Letter of complaint

a. 開頭: 稱呼

背:Dear ＿＿＿＿＿

例:Dear Ms Lau (知道對方邊位)Dear Sirs(唔知對方咩名)／Dear Editor (投訴去報紙)

b. 第一段: 簡單說明目的(3 句, 約 30 字)

三句論:I____________________, but ______________________./ I _______________. Unfortunately,

_____________________.I am writing to________________./ I feel ____________.

例:We ordered goods from your company, but they have not been supplied correctly. I am writing to
demandarefund./ I feel disappointed.

例: I attended your conference on Chinese and Comparative Law 2007 at City University of Hong Kong
(22-25 January) and found it informative and interesting. Unfortunately, my enjoyment of the event was
spoiled by a number of organisational problems. I am writing to explain each of the problems below.

c. 第二段：說明錯誤的事之因果、時間地點人物(3 句, 約 50 字)

三句論: On _________ I(私人投訴) /we (公司名義) ___________________. ___________ but

________________. It is really __________.

例: On 30 November 2007 we placed an order with your firm for 12,000 ultra super long-life batteries.
The consignment arrived yesterday but contained only 1,200 batteries. It is really annoying.

例:Firstly, I had difficulty in finding the venue. You gave us a map, but I found the facility totally
misleading. Even after asking the security guard about the location, I still could not find the venue.

d. 第三段: 說明錯誤的後果 (3 句, 約 50 字)

三段論: This error put ___________ in a difficult position, as I/we had to _____________________.
This caused us considerable _______________

This error put our firm in a difficult position, as we had to make some emergency purchases to
fulfil our commitments to all our customers. This caused us considerable inconvenience.

e. 第四段:要求賠償 (3 句, 約 50 字)
(強烈語氣版)三段論:
I insist that you look into the matter and _______________________. I enclose a copy of
_______________. If you do not do so, I /we have
to__________________________________________

例:
I insist that you look into the matter and reimburse us for the cost of mailing the defective product back to
you/ refund me for the doctor's fees to the amount of $XXX.I enclose a copy of the doctor's certificate.If
you do not do so, I have to take this matter to the Consumer Council (消費者委員會) / write a letter
about this to the newspaper/ look elsewhere for our supplies.

(溫和語氣版)三論:

I hope that the＿＿＿＿＿ concerned will consider my suggestions and improve the situation as best as
they can.I trust that you will make an effort to ＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿/ Please make
sure this won’t happen again. I look forward to hearing from you.

例: I hope that the authorities concerned will consider my suggestions and improve the situation as best as
they can.I trust that you will make an effort to prevent the recurrence of this kind.I look forward to
hearing from you.

f. 署名:

例: Yours sincerely,
Raymond Lau

Reason for writing:

I am writing in order to complain about

I am writing to complain about
I am writing regarding
I am writing to express my dissatisfaction with
Introducing the complaint:

Topic sentence stating the positive point. + However, + problem….Example:We thoroughly

enjoyed the first week of the holiday. However, after that we experienced a number of problems.
I am (extremely) dissatified / dissapointed with the service / goods that I received / bought
because
First complaint:

Firstly
First of all
The first problem is / was
My first complaint is
My first concern is
The first thing I would like to draw your attention to is
Further complaints:

Secondly
Also
In addition
In addition to this
Added to this
…… is / was also unsatisfactory / unacceptable
Not only ……, but also
To make matters worse,
Furthermore
Mentioning negative consequences:

I'm afraid that…

Unfortunately,
Expressing Dissatisfaction:

It is not acceptable to / that

I am not at all pleased that
I am disappointed because
Demanding action:

I suggest that you replace the item

I therefore suggest that I be given a full refund
I would be grateful if my money was refunded
I would be grateful if you could give me a full refund
I would like to request that
To resolve the problem, I would appreciate it if you could
Ending the letter:

I look forward to hearing from you

I look forward to receiving a full refund
I look forward to receiving a replacement
I look forward to receiving your explanation
I look forward to your reply and a resolution to my problem

Complaint about a Camera

You have bought a new camera but when you got it home you found it had some problems. You
returned the camera and spoke to the company representative a week ago but the camera has
still not been repaired.

Write a letter to the company.

In your letter:

Introduce yourself
Explain the situation
Say what action you would like the company to take

Write at least 150 words