Letter of complaint
| Introduction In professional activity as well as when buying some products, not always but sometimes we have to complain the products which we have bought. We can notice, for example, that a machine or a computer malfunctions. So precisely and clearly composed a letter of complaint is a basis to reach success. We are sure that what we have put on this page can facilitate the importance and solve problems related with this activity. When you have finished doing the exercises you can check how well you did in our Answers to exercises. If some words or phrases are too tough for you, you can always check the dictionary . Why to use letter of complaint? There are many situations in which you could, and should, write a complaint letter 1.You bought something that broke or didn't live up to the advertising. 2.You had a bad experience in a store, restaurant, or other place of business. 3.You object to something you heard on the radio, or saw in the newspaper or on television. 4.You have a complaint or gripe with local, provincial or federal services. To get satisfaction, you need to write to the person in charge to let them know how you feel. KEEP THESE IN MIND WHEN WRITING. BE COURTEOUS You probably are unhappy or even angry, but you stand a better chance of getting an answer if you are polite. PROVIDE ALL INFORMATION Give all the details of what happened. If the person has all the facts, he or she will be better able to respond. MAKE CLEAR WHAT YOU EXPECT. If you receive a defective product from the manufacturer, ask for a new one. Sometimes the solution isn't so clear, then leave it up to the person to whom you are writing to decide what to do. Some samples to guide you 45 Yanik St. Bellington, NS U8M 4C2 August 21, 1996 Conners Tennis Equipment Suite 2300 5 Lawrence Ave. Ajax, ON Y6P 3G6 Dear Sir or Madam: I am writing to you concerning a tennis racquet on which the grip has come loose after being used only twice. The racket is the V100 Graphite which I purchased at Vale Sports last November. Included is a photocopy of the bill. Before writing to you I approached Mr. John Billings the store manager of Vale Sports. He said the store's obligations were only for three months and that I should contact you. I am asking you to replace the racquet, for the grip should not have come loose after being used only twice. Yours truly, Mary Irving PO Box 758 Brome, BC R7P 3M9 May 8, 1996 Mr. R. Fisk Manager, The Steak House 1500 Highland St.Huntsville, AB K3L 2S1 Dear Mr. Fisk: While eating at your restaurant I was extremely disappointed with your no smoking policy. I asked and was placed in the no smoking section. The table, though, was only one meter away from a table in the smoking section and, with four heavy smokers at that table, we felt we were in the smoking section. If you are going to have a no smoking section, you need to place it far enough away from the smokers or put a barrier to stop the smoke from getting to the no smoking section. As it stands now, the people in the no smoking section gets as much second hand smoke as they would in the smoking section. Although I enjoy your food very much, as a non smoker I would think twice about eating at your restaurant unless something is done to correct the situation. Please let me know when the corrections have been made so I can go back and enjoy your restaurant again. Yours truly, Neil Peters Riverbank High School 364 Riverbank St. Brunswick, Manitoba L2H 5C3 May 23, 1996 Mr. Ralph Martel Editor, The Brunswick Journal 34 Columbus St. Brunswick, Manitoba L2H 5C6 Dear Mr. Martel: I am writing about the article "Student Hooligans Spray-Paint Windows" by John Rider. True, this incident happened, but Mr. Rider's article made all students at Riverbank High School look like hooligans, and that is not correct. He has no proof that Riverbank students spray-painted the store window and, because the school is down the street, he put the blame on us. Even if one or two unruly students of Riverbank were responsible, he writes as if all students are to blame. Does he know that Riverbank has caring students as well. We are the only school to run an Elder Care Program. Students are paired with an elderly person who can't work around their house or apartment. Students help out by shopping, taking out garbage, cleaning and repairing broken articles. Most important is the time they take to visit. Do you also know we have The Green Crusaders, an enviromental student group. They have worked on cleaning up Collin's Creek, manned the recycling center and gone to elementary schools helping develop environmental projects. These are just two of the many positive projects students take part in at Riverbank. I felt Mr. Rider's article was extremely one-sided and I hope this letter balances out his harsh criticism of all students of Riverbank. I suggest Mr. Rider meet with us so he can see who we are and maybe, the next time he writes an article about us, it will turn out to be more balanced. Yours truly, Scott English Student Council President Riverbank High School Exercise 1 Read the following extracts from letters of complaint. Write out the verbs in either the simple past, (e.g. he worked) or the present perfect, (e.g. he has worked). 1. Last year we (not/have) .......................... any serious complaints from our clients, but this year we (already/received) ........................ over twenty. 2. This is not the first time that we (have) ........................... problems with the shipping company. Three months ago they (lose) ........................... a consignment completely and they still (not/find) ............................. out what happened to it. 3. I (look) ......................... into the problem, and it appears that the catalogue (be) .................... out of date. 4. I (receive) .......................... a consignment of furniture from you last week which we (order)....................... on May 12. 5. The error (be) .......................... due to a fault in the computer system which we now (put) ....................... right. 6. Our engineers (recently/find) .............................. a fault with the batch of hard disk drivers that we (manufacture) ............................. in June and July last year. 7. I am writing to apologise for the defective items you (receive) ............................ last month, and to inform you that we (credit) ........................... the sum of 342.67 pounds to your account. 8. Our accounts department (inform) ............................ me that we (not/yet/receive) ................................... payment for the items we (send) ................................. . 9. We (not have) ............................. any business from Winford & Co. since we (make) ............................... an error with an invoice. 10. We (lose) .......................... a number of orders since we (start) .................................. having problems with the switchboard. Exercise 2 Compare the two lists of expressions commonly used in complaints. Match the informal phrases in the first list with their formal equivalents in the second. 1. it's not our fault 2. you should make it right 3. we want our money back 4. you have to pay when the goods are returned to you 5. we will sue you 6. you made a mistake 7. we won't buy anything from you again 8. the goods are rubbish 9. we're complaining about 10. why don't you pay attention ? a. we are sending the consignment to you carriage forward b. we are not responsible for the error c. we would like to complain about ... d. we will have to take legal action e. you seem to have made an error f. the products are not satisfactory g. we will not re-order h. you have not followed our instructions i. please correct the error j. we would like a refund Answers to exercises |