How to Complain: The Essential Consumer Guide to Getting Refunds, Redress and Results!
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*UPDATED 2025* Here is the result of over 40 years of experience from the campaigner Helen Dewdney, known as The Complaining Cow.
Released in 2014 and regularly updated, this version includes more case study examples, the latest consumer laws and regulations, your rights when buying online courses and changes, when a company goes into administration and EU changes. It continues to be the go-to resource for empowering consumers.
Including tips, real-life examples, anecdotes and more than 60 handy template letters, this book gives you the knowledge and confidence to assert your legal rights, overcome consumer complaint hurdles and always gain the redress you deserve. Discover what kind of complainer you are, how you can gain better results and how to deal with the common fob offs companies use.
Get all the advice on the most up-to-date consumer laws you could ever need, how to complain effectively, how and where to take matters further when you don’t get a satisfactory response and lots of useful contacts. Faulty goods, poor service, bad advice, over charging and mis-selling of most goods and services, it’s all covered here. Learn how to take on supermarkets, airlines, energy and insurance companies, banks and restaurants to get results. Read how and why Helen took Tesco to the Small Claims Court and won. Never be out of pocket again!
Books are dispatched within 5 working days. Reviews for How to Complain: The Essential Consumer Guide to Getting Refunds, Redress and Results! (AL)
@thecomplainingcow How to complain effectively. How to get refunds. #refunds #refund #repairs #consumerlaw #consumerrights #complaints #complaining
Paul Lewis financial journalist reviews How to Complain
“Buy this book. And next time a shop or bank or holiday firm fails you, take it off the shelf, find out what to do, and complain. Always write (“I don’t do phone calls”), quote the law they’ve broken (each section begins with a thorough guide), state clearly what you want (everything plus compensation), and end the letter with your next step if you don’t get it (right up to court action). How to Complain is by turns homely and thorough.
Helen Dewdney has complained about every kind of poor service and, from what she says, always wins. She knows precisely what her rights are and how to get them. Her guiding principle is never take yes for an answer. If you want £100 compensation and they offer £50 write back and demand £200. How to complain is in itself a model. The title is accurate. And it delivers what it promises. It should strike fear into any firm that doesn’t. And make them change before we have to write that letter.” Paul Lewis, financial journalist
Rob Rinder reviews How to Complain
“Helen Dewdney’s How to Complain is a masterclass in asserting your rights with wit, precision and just the right amount of righteous fury. It’s the book every consumer didn’t know they desperately needed – until now” Rob Rinder, Barrister, Presenter and columnist
David McClelland reviews How to Complain
“Too timid to assert your rights? Too shy to complain? Don’t be. In ‘How to Complain’, Helen Dewdney has compiled a quick-to-navigate and easy-to-understand book that guides readers through their consumer rights and how to assert them – with a minimum of fuss. Packed with practical advice, handy complaint letter templates and real-life success stories, ‘How to Complain’ has quickly become an essential reference in our house.” David McClelland Consumer / Technology Presenter & Journalist
David Mcclelland review of How to Complain: The Essential Consumer Guide
Kevin Grix reviews How to Complain
“An excellent source of help, advice and information for consumers who want to understand their rights and how to enforce them. The Complaining Cow has assembled all the key consumer legislation together with the common problems that consumers encounter. This book helps the reader to navigate the complexities of complaining by offering practical tips to avoid the pitfalls that consumers sometimes fall in – and throws a ladder down for those who have already fallen in.” Kevin Grix, Chief Executive, Dispute Resolution Ombudsman, The Furniture Ombudsman
Marcus Williamson reviews How to Complain
“This is the book that everyone needs for solving their consumer issues. Using a wide variety of excellent template letters, legal explanations and clear worked examples, The Complaining Cow shows us how to get problems resolved simply and efficiently. The book will pay for itself the first time you use it.” Marcus Williamson, Editor, CEOemail.com
Got a first, second or third edition 2017 or 2019 of How to Complain?!
If you have a 2019 copy of the book, please do not worry it’s nearly all still relevant. It’s just that this update has updates to Brexit effects (not a lot), a couple of new laws and regulations, more case studies, information on The Consumer Duty and about buying courses online.
All references to the Sales of Goods Act 1994 and the Supply of Goods and Services Act 1982 are gone, as these were repealed and were replaced with the Consumer Rights Act 2015. These Acts could be used for purchases prior to 1 October 2015. However, the statute of limitations is 6 years (5 in Scotland), so you are now out of time for using these Acts.
However, if you have an edition older than 2019 I really would suggest you get an up-to-date copy. You would have to be cross-referencing an awful lot and if you’ve got a book prior to 2017, forget it!
Download free update 1 if you have a 1st or 2nd edition
or download free update 2 for 3rd edition or
free update 3 (2017 book) for 3rd edition first revision.
how to complain update 2025 companion free update for 3rd edition revised (2019)
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