Talking about divorce, Ivana famously said: "Remember, girls - don't get mad, get everything."

- Find a better credit card
- How to make £100 from your bank

Would you like to make a bit of extra cash and feel better about things at the same time? You can - by complaining. To paraphrase Ivana Trump, don't get angry - get satisfaction!

Not only does complaining make you feel better, it can benefit you in many different ways and put money in your pocket. You just need to know how to do it properly and what your rights are.

Far too few of us complain about poor service or shoddy products. Those who do bother often find that they can get money or gifts that more than compensate for their loss or irritation. It's just a question of being bothered.

Banks and credit card companies

Banks and credit card companies may be necessary but they can drive us mad in many different ways, from levying unfair charges to losing a will in their safekeeping. If you have been badly treated by your bank (and who hasn't?) you can definitely get redress.

Start by deciding what you want in compensation.

• How much stress has it cost you? Stick to that figure as you go through the complaint procedure.
• Start by speaking to the bank - always take careful notes and names.
• Follow this up with a letter detailing your complaint and request for compensation.
• If this doesn't work, go to the bank's website and find the name of the head of customer relations.
• Write to them and, once again, detail your complaint and be polite. Keep asking for compensation. Also tell them you are now considering changing your bank.
• Remember: nearly all businesses will pay you something in the end, if only to end the flow of letters and documentation they have to deal with.

Do stay tenacious and polite. You can get much more from them if you are pleasant. One credit card company sent me an incorrect monthly bill. I rang up and told them I was shocked as I had considered them one of the great institutions of the western world (flattery does work!). The charming man who answered my call apologised on behalf of the company and issued me a chunk of airmiles to make me feel better. And I did!

Airlines

Once again, polite detailed letters whatever the complaint, always with the tone 'more in sorrow than in anger', tend to work.

• Ask for compensation: a reduction on a fare, a free flight, an upgrade, airmiles - use your imagination.
• Cite the amount you consider you should be paid in compensation.
• If you don't get satisfaction after the first letter write a second one, then a third. They usually give in after the third!
• One friend who used to work in the complaints department for BA says that persistence usually worked with them. She also points out that you should aim high. "If you want to get £100, ask for £200 in compensation," she suggests.

Parking tickets

So many local authorities now benefit from money raised by parking tickets that the financial incentive to issue tickets can be strong. So if you feel you have been wrongly issued a parking ticket - for any number of reasons - do something about it.

Start by writing a clear, detailed and very polite letter to the relevant authority, explaining why the ticket was wrongly issued. They may reply to say the ticket was correctly issued and valid. But there is almost always a second opportunity to state your case, so write, once again, a detailed and very polite letter. Remember to sound like a sane, civilised person.

Your second letter will usually go to an adjudicator. An adjudicator will read many, usually badly written and angry, letters. Your polite and reasoned letter - the more details the better - will be a welcome relief. They will almost always decide in your favour. I recently got out of a £100 fine and ticket this way (the ticket was indeed wrongly issued).

If a court date is offered, take it! Ninety per cent of the time the traffic warden who issued the ticket won't turn up and the ticket will be declared invalid. Usually the magistrate will tell you that much time is wasted by local authorities not contesting tickets.

For all complaints

• Decide what compensation you want and stick to it.
• If you ask for £200, you will usually get £100. So calculate accordingly.
• Always complain politely and in great detail.
• And keep complaining until your get satisfaction

Finally, remember that you have actually done a public service by complaining; regulations have been changed, bad commercial practices curtailed, and service industries redesigned by the feedback that complainers provide.

Jasmine Birtles is from Money Magpie - the website that gives you a richer life.