How to Write an Effective Angry Consumer Letter

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By tlperl
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Write an Effective Angry Consumer Letter

We’ve all been a victim of bad customer service at one time or another. It can leave you feeling angry, powerless and wondering “What happened to ‘the customer is always right?’” Well, a well-written and persuasive letter of complaint can often get you action, and at the very least, allow you to get the frustration off your chest.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

Computer and printer
Supporting documents

Step 1

Address your letter to the right person. Go to the company’s website. At the bottom of the page, there will often be a “contact us,” “about us,” and/or a “corporate” link. You can email the company through the “contact us” link, but I prefer to send a printed letter by snail mail addressed to the company president, and copy it to the vice president of customer service or consumer affairs and even to the district managers or manager of the store you had the problem with. You can usually find the names and addresses of these folks at the corporate link, or google the company’s name to track this info down.

You’d be surprised how well this works. I had an ongoing problem with my computer and finally resorted to writing the president of the company. Someone from his office actually called me and referred me to someone who got the problem taken care of, so always include your current contact information, with name, address, phone numbers and email address.
Step 2

Begin your letter by telling them what a good customer you've been and how you hope your complaint can be heard and resolved. It could read something like this: “Dear Mr. Smith, I’ve been a loyal customer of your company for many years. However, I recently had a distressing situation occur at one of your stores or with one of your products, that I’m hoping you can help me resolve.”
Step 3

Be succinct. Describe the situation clearly and try to keep it down to two or three paragraphs. If they want or need more detail, they’ll contact you for it.
Step 4

Be specific. Include dates, times, names and copies of receipts or any other supporting information you have. Make sure you hang on to the original documents, though.
Step 5

Suggest how you would like to situation to be resolved. Be realistic. Don’t ask for the moon or a million dollars, or even a new computer or car. Do ask for a repair at no charge. Do ask for a replacement product or a full refund. If your complaint is about a person or action, ask that your letter be forwarded to personnel.
Step 6

Be professional, polite and positive. Do not use profanity or threats. Use emotional phrases to describe how you feel, like “disappointed,” “frustrated,” and “unpleasantly surprised,” instead of “angry” or “furious.” Use the spell check function. Print your letter on decent paper and sign it in pen. Mail it return receipt. Keep copies for your files.
Step 7

If you don’t hear from anyone in a month, send a follow-up letter or call the home office and ask for the person to whom you addressed the original complaint. If you still don't get a response, try posting your complaint on consumer web sites to alert others to your situation.

Comments

Slimboy said

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on 6/9/2007 Nice. This one regarding consumer complaint letter is really a good one. I had learnt it hard way myself by making vain phone calls for nealy 3 months to samsung on the problem with my DVD.It ended up only with false promises and no action. The local managers are lazy to take up the case and Head office is totally depended on them to take action. Hmmphh..