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 (46 votes)

Submitted by DarinkaMo on Sat, 19/02/2022 - 04:28

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Dear Ms Thompson:
Im introduce myself, Im Danika, and Im a regular client of you restaurante because I think that is a nice place to spend a good time in family.

But in this time I'm writing to express my dismay at the service the last time that I visited your place, because the service was slow and when the food arrived, it was super cold.

I think it happened because the waitress was using all the time her cellphone, I suggest to check and regularize if is possible the use of this electronic.
Sincerely DM

Submitted by Abrarhussain on Mon, 17/01/2022 - 23:47

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No, I have never made a complaint.

Submitted by Suraj paliwal on Sun, 07/11/2021 - 13:45

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Yes, I have made a complaint about bad network issue in my area. I have faced many problems due to bad internet connection. But unfortunately my complaint has not resolved yet.

Submitted by Stela Stoycheva on Tue, 02/11/2021 - 23:01

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Yes, I do it complaint many times ... about different services
Mobile operator, purchased item, bill for water... I`m not complaint kind of person, but from any places and people think we are monkey... :/
The results is just "Sorry", "That never had again"....

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