Tuesday, November 5, 2019

How Not to Write a Letter of Complaint

How Not to Write a Letter of Complaint Read the following claim letter as if you were in a position to take care of the writers complaint. Then respond thoughtfully to the questions that follow the letter. Letter of Complaint: Mr. E. Manns Problem With the DooDad Plus Mr. E. Mann345 Brooklawn DriveSavannah, Georgia 31419July 7, 2016PresidentHouse of Thingamajigs160 Prospect StreetSavannah, Georgia 31410SUBJECT: Faulty Products and Inferior ServiceDear Mr. or Ms. President:1 I am writing this letter because I couldn’t get anywhere by talking to the manager of your store. Apparently, she never heard of the old saying, â€Å"The customer is always right.†2 It all started in May when I returned the DooDad Plus to your â€Å"customer service† department because it was missing a part. (I don’t suppose that you have ever tried to assemble a DooDad Plus, but it just can’t be done without all the parts.) This guy in customer service was not exactly the sharpest knife in the drawer, but he spent about half an hour tapping on his computer and eventually told me that the missing part should arrive from the warehouse in three to five days. Three to five days- sure.3 Here it is July, and the thing still hasn’t shown up. The summer is half over, and I still haven’t had a chance to use my DooDad Plus. I’ve been down to your â€Å"customer service† department about a million times over the past two months, and every time somebody taps on the computer and smiles and says the missing part is â€Å"en route from the warehouse.† Where in tarnation is this warehouse- Kandahar?4 So today I went down to your so-called store and dragged the so-called manager out of her coffee break to explain that I was giving up. All I wanted was my money back. (Besides, it turns out that I can get a DooDad Plus from Lowe’s for ten bucks less than what I paid you. Ha!) So what does this lady tell me? That it’s â€Å"against store policy† to refund my money because I had already opened the package and started assembling the DooDad!5 This is insane! I have already reported you to the Better Business Bureau. Now, what are you going to do about it?Sincerely,Mr. E. Mann Questions Keeping in mind the advice offered in the article How to Write  a Letter of Complaint, explain whats wrong with the overall tone of Mr. E. Manns letter. How might the writers tone undermine his apparent purpose in writing the letter?What information in this letter should probably be omitted because its not directly relevant to the writers complaint?Some of the information thats typically provided in the opening paragraph of an effective complaint is missing from Mr. E. Manns introduction. What useful information is missing?Offer a critique of the body paragraphs in Mr. E. Manns letter. What useful information is missing? What unnecessary information obscures his claim?Some of the information thats typically provided in the closing paragraph of an effective complaint is missing from Mr. E. Manns conclusion. What useful information is missing?Based on your responses to the questions above, revise Mr. E. Manns letter, altering the tone, clarifying the claim, and omitting unnecessary d etails.

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