@River Rat Ok, made the avatar connection! 1. I can not state whether an attempt was made to address the poor service experienced by the service provider at Sabie first, before the complaint lodged in public. That done, the service provider has promised to work on the issue, and may have done as much if contacted in a private manner. Their manner of reply on an open public forum is a bit off though, so they now deserves both negative and positive comment. This thread was almost initiated by the provider themselves however. 2. Sure, a (half-hearted) attempt was made to address the trail marking problem at Holla. The OWNER in this instance was totally unaware of the thread running, and a simple email (using CONTACT US) was used to alert him to this fact. I am positive, by the response posted publicly, that the issue would have been handled just as well without the negative criticism, in private. My answer was to back up my poll vote. And I stand behind it. You may be missing my point here. The option to complain publicly is open to all, and as Slow points out is often a necessary evil. But doing it first, when the business concerned can often be contacted first to remedy the issue directly, without unnecessarily damaging their reputation, is something that is seldom done. I hear what you say about sufficient people springing to the defence of the provider if the complaint does not appear to be legitimate, but the truth of the matter is often that the complaints posted in public are more often than not done because the person doing the complaining feels they have been 'personally' snubbed, when often a significant number of other factors are involved. In one word, it is often slanderous. To use the P'n P example: I can stand in a queue, 12 deep at rush hour, because only 3 of 15 till points are operating. I can take it personally and bitterly complain to the lady in front, and the man behind, and then do it again next week. Or I can leave them in the queue, find the manager, discuss the error of his ways and in 3 minutes 8 out of 15 tills are buzzing. Sorted. For all the people in the queue. HOWEVER: If I should return, and the SAME problem is persisting, then I will most definitely tell my mates, and complain in public, and not return soon... Which reminds me: Do not shop at P'nP Waterfall until they sort their attitude out! Use the SPAR, where the manager is always rushing around, and where he greets you and yours by name. EDIT: By the way, well worded OP
