As I work my way through the e-mails that we’ve received, I thought that those of you looking for ideas on how to write your own complaint might get some ideas from this particularly poignant letter one person shared with me.  I have omitted names and made a few minor changes for privacy reasons.

By the way, if you submitted a Letter to the Editor that didn’t get published, send us a copy and we’ll publish it.  Newspapers often only print a small representative sample of the letters they receive on a single subject.  We have more space than they do, and it may help inspire you in your own letter writing efforts.

These are real people facing real struggles in this difficult economy.  There is no money for movies, trips, and adventures when people are having enough trouble just meeting the very basics.  In tough times, people tend to stay home and look for entertainment and escape from the stress and anxiety we are all coping with, wondering what could possibly go wrong next.

And it turned out to be a cable company that honestly feels that preserving unlimited access to the Internet requires at least a $75 rate increase in overage fees and that is somehow fair and equitable.  Perhaps to someone living in a Manhattan penthouse, but not out in the real world.

Message to Time Warner:

Hello,

As someone who recently lost my job of nine years, the internet has become my connection to the outside world. I have had to cut back on my spending substantially, but have kept our three-in-one package because the all-inclusive plan has kept me in contact with the family that I cannot drive to see on a regular basis anymore, and the television is a source of education for my children and stress relief for my husband and I. Most of all, the internet has been my savior in a time where I have felt the most unconnected, stressed and depressed about the future.

I spend hours on the internet job searching, finding healthy recipes for my family, and researching ways to save money elsewhere. In the efforts to not spend money on entertainment, we now have a Netflix subscription. I owe it to Netflix and the internet for introducing me to my new passion of organic gardening and learning about other environmental matters. I have also recently reconnected with friends I haven’t seen in over 15 years thanks to Facebook. This whole new world has opened up to me, and now you’re going to take it away? My husband has been wonderful about taking care of all of our expenses while I cannot seem to find a job in my field and while I stay home with the kids since daycare costs so much, but my husband’s salary only stretches so far in this economy. I will no longer be able to justify my internet usage if the costs go up, which will be the case if you choose to make this switch. It’s more important to put food on the table and clothes on my children.

We currently have the Time Warner 3-in-1 package and are in the trial period for DVR. I have been your unofficial spokesperson on how great your services are up until now. If you make this switch, we will have to start making considerations to lower bills again since we’re living on one salary. I very much like having a land line with unlimited phone calls, unlimited internet and cable usage for one somewhat reasonable price but of course the best deal always wins. You have gone from being a reasonable company to a greedy company in my eyes. In a time where many people only have one connection to the outside world, and some are even living in tents, is it really the time to change a good thing you have going for you and potentially disrupt your bottom line?

If you want more customers during this time of economic crisis where people are making difficult decisions about what they need opposed to what they want, a more educated approach to gain customers (and profits) would be to launch an empathetic PR campaign. I found your commercials highlighting the fine print of Frontier services to be very productive. Instead of alienating current customers, why don’t you find empathetic ways to reach out to new customers to increase profit?

Please reconsider this approach to profit. The internet is a wonderful place for educating myself when I’m stuck home and trying to save gas, but I can go back to educating myself through books from the library instead if necessary. I love your 3-in-1 service, but we will have to look at the need for it more closely if you chose to make this switch.

Sincerely,
A Loyal Time Warner Customer for over 13 years