Writing a Complaint Letter

Steps for Writing a Complaint LetterTopic SelectionKey Points to

ConsiderDo and Don’tCommon MistakesSamples3orSubmit my
paper for analysis

complaint letter

Nearly every individual has faced a personal issue by receiving an

unsatisfactory quality of goods or services, flagrant violations, or
were infringed upon in regard to their consumer rights. To prevent
unpleasant events from happening again, and to save other
people from similar inconveniences, people write letters of
complaint to the appropriate authorities. Complaint letters often
facilitate the process of an efficient resolution of a problem.

Steps for Writing a Complaint Letter

You should clearly understand the problem.

After writing a formal heading and greeting, state the reason why
you are writing your letter to the authorities. Inform your
addressee about your reaction to certain events or products.

Describe your problem. First, use a description of the issue you

think is appropriate and then provide some detailed background
information; describe the circumstances that resulted in your
dissatisfaction. Then, expand on the effects and consequences the
problem had—show what damage you’ve suffered.

After you’ve described your problem, you must state what exactly
you want your addressee to do in accordance with the situation.
You can ask him or her to investigate the situation to identify
those responsible for it, demand compensation, ask for some
corrections, and so on. Optionally, you can add a warning; this
may be a threat to have a trial in regard to the case, break a
business partnership, or perform other actions that are
undesirable for the addressee.

Write a closing for your letter. Be polite here; express your hope
for a peaceful and mutually-beneficial resolution of the situation
or your regrets about such an unfortunate misunderstanding.

Topic Selection

Some possible reasons for submitting a complaint letter are:

the poor quality of purchased products or provided servicesthe

laziness of officialsunfair treatmentmisconduct of the authorities
at the workplacethe domination of children by teachers at
schoolcorruptionan infringement of rights Key Points to Consider

What is important to remember about writing and sending

complaint letters is they should be done on time. This is especially
crucial if your complaint refers to products which are covered
within a warranty period. Products purchased through the
Internet often have time limits, during which a customer may
demand a return or replacement of defected parts.

A complaint letter written in a concise manner and straight to the

point is better than a long one filled with unnecessary details.
Complaint letters are often written in short paragraphs and the
length of a whole letter is usually no longer than one page.

It may take some time for your complaint to be satisfied, so

expecting immediate results is unreasonable. However, specifying
an exact date by which you will wait for a response, or expect the
problem to be resolved, will play in your favor.

In the case of several complaint letters being sent to resolve a

single issue and your desired results are still not met, write to
someone who is higher in the chain of command and mention the
inactivity of those of the lower ranks.

Do and Don’t

Do

Do be exact about what you want from your addressee: a refund,

a material consideration, replacement or return of a product, a
coupon, a discount, and so on.Do take some time to cool down
before writing your complaint letter.Do stay clear and straight to
the point. Don’t go into excessive descriptions of how badly set-off
you were by the problem; communicate your case fully, but
without unnecessary details and emotions.Do create a timeline of
events that resulted in the current troublesome situation; avoid
piling up the facts all together. Instead, be organized and concise,
and make it clear to the recipient how the events unfolded.Do
keep paper trails. Save every receipt, every cash-memo, and letter,
and make copies of them. If you are talking with the recipient via
phone, take notes including time, date, and the persons you spoke
to. Don’t

Don’t be rude, sarcastic, or offensive. Be assertive, but stay calm

and polite.Don’t threaten to abuse. You can mention trials in the
case of a recipient refusing to cooperate with you in the solving of
your problem, but you can face serious legal trouble if you
threaten harm, use extortion, or enact any other inappropriate
actions.Don’t blame your recipient, since in most cases the person
to whom you address your complaint letter isn’t responsible for
the wrong inflicted on you. The best way to communicate with
your recipient is to treat the unfavorable situation as a
misunderstanding that can be eliminated due to the cooperation
of both you and your addressee.Don’t forget to attach all the
needed documentation to the letter to prove your complaint.
Don’t send the originals: make copies of important documents,
notarize them if needed, and send them together with the letter
to your recipient.Don’t give up if your first complaint letter had no
effect or remained unanswered. Revise it, if needed, and keep on
sending letters to reach the solution you desire. Common
Mistakes When Writing a Complaint Letter

– Being vague. Since a complaint letter is an important document

that can sometimes even be used in court cases when you choose
to go to the law in order to solve your problem, be as specific as
you can with regards to the incident that occurred, adding names,
dates, and so on.
– Expressing your negative emotions in an offensive way. You can
afford yourself to express reasonable disappointment in your
complaint letter, but not rage.

– Sending a handwritten copy of the complaint letter. This reduces

the seriousness of your claim, especially if the letter contains
grammatical and punctuation mistakes.

– Threatening legal action in your first communication. First of all,

try to negotiate with a resolution to your problem. Mention legal
action only when you see your recipient isn’t willing to satisfy your
requests.