Writing a Complaint Letter

mobile phone and notebook on a table

Although the desire to write a complaint letter against a certain company might come from an upset position, it has to always remain objective and should never be written from an anger-based mood. It is of course impossible for businesses to remember all the likes and dislikes of their customers, so, inevitably, there is always a scope for complaining too. If your business is experiencing any negative criticism or any complaints from its customers, then it’s important that you take the time to write your customer complaint letter. Before you start to complain, analyze whether the complaint you are about to write is valid or not. If the complaint is valid, try and find out what went wrong. In this way, you’ll know exactly what to complain about and what not to.

Business Complaint

Most business letter examples will provide you with an appropriate time limit within which to lodge your complaint. Usually, the time limit is around one to five days, which is ample time for you to write and compose your letter. But bear in mind that you shouldn’t take this time limit as a sign that you have to compromise the truth. You can always write your letter without any restriction time limit.

Formal Letter

Complaint letters are usually accompanied by formal letters. These formal letters are mostly used for proofreading purposes, but they are also useful in helping you understand how to format your complaint letter properly. These letters are usually structured according to the following pattern: the sender’s name, address, and date; the date, place, and cause of complaint; names and addresses of witnesses; an outline of the facts that you are going to dispute; and finally, the conclusion. The sender’s name is usually placed in the first line, followed by the name of the company, and finally by the date on which the complaint was received. The date, place, and cause of the complaint to determine when the letter needs to be filed with the appropriate office. If the case is not that serious, your letter should be filed with the consumer agency within three months.

a man writing a complaint letter

Important Guidelines

In addition, there are some very important guidelines on how to format complaint letters. For instance, if you are a small business owner and you have just received a letter from your customer service department regarding negative feedback, your first line should read “acknowledgment received”. This will ensure that your customer does not feel belittled at the very least. On the other hand, if you are a large company that has been dealing with a similar case for a few years, your complaint letter should read more like a threatening statement: “I demand that you return the money or otherwise I will file a claim against your company.”

There are several more guidelines on how to format complaint letters. If you are not sure how to go about it, you can hire a professional. An agency will provide you with enough templates and forms needed to handle all kinds of complaints and issues. However, you can also learn how to format your own letters by using any one of the hundreds of templates available online at affordable prices.

Reference Letter

Reference letter examples can give you an idea of how to go about writing your complaint letter. For instance, you can include an offer to rectify the problem or to reimburse your customers for the damages they incurred. In addition, you can include information about the company’s reputation in the past, as well as its mission and philosophy. These are all important details you should include in your reference letter so that you can convince your customer service representative to take further action.

Overall

If in doubt whether the complaint letter is correctly written, a professional can always be consulted to provide some advice.