If you’ve ever had your bank give you strife or suffered at the hands of an airline that seems to think the first 12 hours of your holiday should be spent in a departure lounge then I’m sure you’ve felt the urge to complain. It isn’t uncommon for many people to feel awkward or even scared at the thought of making a complaint. Some might even refuse to complain on the grounds that it is considered a rude thing to do. My take on it is simple. If I have paid money for something I expect to receive it, otherwise I will make a complaint. There is no reason to be nervous or apprehensive if you are in the right. And for all those who think it is rude to complain, surely if a company takes you money and fails to provide the service promised then that that in itself must be a shining example of rudeness?

In this article I am going to tell you how to complain in a way that will get results.  With the economy not doing too well at the moment I think it’s inevitable that many companies will cut back of the customer service budgets in order to cut costs. So you may find this advice coming in handy soon.

There are two approaches to complaining, in writing and in person.

Where possible you should complain in writing. Most companies and similar organisations train their staff in how to deal with people making complaints in person. If you end up having to make a complaint to such a person you may find yourself getting frustrated as they refuse to give an inch, or worse still try to pass the blame back on to you. Also, when complaining verbally there will be no proof of what was said during the conversation. The customer service representative might promise you the earth just to get rid of you, but when you wonder why nothing came of that promise you will have no proof that it was ever mentioned. Another risk to complaining in person is that you might loose your temper. It doesn’t matter how much merit your complaint has, if you loose your temper with a staff member you are pretty much giving the whole organisation permission to ignore you.

Complaining in person is frustrating, can cause more problems than it solves and doesn’t really get results. Although making a complaint in writing is usually better, sometimes you may be forced to complain in person, for example when a flight is delayed. In these instances all I can say is smile and be nice, the hard pressed customer service representative will appreciate it.

The Steps to Making a Complaint

Step 1 - When the problem occurs.

To make an effective complaint you should start preparing as soon as the incident or problem occurs. This means gathering evidence that might support a later complaint. For example if a flight is delayed, note the times when the delay was announced and the names of any staff you interacted with. Keep receipts of any expenditure the delay caused you to incur. If other people are encountering the same problem exchange contact details in case you need to contact them again. If you suffer damage to your property take photographs and get the contact details of any witnesses. If a bank makes a mistake on your account keep all documentation and letters, including the envelopes. Again, like the delayed flight scenario above, log the dates and times of all interactions, as well as the names of staff. The more evidence you can gather relating to the problem or incident the stronger your hand will be when you actually make the complaint.

Step 2 - Work out if you are in the right.

You should only complain when you are totally blameless. A lot of people may take the attitude that if they complain loudly enough they will get what they want, even when they are to blame. This isn’t a very gentlemanly attitude to take, it’s rude to the people you are dealing with and they will only end up resenting you for being such a nincompoop. You’ll also be spoiling things for genuine complainants as the organisation will be diverting resources to deal with a complaint of little merit.

Step 3 - Start researching.

This is when you start building your case. This entails finding out what laws you have on your side and what rights you have. You might want to use the internet to find out what other people with similar complaints have done previously. Or you might even research the organisation you will be complaining to in order see what their reputation is like or their attitudes to complainants. It is also a good idea to read the corporate information they publish, in particular any mission statements or customer service charters. You can take this to extremes if you really want to. For example in the United Kingdom and Ireland you can use their respective Data Protection Acts to force a company to hand over all information they have about you for payment of a fixed nominal sum (£10 in the UK). The amount of effort you put in to researching should be proportionate to the seriousness of the complaint.

Step 4 - Finding out who to complain to.

Most organisation have a defined complaints procedure and will insist that you follow it. Deviating from their defined path will probably result in you either being told to write to someone else or to have your complaint ignored. Following the company procedure can also help in the long term should you be forced to take legal action in the future. By following the official complaint procedure you have shown that you were willing to work with the company to resolve the situation. To find out what the complaints procedure for a particular organisation is visit the their website or call their head office. If you can get the name of a person to address the complaint to, then that’s even better.

For smaller organisations, such as independent stores, you should address your complaint to the manager of the branch/office you dealt with.

Some people will say that you should complain directly to the chief executive in the first instance. This rarely works since you complaint will almost certainly be intercepted by a secretary or assistant who will send your letter straight to the complaints department. The right time to address your complaint to the chief executive is when your first complaint fails to get the result you desired.

Step 5 - Write the letter.

The complaint letter should be carefully crafted in a such a was as to make your intentions quite clear, to obligate to the organisation to act and to prevent them from using excuses to reject or ignore your complaint.

