Guy Winch, Ph.D.Reseñas

This is an entertaining treatise about the art (and science) of complaining. It goes beyond the "how to" tactics of many of the books about customer service and complaining by explaining some of the psychological aspects.

For me, Chapter 5 ("The Ingredients for Serving a Delicious Squeak") is the centrepiece of the book and well worth the price of buying it. It introduced me to the "Complaint Sandwich" method of expressing a complaint. Also, the "Complaint Sandwich Condiments" listed in the footnotes to the Chapter are excellent guidelines for writing a complaint letter.

Chapter 6 ("The Art of Squeaking to Loved Ones") is also good.

I would also recommend the book from a dispute resolution and negotiation perspective for the excellent discussions about and examples of reframing, a tool used by mediators and negotiators in their work..

A decent book on how to complain about something when you are in a stressful situation. What drew me to this book in the first place was the introduction... it points out that in today's world, there is just a whole lot of complaining going on about a whole lot of everything. It diminishes complaints in general when that's all that is going on.

Many anecdotes, some humor, some research to back things up... an all purpose book on being the squeaky wheel.

A very useful personal development title that teaches you how to complain efficiently. In today's society we are forced to take too many issues for granted and voicing you concerns can be seen as a negative trait. I am not a fan of those who are overly whinny and nagging eternally but sometimes we just have to speak out and "be heard" to deal with life.

I received this book as an ER book for review. This book offers helpful advice and anecdotes illustrating how to complain effectively vs. ineffectively. Most of the advice given was rather general (Say something positive first, remember that you are asking somebody for a favour) but serves a good reminder on how to handle stressful situations with grace. My favourite parts of the book were the parts that drew of psychological research in the area. I would have loved to see more of the research and less of the anecdotes. One thing I found frustrating about this book was that many of the stories were started, but never finished (e.g. this family came in with the complaining father who was driving his son away, I limited his number of complaints to X times a day, then we never hear about I again; or hear is a mother who was complaining about the amount of homework her children were receiving, again no follow up). If you are looking for a good common sense guideline about how to handle complaints well that is well written and fun then this is a good book for you. If you are looking for a book based more heavily on the research in the area you may have to do a primary literature search yourself.½

I don't ready many self-help books, but the genre seems to require a few characteristics: a chatty, conversational tone, many anecdotes (with a bonus for snippets from therapy sessions), light humor or at least attempts at humor and enough psychologist's jargon to provide credibility. Winch's book has all that, so if you read Self-Help like I once read Westerns, nothing in here is going to through you off.

Winch rises above the standard fare, though, I think. He is genuinely funny, apparently insightful, careful with scientific claims, humble or able to seem that way, and writes so as to preserve a conversational tone without over-simplifying the science, or becoming condescending.

His overall message is an old one--you improve yourself by taking ownership of your life--but he also gives the reader little lessons, and his advice on composing complaints to get results and not just to vent your anger or frustration, with different twists for different circumstances, I think will prove useful. And an image, "The Complaint Snadwich", might help me remember that advice.½

This is a self-help book about using positive methods for handling complaints . As with most self-help books the ideas presented are based on common sense . I liked that the author gave some interesting examples from his own life along with his therapy clients . Hopefully I will remember to use some of these methods next time I have a complaint . Its an easy informative read .

This is an adequately well written book about the fine art of complaining in a positive way that actually gets results. If you are interested in ideas for how to complain more effectively this book would be a good all-in-one source to read.

Dr Winch takes a scientific look at the methods people use to complain and why certain "squeaky wheel" behaviors are good for the soul and your relationships. By siting examples from his own experiences and his personal practice, the author brings a fresh look to an age old dilemma, how do you get what you want? Did you know that pursuing a complaint is good for your mental health especially if you are depressed? The positive effects last long after the initial complaint has been completed, but the physical attributes are present in people for years on end. The proper way to complain to loved ones differs from a formal business complaint or trying to get a refund from a difficult retailer. The author gives step by step proven methods to deliver your own "complaint sandwich" to any situation in which you need to be heard and a problem needs to be solved. Using humor, sharing a passion and validating your love ones feelings is also a highly effective section in the book which deals with couples, marriage and learning to live with the ones you love. I would highly recommend this book on many levels, learning to live with or work with a constant complainer is a big one! Great advice from a proven professional is what The Squeaky Wheel delivers page after page.

In a world where we often hear that people complain too much, Guy Winch argues that it is not the quantity, but the quality of our complaining that is the real problem. In his book, The Squeaky Wheel, Winch makes a compelling case for the deliberate, thoughtful, properly directed complaint as a tool of empowerment in a variety of situations. He backs his points up with interesting case examples that run the gamut from getting a reduction in his own rent due to construction noise to a patient who experienced a remission in her lifelong depression while advocating against a methadone clinic set to open on her block. While I found his use of the "complaint sandwich" analogy to describe the components of an effective compliant a little contrived, overall this book was readable and interesting. I would recommend it to a general audience, particularly those that frequently feel their complaints go unanswered. If you apply Winch's practical real-world advice for how to deal with consumer complaints, there are almost certainly refunds and replacement products in your future.

There are few books in which I would recommend to anyone and this one falls into that category. I think everyone should read this and it would be even better if we all put it's principles into practice. Too much of life gets filled with things beyond our control but learning the art of complaining in a productive manner can actually cause change to happen.

This is a very easy and short read packed full of psychological tidbits as to why we complain the way we do and how to adjust that to make it productive. There was enough humor thrown into to also make it interesting and fun to read. The reason I didn't give it a full five stars is simply because I would've liked to have seen more examples of specific complaints broken down into the "complaint sandwich". The tools are provided but more examples always help yours truly.

This will be the book I hope to get several copies to pass out to friends. Happy complaining.½

I hope people enjoy reading The Squeaky Wheel as much as I enjoyed writing it.
For those interested in the book trailer (which highlights information in Chapter 5) here is the link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2TgoDCX0uLs
More information at http://www.guywinch.com

Couldn't have come at a better time! I need to study this on a current problem with an organization I deal with daily. I hope it helps. I'll report soonest.