The 10-point plan to the perfect letter of complaint

The Financial Services Authority is pushing ahead with plans to force companies to publish complaints figures every six months, with those who receive the most complaints having to reveal the percentage resolved within eight weeks.

But consumers will have to wait until July next year to view the first set of figures. In the meanwhile, Times Money has decided to name and shame the five companies it receives most complaints about.

If dreadful customer service drives you mad, don't just accept it, follow our ten tips to write the perfect letter of complaint. 

1.  Be clear about what you want

Before you start writing be clear in your mind why you are dissatisfied. Was it the way you were treated? A wrong decision? Defective goods? Then decide what you want to happen as a result of your letter. Are you after an apology or a refund? Do you want to highlight the proper service that should have been provided to you? Make sure you know precisely what it is you want to flag to the organisation and what you expect the addressee to do about it.

2. Stay calm

Make a cup of tea and start writing your letter in a relaxing, quiet environment. Don't let the emotion of the moment control you, and don't be afraid to use humour.

3. Know your rights

Complaints are best made with confidence: "I am entitled to...", not "I think I am entitled to...".

So make sure you understand your rights before you start and write with authority.

4. Personalise

Your letter should be addressed to a name- typically the customer services manager- rather than sir or 'Sir/Madam'.

5. Be specific

Make it easy for the organisation to recognise your case by including specifics, such as details of the product or service, the date of purchase, if appropriate, and names of staff you have dealt with. If you have a reference, agreement or account number, write it clearly at the top of your letter. 

6. Send paperwork

State what evidence you have of your mistreatment- a receipt, or photos of a botched job, for example. Send photocopies of any relevant paperwork attached to your letter, but make sure you keep the originals yourself.

7. Keep it brief

Remember the person that will read your letter is likely to be busy and more prepared to deal with your problem if you make his or her life easier. Keep your complaint straightforward and to the point. Use bullet points and sub headings.

8.  Template letters

For more ideas on how to word your letter you can follow a template. You might find the example letters from Consumer direct and Howtocomplain.com useful.

9. Track it

Send your letter recorded/special delivery or with proof of posting from the post office so you can check it has been received. Make sure you keep a copy a personal copy of your letter, too.

10. Be patient but persistent

 If you do not get a reply to your letter write again after a reasonable time, say 7-14 days.

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Comments

[Brian Bloch]

Sadly, none of this will help at all if the firm is absolutely determined not to admit anything or pay one pound of damages. This is all too common.

[Tom Foster]

And for God's sake, don't be facetious. Or sarcastic, or ironic. Those techniques may work in person, or in a letter to a sympathetic reader, but in a complaint letter they just sound facile and childish.

It's appropriate to personalise the letter to to the recipient, but try to remove all trace of your personality from it. Brisk and professional is good; idiom and rhetoric is bad.

[Andrew Milner]

Include a copy of your Press card. That gets their attention.

[John]

Larger firms tend to be better to deal with. Unfortunately they can't help but employ muppets from lower down the food chain. I get the impression their customer service departments know this and will do their best to accommodate complaints

[Alex]

You forgot rule number 11:

Worse case scenario, get on Youtube and make a song about how upset you are!

[Dion Per Sona]

It is also a very good idea to research the records the firm holds about the transaction in question, prior to making a complaint. You can do this through a series of quite bland enquiries, prior to even mentioning that you have a complaint.

Then, when you are ready to complain, instead of talking about yourself and how you feel about what went wrong, you can retrace the history of the transaction in extremely fine detail, and lead to a "Conclusion" paragraph (or page) which draws the threads of your complaint together. Include copies of key documents.

Send your letter to the company secretary, registered-signed-for delivery.

[Michael]

Over the last year I've had two problems with very very big household name companies, and each time felt like their 'customer service' departments couldn't care less. So I've written clear, concise, and above all polite, letters to their chief executives using the e-mail addresses available on various consumer websites. On both occasions I received a phone call from someone in head office within the hour and everything was quickly sorted out. Plus you wouldn't believe how low my mobile tariff is now :)

[Rachel]

It really doesn't surprise me that BT is one of the top most complained about companies. Everytime I've had a problem the service has been atrocious.

Europcar are also terrible - my friends and I hired a car from them in April and it was 6 hours late arriving, the staff were rude, eventually the manager assured us we'd get our money back if we wrote to Customer Relations so we did, but were then told we wouldn't be getting a penny. Unless you want your holiday ruined, don't go near Europcar, it's not worth the stress!

[D Bradbury]

You should see this one! It's class.

http://bit.ly/D3Tg

[Carlos]

Point 4 "Your letter should be addressed to a name- typically the customer services manager- rather than sir or 'Sir/Madam'."

No, you should write the head of the company. If it is a public company, this is information that you are entitled to have and should push for (as well as a postal address). Top down remains the best way to complain and is usually quicker than bottom up.

[Lawrence E.N.]

I have a problem with a high street bank refusing me a car Loan , I checked my credit reference file which were perfect , I wrote a letter to that bank and was told , nothing to do with credit reference agency report your credit history is good , but your my credit scores are low
and surprise to know they do not want to disclose how it work out .
I believe it is a breach of contract of Credit Act 1974 for not disclosing what method they are using to calculate your credit score and refuse you without any proper reason .
The financial services Authority should take a notice of this and rectified the situation as banks are spoiling the creditabilty of customers unfairly and illegally .

[Renaldo]

LAWRENCE E.N, maybe people might take you more seriously if you could form a coherent sentence.