Writing a Complaint Letter

There are many occasions in which consumers feel cheated or abused by the actions, shoddy workmanship or failed promises of corporations big or small. While your reactions to such a situation will invariably negative, common sense and a little bit of tact can often have the situation remedied. Your first course of action, provided that the situation is not an emergency, should be to write a complain letter. Often a well written complaint letter can have the desired effect whether that is a simple apology, a refund or an exchange.

Your primary consideration when drafting a complaint letter should be to achieve your desired effect, not to rant at someone for your own satisfaction. Thus, your first aim should be to write to someone who has the power to address your complaint. A little careful research should reveal the names and email addresses of either the head of the customer service department or the president of the company. Make sure that you are specific when describing your complaint. Begin by describing the nature of the issue: the model and serial number of the defective product, the date and location of purchase and the nature of defect. In the case of poor service give the name of the customer service representative and the exact nature of your complaint. You should also indicate what you expect to have done about the incident-what would make you satisfied.

You should always include copies of all relevant documentation for your complaint. If you have the original receipts, repair receipts or copies of a manufacturers warranty you should make photocopies of them to send with your letter. Always keep the originals of such documents. The effect of such documents is to lend credibility to your complaint.

When writing your complaint letter, you should assume as formal a style as possible. The most important aspects to a formal complaint letter are objectivity and specificity. As previously stated, describe the nature of the problem briefly and specifically. You should not use a complaint letter as an opportunity to give full vent to your frustration-not if your want to achieve your objective. Realize that the person to whom you are writing in all likelihood had nothing to do with your grievance. Therefore you should be as respectful as possible. Type your letter and make sure that it obeys the conventions of a formal letter as much as possible. Keep a copy of your letter for your own records. If the matter is of some urgency, send the letter return receipt requested so that your will be able to prove that they received it.

A complaint letter is a first step in having a complaint addressed. If your letter is written appropriately, you may be able to have the situation remedied with no further fuss. If your complaint is not addressed to your satisfaction you will want to be able to prove that you attempted to reach an amicable settlement to your dispute with the company in question. Consumer affairs bureaus will want to know that you wrote a formal complain letter if the matter remains unresolved.