Writing an effective letter of complaint to an organisation that you feel has treated you unfairly is not difficult. However, customer complaints, like revenge, are best served cold.
Firing off a letter in red ink in which you criticise the entire staff of the company in question, abuse the innocent recipient and demand compensation with menaces may provide temporary satisfaction but this will certainly not earn you the redress you may deserve.
The key to writing an effective complaint letter is to give yourself time to gather all of the information you need and to be clear in your mind about the sequence of events that has resulted in your need to write and complain.
Once the initial anger or frustration has subsided you can begin to make your case for complaint with a lessened risk of resorting to emotive or abusive language in your complaint letter.
Once you are ready to write your letter of complaint the following rules will help to ensure that your letter of complaint is as effective as it can be and will obtain the desired result.
1: Write to a named contact within the organisation
Addressing your letter of complaint to an anonymous entity such as 'The Manager' or 'The Head of Customer Services' is likely to see your complaint letter treated with the same urgency that you would treat a letter addressed to 'The Occupier'. Using the internet, or by discreetly calling the company get the name and title of someone with sufficient authority to be able to help you and address your letter to them. If the recipient is female, endeavour to find out whether their preferred salutation is Miss, Mrs or Ms.
2: Be specific and concise when detailing the nature of your complaint
Don't ramble or adopt an argumentative stance, but simply state the precise reason for your complaint and quote any facts or supporting evidence which may help your case. (for example, "I spoke to Mr Smith in your Complaints Department on March 6th and he advised me to write to you with my invoice number" etc.) Remember to include copies of receipts, relevant emails or any other correspondence with your letter but do not send originals.
3: Tell the company how you'd like your complaint to be resolved
There would be no point in writing a letter of complaint unless you wanted to seek redress. If you believe you are owed a full refund or compensation and can support your claim then go ahead and ask. However, depending upon the nature and timing of your complaint you may obtain a better result by placing the ball in the organisation's court and asking them what they are prepared to do in order to resolve your complaint satisfactorily.
4: Demonstrate your awareness of appropriate consumer law if necessary
If you can quote relevant legislation, such as the Distance Selling Regulations or the Sale of Goods and Services Act 1982 for example, in support of your complaint then it is more likely to be taken seriously and dealt with effectively. Don't be tempted to use legislation as a threat against the company though; your letter of complaint should remain polite but assertive.
5: Set a timeframe in which you'd like to receive a response to your letter
It's reasonable to allow a period of time for the company to pursue its own investigation of your complaint and to formulate a resolution but in order to prevent your complaint from dragging on suggest a date by which they must reply to your letter and if this is not met, begin a process of chasing and escalation. Make sure that your letter of complaint includes as many contact details as you can supply (home phone number, mobile number, email address, postal address etc.) so that there can be no excuse on the company's part for not being able to respond to you.
Remember that you are the one that has been driven to write a letter of complaint, so there is no cause to include the phrases "I'm sorry" or "I apologise" anywhere within that letter.
Firing off a letter in red ink in which you criticise the entire staff of the company in question, abuse the innocent recipient and demand compensation with menaces may provide temporary satisfaction but this will certainly not earn you the redress you may deserve.
The key to writing an effective complaint letter is to give yourself time to gather all of the information you need and to be clear in your mind about the sequence of events that has resulted in your need to write and complain.
Once the initial anger or frustration has subsided you can begin to make your case for complaint with a lessened risk of resorting to emotive or abusive language in your complaint letter.
Once you are ready to write your letter of complaint the following rules will help to ensure that your letter of complaint is as effective as it can be and will obtain the desired result.
1: Write to a named contact within the organisation
Addressing your letter of complaint to an anonymous entity such as 'The Manager' or 'The Head of Customer Services' is likely to see your complaint letter treated with the same urgency that you would treat a letter addressed to 'The Occupier'. Using the internet, or by discreetly calling the company get the name and title of someone with sufficient authority to be able to help you and address your letter to them. If the recipient is female, endeavour to find out whether their preferred salutation is Miss, Mrs or Ms.
2: Be specific and concise when detailing the nature of your complaint
Don't ramble or adopt an argumentative stance, but simply state the precise reason for your complaint and quote any facts or supporting evidence which may help your case. (for example, "I spoke to Mr Smith in your Complaints Department on March 6th and he advised me to write to you with my invoice number" etc.) Remember to include copies of receipts, relevant emails or any other correspondence with your letter but do not send originals.
3: Tell the company how you'd like your complaint to be resolved
There would be no point in writing a letter of complaint unless you wanted to seek redress. If you believe you are owed a full refund or compensation and can support your claim then go ahead and ask. However, depending upon the nature and timing of your complaint you may obtain a better result by placing the ball in the organisation's court and asking them what they are prepared to do in order to resolve your complaint satisfactorily.
4: Demonstrate your awareness of appropriate consumer law if necessary
If you can quote relevant legislation, such as the Distance Selling Regulations or the Sale of Goods and Services Act 1982 for example, in support of your complaint then it is more likely to be taken seriously and dealt with effectively. Don't be tempted to use legislation as a threat against the company though; your letter of complaint should remain polite but assertive.
5: Set a timeframe in which you'd like to receive a response to your letter
It's reasonable to allow a period of time for the company to pursue its own investigation of your complaint and to formulate a resolution but in order to prevent your complaint from dragging on suggest a date by which they must reply to your letter and if this is not met, begin a process of chasing and escalation. Make sure that your letter of complaint includes as many contact details as you can supply (home phone number, mobile number, email address, postal address etc.) so that there can be no excuse on the company's part for not being able to respond to you.
Remember that you are the one that has been driven to write a letter of complaint, so there is no cause to include the phrases "I'm sorry" or "I apologise" anywhere within that letter.
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