How to Complain

1. Get facts

Before you begin writing your letter, gather the facts. If you have a receipt from a purchase, have that in front of you. Make sure you know the date and time of the incident, as well as the name of the employee responsible, if possible.

2. Know your right and what you want

If the product or service involves a contract, warranty or guaranty, scour the fine print that came with it. You aren't required to limit yourself to the remedies prescribed in these documents, but you should at least know what the company promised. You also should find out who regulates the company, and whether you have additional consumer rights under law.

After your list of complaints, add a paragraph with what you are asking for to make things right. If you went out to eat and the food was terrible, ask for a free meal so you can give their restaurant another chance. If the product was junk, ask for a refund so you can buy a better product elsewhere. If you are just writing to make them aware of a bad situation, tell them that.

3. Be polite & Professional

Start writing your letter. In the first paragraph, try to mention something good about the business or experience. If you have shopped there before without a problem, tell them that. Adding some positive comments will help the overall tone of the letter. If you're writing an email or letter, use proper spelling, grammar and punctuation; if you can't manage that, ask a friend who's a good writer to do it for you. A communication filled with misspellings and typos is a lot easier to dismiss than one that looks as if it came from an educated person who appears reasonable and sufficiently intelligent to cause real trouble if not placated.

Sign your letter and add your name, address and phone number under your signature so that the manager/owner can contact you.

How to Write a Customer Service Complaint Letter

Everyone has had a bad customer service experience and in this day and age, we expect more for our money. By writing a letter explaining what happened, getting a refund or replacement is often possible.

Instructions

1

Before you begin writing your letter, gather the facts. If you have a receipt from a purchase, have that in front of you. Make sure you know the date and time of the incident, as well as the name of the employee responsible, if possible.

2

Scribble down your complaints first. Sometimes after an experience with poor customer service, you might be angry and not thinking rationally. Scribble that all down first and get it out of your system!

3

Figure out who to address