Complaint letters generally have five parts:

The Introduction

This is the standard ‘ Dear So and So…’ followed by a clear and concise description of the problem along with the repercussions. E.g. “Dear Sir/Madam, I recently bought a washing machine from you that broke down… … as a result I have not been able do any laundry for nearly four weeks”.

The Evidence

State what evidence you have to back up you complaint. E.g. “You claimed the flight was cancelled due to adverse weather conditions, yet other airlines continued to fly the exact same route without any delay”.

The Want

State what you wish the organisation to do in order to satisfy your complaint. E.g. “I would like to return the faulty bicycle and receive a full refund of the purchase price”.

The Backup

State what laws, regulations, etc can be used to enforce your complaint. E.g. “Seeing as the washing machine has never worked as described I believe I am entitled to a full refund under the terms of the Trades Descriptions Act”.

The Wrap-up

A few lines to finish the letter and obligate the organisation to respond to you. E.g. “I look forward to your reply within 14 days and and hope that this matter can be resolved quickly. Yours etc, etc”.

There are certain do’s and dont’s when writing a letter of complaint.

The Do’s

• Do remember this is a business letter. Use business language and where possible refer to businesses, laws and regulation by their proper title. E.g. “Consumer Law Act (1982)” and not just “Consumer Law”.
• Do try to address the letter to specific person and not just “Dear Sir/Madam”.
• Do try to anticipate how the company will respond to your complaint and try to pre-empt the responses you don’t want. E.g. “I understand you are under no legal obligation to refund my hotel costs during the delay, but the delay was exceptionally long”.
• Do check your spelling and grammar. The more professional you appear the more likely your complaint will be taken seriously.
• Do check your facts, in particular your legal rights.
• Do include your full contact details.
• Do date the letter.
• Do type or word process the letter and use good quality paper and envelopes.

The Dont’s

• Don’t apologise, you have nothing to apologise for.
• Don’t say “I would be grateful”, you aren’t begging.
• Don’t say ‘I think’, say ‘I believe’ instead as it implies that you have done your research.
• Don’t be rude or sarcastic, no matter how tempting it is. It is un-gentlemanly and your letter may be binned if you do.
• Don’t get emotional, remember this is a business letter.
• Don’t accuse named individuals of bad service or make personal accusations unless it is really, really deserved.
• Don’t demand unreasonable or exaggerated recompense.
• Don’t make generalised accusations such as “Your company is unbelievably
• incompetent”. Stick to the facts of your complaint.
• Don’t threaten to withdraw your custom, if they are a big organisation they may not care about losing one customer and therefore not see any point in dealing with your complaint.
• Don’t quote non-existent laws or regulations.
• Don’t include original documents, they may get lost. Use photocopies instead.
• Don’t threaten legal action during the initial stages of the complaint. You have to give the organisation a chance to manage your complaint before you can consider taking the matter to the courts.

Once you have written your letter should should sign it and post it to the organisation using registered post so that you have proof of posting.

Now the countdown begins. They may accept or reject your complaint, they might contact you to discuss the matter or they may just ignore it.

If they accept your complaint, then HURRAH and congratulations! If they contact you to discuss the matter be careful what you say and if possible keep it all in writing. If they ignore you or reject your complaint, then you may have to take it to the next level.

The Next Level

In most cases the next level means writing to someone higher up in the organisation. Possibly the director of customer services or even the chief executive. The process is the same as before, except you should add a brief history of your communications with the organisation thus far and explain why you are taking the complaint further. This is the time to mention legal action, but don’t directly threaten it though. It is best to indirectly hint with wording such as “If I do not receive the full refund I believe I am entitled to, I may be forced to seek legal advice”. Every organisation worth its salt will know what that really means. A direct legal threat may make some companies break off all contact with you. In fact there are documented cases of banks closing accounts when customers have threatened legal action.

If you still don’t receive the outcome you desired then you may actually be forced to see a solicitor, ombudsman or maybe a trade body that represents the organisation concerned. How you would go about this is outside the remit of this article, but what I can say in most places in the world there will usually be an easy to use and cheap legal process to deal with matters where the total sums of money involved aren’t too high.

Finally, Keep it in Perspective

This is a very long and detailed article containing a lot of advice. To put it all in to practice when for a small complaint would be wasted effort. So to finish off this article my last piece of advice would be to say that you should not get too worked up over little issues, spending ages writing a carefully crafted letter over a small sum (e.g. a disputed EUR15 bank charge) would be pointless and wasted effort. The amount of effort you put in to a making a complaint should be reflect the seriousness of the issue concerned. Complain smarter, not longer!

I do hope this article had proven interesting and useful. If you have any complaining tips of you own please feel free to leave a comment.