Writing a letter of complaint

Warm-up questions

1. What would you do if you had a serious problem with a new car or with its repairs/maintenance performed by other people?

2. When do you think people should write letters of complaint?

3. Have you or anyone you know ever written a letter of complaint? Could you share any details?

 

Stages

Letters of complaint usually include the following stages:

1.    Background

2.    Problem - cause and effect

3.    Solution

4.    Warning (optional)

5.    Closing

 

Exercise 4.2.1. Неre are some phrases dealing with car troubles in a typical complaint letter. Put them in the correct order according to the above stages to get a complaint letter.

a) On [date] I asked you to service the above vehicle Toyota Corolla [model, engine capacity]. When I collected the vehicle from you on [date], I was told that you had carried out a “full service”, had diagnosed [particular faults: specify if necessary] and had put these right.

b). The same evening my car wouldn’t start.

c). I look forward to receiving your cheque for [£…..] within the next 14 days.

d). Should you fail to reimburse me I shall have no alternative but to issue a claim against you in the county court for recovery of the money without further reference to you.

e). On date [], […] after the service I noticed a lot of smoke coming from the bonnet.

f) The above faults indicate that you failed to carry out the work on my [vehicle] with reasonable skill and care, using parts of satisfactory quality and fit for their purpose, as laid down by the [Consumer Rights Act 2015 OR Supply of Goods and Services Act 1982], and I am therefore legally entitled to receive compensation from you for breach of contract.

 

Useful phrases

Here are some more introductory phrases to help you deal with your problems at each stage of your complaint letter.

Background	I am writing to inform you that+clause/of +noun I am writing to ask for an explanation of the following issues… Unfortunately, my enjoyment of … was spoiled by a number of organizational problems. I am writing to inform you of my dissatisfaction with + noun
Problem	Cause: Firstly, I had difficulty in + Gerund I found …. totally unworkable. I found out that + clause    Effect: This error put us in a difficult position, as… This caused us considerable inconvenience. This large number of errors is unacceptable to us, and we are therefore unable to… I am writing to ask you to … and to ensure that such errors do not happen again. Could I please ask you to look into these matters. Please send us…
Warning (optional)	Otherwise, we may have to look elsewhere for our supplies. I'm afraid that if these conditions are not met, we may be forced to take legal action. If the fees are not paid by Monday, 5 September 2016, you will incur a 10% late payment fee.
Closing	I look forward to receiving your explanation of these matters. I look forward to receiving your payment. I look forward to hearing from you shortly.

Exercise 4.3.1. Work in groups. Practice filling the gaps in the examples above with your own information.

General tips

Here are some general tips on writing a letter of complaint:

Politeness

The tone of complaint letters should not be aggressive or insulting, as this would annoy the reader and not encourage them to solve the problem. In addition, questions such as 'Why can't you get this right?' should not be included.

Content

The content should contain enough details so that the receiver does not have to write back requesting more.

Legal action is not normally threatened in the first letter of complaint, unless the situation is very serious.

Exercise 4.3.1. Which example is taken from a successful letter of complaint, and which one is unacceptable? Explain why.

Hey there Barry's Restaurant owners! We went to your pathetic establishment last night - the service was awful and the food was a disaster! I complained to the head waiter, but he asked me to put it in writing, so here I am writing and wasting more of my time. Why do you have to be so annoying?

Dear Sir or Madam I am writing to complain about the unacceptable treatment that I received in your restaurant last Friday. First of all, we were given a table just in front of the toilets, although we had booked a different one in advance. Secondly, we had to wait for nearly half an hour to be served. I very much hope that in future you will take care of these mistakes.

 

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