How to write a complaint letter

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

Recently, I stayed in a hotel I’ve stayed in for the past sixteen years . I’ve been staying in this hotel for anywhere from 7-14 days a year. I sometimes book work crews, meetings and conferences there. I also stay there on personal travel, but no more than a day or two a year.

They have NEVER had a pet fee. In fact, when I stayed there more often the desk staff knew the name of my dog and would greet him by name, but forget my name at check-in.

The last time I stayed there, I didn’t have a pet but asked about the pet fee. It had gone from no charge to $25 PER NIGHT!

So I wrote a complaint letter.

And now I will never be charged a pet fee at that motel. I have the name of a person who will personally ensure that I will not be charged.

So here’s how to write a complaint letter, that will absolve you of pet fees, get you moved from the lowest price room to the bridal suite, get you free repairs on your car, get your annual credit card fee waived (at least in my experience). But no more than two sentences on each topic, no more than three paragraphs and no more than 3/4’s of a page.

You have done GREAT service in the past (with examples)
I’ve been a customer for this long
I’ve recommended you to friends

I had this problem
Steps were made to solve the problem (or not)
That didn’t work

Because of the problem, I choose to go somewhere else
I don’t really want to go somewhere else
If I go somewhere else, I dont’ know you and can’t recommend you
I sure wish I could be your customer again, but you have to . . .

Sincerely,

loyal customer
whistlepig

p.s. The hotel was a Starwood hotel
p.p.s. Holiday did not respond to the same letter

2

You do indeed have the best formula for a complaint letter, whistlepig. My wife is a master at the complaint letter, and doesn’t hesitate to send one off if she feels she has been wronged and I am always the one who proofs them before she sends them out.

3

That’s all good stuff, but I would add, “Tell them what remedy you want.”

4

That’s pretty much the formula I use, and I have had much success with it.

I let my wife handle in-person complaints, as she is much better than I am at rightous indignation…

5

Sort of on the fence for in/off topic for the “stellar customer” bit, I remember going to the car dealership with my parents to buy a new car for mom. Dad just happened to have bought a car there as well at one point.

When they finally got down to the price per month, the dealership guy quoted one number and dad was like, “well if you get it between $250 and 255, I’ll buy it.” So the guy went back to his boss diligently. He came back a few minutes later and said “Well, sir, I got it down to 253*.” My dad said “Hmm” and thought about it. “Could we possible get it down to 250? Tell your manager to take a look at my service records [dad always takes the car to the dealership for everything].” And so the guy left, coming back a few minutes later. His manager had agreed to the reduction after looking at the service records for Dad, with a final total of like $249.33 or some such.

  • I told Dad later, “Um, didn’t you say it if it was between 250 and 255 it was okay?” and he said, “Oh, yeah, guess I did.”

Bargaining at its best.

/S

6

Shadez, I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but I have a feeling you got reamed on the car deal. Never negotiate the price per month. The salesman probably extended the loan period, or fiddled with something else to get the payment down. And he came up with 249.33, probably to make it sound as if some fancy calculations went on, or a formula was used, but they just make the numbers weird like that so it will sound good. But really–whether buying or leasing, always negotiate the price of the car, then the financing terms. If you demand a specific monthly payment, they can always do something to get it down to what you want–and you’ll probably end up paying more in the longrun.