A Complaint is a Gift is a gift -- the gift being increased success by companies that acknowledge and adopt its principles of customer service. And increased effectiveness by individuals who apply them even to their personal lives.

The book's 14 chapters explore the psychology of complaining (and not complaining); the benefits when companies choose to hear and resolve complaints (vs think that customers are nasty annoyances, or naively assume that no news is good news); and strategies to develop a business culture that solicits and resolves complaints.

Published in 1996, there are only two aspects not still current: 1) the chapter on how to encourage customers to report complaints lacks mention of Internet web sites -- a revision could explore these convenient conduits; and 2) although the customer-service examples remain valid, the businesses mentioned tend to be dated -- not today's "hot" companies. And in the end, I still see the front-line customer service rep as having a most difficult job; I would like to see more strategies that support these folks. ( )