A letter of complaint

A letter of complaint

Learn how to write a letter of complaint.

Do the preparation task first. Then read the text and tips and do the exercises.

Preparation

Reading text

Dear Sir/Madam,

I am writing to express my dismay at the service at your Eden Hill branch on Saturday 14 January.

I often collect prescriptions from the pharmacy on behalf of my grandmother, Mrs Elaine Bingham. On this occasion there were two prescriptions: one for 10 x 50 mg Kendomol and one for 50 x 100 mg Leoprone. I was served quickly even though there appeared to be only one pharmacist on duty. However, as I was leaving I saw that I had been given 500 mg tablets of Kendomol. This is ten times stronger than the prescription called for.

If I hadn't noticed the difference between the prescription and the actual tablets, my grandmother could have taken a dangerous overdose of Kendomol. I would be worried about getting any future prescriptions at Eden Hill.

The pharmacist apologised and corrected the mistake but I wanted to bring it to your attention. I think it happened because there were not enough staff on duty. I understand that mistakes happen but there needs to be a minimum of two pharmacists at all times so all prescriptions can be checked.

I hope you can take steps to make sure this mistake does not happen again.

Yours faithfully,

Roger Bingham

Tips

  1. Focus on the most important facts. Don't give unnecessary background information.
  2. Make sure you include:
    • the reason for writing (e.g. I am writing to ...)
    • what went wrong
    • what you would like to happen now.
  3. Complaint letters are usually written in a formal style.
  4. Use passives to be less direct and more formal, e.g. I was served quickly.
  5. Use Yours faithfully to sign off if you don't know the name of the person you're writing to.

Task 1

Task 2

Task 3

Discussion

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Average: 4 (29 votes)

Submitted by Matthew Pan on Thu, 14/10/2021 - 01:25

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No, I had never made a complaint before.

Submitted by Ehsan on Wed, 30/06/2021 - 18:29

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No' I have ever made complaint.

Submitted by Dibesciak on Wed, 21/04/2021 - 18:23

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I have never made a letter of complaint, I was about to do it last time when I ordered food from Deliveroo, The food was discusting and I really wanted to complain about it.

Submitted by paola_k on Sat, 17/04/2021 - 00:30

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I have never written a letter of complaint, but once I was charged 10 thousand pesos on a credit card that had never been in my hands, someone used an old ID of mine that I have lost to request the plastic and then went to buy so much stuff at Walmart. To solve the problem I had to request an investigation in a federal institution.

Submitted by Kunduz on Sun, 11/04/2021 - 13:47

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Dear Sir/Madam, I am writing to express my dismay at the neighbours, who are smoking on the floor of the house. I already have had a conversation about this problem with these people. Unfortunately I was ignored and they do it till yet. Although i have written a complaint letter to the facility manager i did not get a response. The smoke on the floor is terrible and it is inconvenient to live in the flat. So, I demand to reduce the flat rent and to take steps to make sure this mistake does not happen again in the future. Yours faithfully, Kunduz

Submitted by YED on Wed, 07/04/2021 - 03:24

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Dear Sir/Madam, I am writing to express my dismay for my purchase 's on the Amazon marketplace on Friday 12 September. I often order for my family and me in your"online shop". On this occasion I orderd a pack of 6 pin's. I received them quickly even though it seemed that you sent it from Spain. The problem is that I received only 2 pin's instead of six . Moreover,despite the fact the external enveloppe was very strong, the internal packaging were open. My daughter is very sad as she expected all the 6 pin's we have paid for. I would like to receive them please. I hope you can take steps to make sure this mistake does not happen again. Yours faithfully, AB

Submitted by u201519058 on Mon, 05/04/2021 - 03:34

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Good evening, I have called several times and I have followed all your instructions and even so my computer still does not work and the truth is that the brand was trustworthy and from today's experience I see that it is not. It is the first time that I have problems with this brand, since I have had equipment from this brand and they always worked very well. And the truth is I do not have time to repair it, I need to make several presentations and coordinate meetings so I demand that they make me a change of equipment immediately and have it for today.

Submitted by Mikhail1988 on Thu, 04/03/2021 - 06:18

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Yes, i have. I really don't understand. Why do People walk with the dog in the playground? I have two children: a boy, and a daughter. The boy is four years old and the daughter is two years old. So we often go for a walk in the playground behind our house. The playground is terrible. You can see dog's excrements every where cause people, i suppose, don't have small children and to walk with a dog in the playground for them is normally. Once, i could not stand and spoke out my indignation to woman with a dog about that. I was shocked. She said that she had been living here for a long time and that everyone is doing that.
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Submitted by Hennadii on Tue, 17/11/2020 - 14:50

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Oh, I definitely complained several times. I did it writing a letter (when the Internet wasn't so useable), via emails and, of course, calling. What were the reasons? Honestly, I can't remember now. Obviously, I didn't get what I expected and was so frustrated that wanted to compain. Of course, my intensions to complain weren't only because of bad mood but for trying to change things for better. Someone's work, for example. I think, sometimes everyone needs to get some useful feedback and not only like "wow, you are soooo gooood" but "c'mon, you can do your job better" as well. Let's thell the truth, many people work lousy. Especialy in government organs. If you won't complain about that you will always have bad service.