Letter of Complaint

When you are writing a letter of complaint, your ultimate goal is to be heard. If you want to be heard, you need to be credible, you need to provide evidence or information to support your complaint, and you need to articulate your complaint clearly. If you distort what you are saying, your evidence, or your emotions, your reader is far less likely to take you seriously and as a result, far less likely to take any action as a result of what you are saying.

In summary, a letter of complaint is written for the following purposes: To let the company, organization, or business know you are dissatisfied; To let them know the reasons for your dissatisfaction; To get them to pay attention to your complaint; To get them to make changes to their product, services or policies; so that future customers or clients may benefit; To get them to compensate you for your loss (time and/ or money).

Be CLEAR Make sure the information you provide is clearly explained. You need to tell them who, what, when, where, why, and how. Who are you? What are you writing about? When did the problem or incident of which you are writing occur? Why do you think this is complaint worthy? How do you propose they fix the problem or compensate you for your loss?

Who is the person? The first person to read your letter of complaint may not be the person on whom the responsibility for the issue ultimately rests. Plan for this possibility; make sure the person who reads it first can figure out what you want them to do next. It might be helpful to call the company to find out who would deal with your issue before you start to compose your letter. This way you will not only cut through some of the intermediary steps, your reader will know that you are serious and willing to see this process through to the end.

Be Reasonable Even if you are angry or disappointed it is essential that you make every effort to sound rational. If you are simply ranting or if you use inappropriate language or name-calling, it is not likely that your complaint will be taken seriously. It is important that the parts and sections of your complaint are logical and help your audience to see your point of view.

What do you think? Look at the following excerpts from letters of complaint. Consider why they would be effective or not effective. Compare your ideas with the analysis which follows the examples.

Excerpt:                                                                                          

What might be going through the reader's mind?

Excerpt 2

What might be going through the reader's mind?