Money for the Rest of Us

Yesterday I wrote about being treated differently because you are young and the economic consequences for companies who treat their young customers differently than their older ones. Not only do the offenders lose out when they discriminate, but as young people know, they too lose when they are treated differently because of their age.

Here are 5 ways that I’ve found that work well to prevent age discrimination (and essentially appear older than you are):

1. Use the Phone. When you call people they can’t (usually) tell your age. If you speak well (see tip 5) the person you are talking to will assume that you are older than you are.
2. Email. Like with the phone, the customer service representative has no idea if you’re 14 or 84. Moreover, I like this method because you can present all of the facts and requests before you get a response. On the phone, after you complain the customer service person will likely offer a “solution” before you can, but in email you can say “…and your company overcharged me for x,y, and z. I request that you remove these charges and credit my account with an additional $10 for the inconvenience this has caused me.” (You’d be surprised how many times this actually works.
3. Dress Nicely. Unfortunately, to be treated the same as a 40-year-old in jeans, you have to wear black pants. Look professional and you will get treated like a professional and not a twenty-something. (I personally hate doing this more than anything. Shouldn’t people treat me the same whether I’m in sweat pants or a skirt suit?)
4. Tip well. I try to always tip 20% (unless the service is absolutely horrid). Sometimes this means over-tipping, but I’m entirely convinced that if all twenty-somethings tipped really well, service people would start treating us better.
5. Choose your words wisely. When you are speaking don’t use words such as um, like, and slang. Keep your voice calm, yet be firm. Be clear in what you’re asking for.

I’m sure this list is not complete, so if you have any more ideas, pass them on.