The blender does not blend. Your vacation was spoiled by a late flight. Or the cabinet you bought is as sturdy as wet cardboard.
When products or services fail, it’s easy to feel as if your complaints to the company responsible disappear into a black hole. While there are no magic words, there are a few tricks to help your complaint get a friendlier reading. All it takes is a little finesse, and some good documentation.
“Deal with your emotions,” Meg Marco, executive editor of Consumerist, which is a part of Consumer Reports, said. The most effective letters of complaint are confident and calm, so do not make threats or write in uppercase letters as if you were shouting.
It may feel like ranting helps you communicate how unhappy you are, but stick to the relevant details. Keep your emotions — and sarcasm — in check, or you run the risk of turning your reader against you. Get the shouting out of your system first, then sit down to write.
State your “conditions of satisfaction,” C. William Crutcher, president of the National Customer Service Association, wrote in an email. What are you expecting from the company? Be reasonable, though. The remedy you seek should be proportionate to the problem you experienced. If you had a terrible meal at a restaurant, ask for a refund or credit to a future dinner. Don’t, however, ask for a brand new car just because the tail light went out a month after you drove it off the lot.
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