When I don’t know the name or gender of a formal letter’s intended recipient, is there an alternative to opening with "Dear Sir/Madam ".
I’ve always thought that it sounded really clunky and using it has always made me cringe. So, do I have any alternatives or am I just going to have to try and get over my dearsir/madamphobia?
“Dear Sirs” is the best substitute I know of, in the hope that you won’t offend a female recipient because it’s fairly nonspecific. “To whom it may concern” seems way too stuffy. But “Sir\Madam” irritates me intensely as well. Sigh.
The problem is that many companies don’t like to give a name, or even the gender of a likely recipient. Not unreasonable, but still irritating.
If I’m sending a ‘pissed off’ letter, all I put is the date, and then I charge right into my rant. I never get responces to these letters, but it sure feels good.
You can simply omit the salutation altogether if “Dear Sir or Madam” really bothers you. Use a professional title if possible. I would avoid “To whom it may concern” since it sounds cold and indifferent (I believe it originated in legal correspondence and has slight antagonistic connotations).
“Greetings” is nice though I’m not sure it is appropriate in formal correspondence - you be the judge.
If at all possible, I find out the name and title of a live human being to address the letter to. If I can’t do that, I use “Dear Madam or Sir.” If you don’t like that, my three suggestions would be:
– Use a general title, like “Dear Customer Service Representative;”
– Address the letter to the company, like “Dear General Motors;”
– Do away with the salutation altogether by using a memo format instead of a letter format: “To: General Motors/ From: Mr. Scroph.”
But personally I find all of those to be more stilted than “Dear Madam or Sir,” so that’s what I continue to use (but only after I’ve made an effort to find a live human being to address, and haven’t been able to). Other salutations like “Greetings!” strike me as particularly tinny, though obviously YMMV.
And I always use “Madam or Sir,” not “Sir” or “Sirs.” Chances are about even that your letter will land in the hands of a woman, and she may not agree with the assertion that the masculine forms of address include the feminine. I’m a woman, and I don’t buy it myself. It’s not like it’s that much harder to use a generalized salutation that correctly acknowledges that the recipient might be of either gender.
My mother uses “Dear People”, but I always thought that sounded a little odd. I use “To Whom It May Concern”, brick-over-the-wall concerns notwithstanding.
Just a for few more ideas, here, you could also use “Respected Correspondant:”, or maybe “Honored Colleague:”.
Of course, in my line of work, it’s easy. You just call everyone “doctor”, because they probably are, and even if they’re not, they probably won’t be upset at being called one.
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I hope you take this complaint seriously, or else the next correspondence will be from my lawyer or one of the members of my lawyer’s lawhive, and then we’ll see who’s collective ass gets assimilated!
Thank-you for your parallel-processed attention to this matter.