(been working in retail and customer service for 10 years)

Realize you’re NOT talking to a manager. If we’re talking about remote customer service, be it call center or chat on a website, 99% of the time it will be just another same-level coworker just pretending. You’re going to have the most inattentive person on the other side, who’s sole job will be to let you vent out and repeat whatever the previous rep told you.

And even in stores, you’re likely to encounter a “daily shift manager”, who may not have any customer knowledge at all. You may speak to someone working in logistics, who just happens to be unlucky on this day.

Writing a paper letter to company headquarters? Good luck with that, your letter will bounce back to the regular customer support agent.

Oh, and I didn’t even mention all the outsourced agents, most outsourced calls are the “get me a manager” ones.

It’s all a scam, just don’t be a dickhead, and you’ll get a good customer experience the first time.

The only exception is, as mentioned before, any illegal stuff, aggressive behavior from the rep, in general stuff that would get the company in trouble anyway when reported to the market regulator or put in court. And even then, don’t ask for a manager, find the board member responsible for the operations area on LinkedIn and message directly.