred Mark went "off script" and pulled the records for every Tom who purchased a TV on "Black Friday" in order to find out what went wrong on the order.

It turns out that just after the first TV was refunded, it was re-rung, resulting in the outstanding charge to Tom's Sears card. None of the individuals Tom spoke to over the past 4 months looked past the initial refund transaction to see what was really happening. If they had spent an additional 5 minutes investigating the billing issue, Tom's problems could have been solved months ago. Thankfully the story has a happy ending, Tom is getting a refund for his undelivered TV and some Sears employees will likely be getting a refresher course in customer service. That is if they aren't shown the door for this heinous neglect of customer service. Bravo to Mark for helping out the consumer and making extra effort along the way. We need more people like you in corporations.

Via Consumerist

Isn't it time you started reaping the benefits of your local congressman's clout? Not yet ready to ask for a letter of recommendation for West Point? Have no fear because if you are the bearer of student loans and your loan company is shafting you, your congressman may be the key to a happy ending.

Getting some satisfaction with the help of your congressman or woman is so easy anybody can do it. Granted, like all problems and lending issues, it helps if you are in the right and have been paying your lender what the terms state. But this strategy may work even if you are close to being handed off to a collection agency.

As a little background: My wife had all of her student loans through Sallie Mae, affectionately referred to around our house as the devil. Several of these private loans which Ms. Mae was holding on to were pulling in 13.25% interest! We had included some of these loans in an initial federal consolidation which never worked out. Apparently the incoming fax line at Sallie Mae was hooked right up to a paper shredder because they never received our requests to consolidate. We tried again to consolidate my wife's private loans with Wells Fargo, who, just like our federal consolidator, never received a response from Sallie Mae. Fed up with the problems we were having, I did what any rational person would, I called my local news stations call for action. This is where I found out I could contact my congressman to get some satisfaction.