Bad customer service makes my husband cringe. Not because he is offended by the service, but because he fears the scene I might make.

Let me just clarify, I don’t send food back, I don’t snarl at people who seem to be trying their best and I certainly have never made anyone cry.

However, I don’t shy away from expressing my disappointment when I believe a service to be less than it could be. Verizon, for example, and their ever skyrocketing bills and what I find to be miserable service, is my arch-nemesis. We have exchanged unpleasantries more than once via Facebook.

So, this week when USAA’s check-deposit at home feature failed us, and our house payment check bounced as a result, my husband was furious. However, he refused to call and complain. That, he said, was my job.

Nope, not this time. I refused.

So, he called. And as it turns out, USAA gave him everything he wanted.

At some point in the last week the rep explained that JAVA updated their systems, prohibiting our check from being scanned. No USAA customer on any continent was able to deposit a check, the bank representative said.

I envisioned military spouses everywhere swearing at their computers that night, much like I was.

The representative refunded him the bounced check fee. When he then expressed his concern over the late house payment, the rep dialed the mortgage company on a three-way line.

He explained who he was and what happened - problem solved. The payment was resubmitted, late fees were returned.

And my husband suddenly understood. Sometimes, it’s worth calling and asking, dare I say, complaining. There was a logical reason for the difficulty and the company was willing to remedy it.

Had we never called, the late fee would have remained. Our mortgage would have been marked late. We would have paid for a mistake completely out of our control.

I don’t advocate consumer complaining, I advocate standing up for yourself. Ask and sometimes, you shall receive.