Sample Complaint Letter

I learned the value of gushing early-on in my complaint letter writing career. So, here is sample complaint letter that outlines some of the concepts introduced in my book.

I had gone on vacation to the Ritz-Carlton on Maui, and hardly anything went right. The weather was miserable (not the hotel’s fault, as I pointed out in my letter); the pool was being repaired (an accident of timing); and the hotel seemed somewhat short-staffed. Compounding the bad weather, which made going to the beach all but impossible, the repairs that were taking place at the pool were very, very noisy. This (in my opinion at least) was an error of judgment by management; if the guests couldn’t go to the beach, they at least should have been able to hang out by the pool in peace.

In addition, the service in the restaurant was horrible, and our room happened to be over a service entry, out of which (over a cobblestone walk) room service carts rattled early in the morning and late at night.

I carefully followed my “praise with faint damn” strategy in the opening paragraphs of the complaint letter I sent to the hotel’s manager, Mr. John Toner.

Sample Complaint Letter

Mr. John J. Toner

General Manager

THE RITZ-CARLTON KAPALUA

“The Kapalua Blues”

Dear Mr. Toner:

I’d like to share a story with you.

About three months ago I happened to be at a cocktail reception at the Ritz-Carlton Buckhead, in Atlanta.

Just as I was about to bite into what appeared to be a very tasty hors d’oeuvre, it slipped from my grasp and dropped onto my suit jacket… leaving a very ugly stain.

I immediately went over to the bartender and asked for a glass of club soda and a cloth napkin.  The bartender, seeing the stain, instinctively understood that the club soda wasn’t for drinking.

“Sir,” he said, “do you expect to be at the party much longer?”

I said that I figured to be there for about an hour and a half.  He nodded, and asked if I wouldn’t mind going without my jacket.  Considering that the meatball blob on my lapel was pretty horrific, I said that was fine with me.  He took the jacket, saying that he’d get it to housekeeping to have it dry cleaned… and back to me within an hour.

I was amazed and delighted.  But I wasn’t a hotel guest, and told him so.

His response: “Sir, no problem.  You are at the Ritz-Carlton.  We shall take care of this.”

So when we chose the Ritz-Carlton Kapalua for our vacation, our expectations were very high.  And when it turned out to be far less than wonderful, we were especially disappointed…

The letter then went on to detail our issues with the weather, the pool, the restaurant and the clattering room service carts, and concluded with a request for some sort of compensation.

Within three days, Mr. Toner called me at my office.  (A very impressive move, since my complaint letter was written on my home stationary.  He had tracked me down through my travel agent!)  In addition to apologizing, he invited me to spend a week at the hotel – for free!

Naturally, I took him up on his offer.

When we arrived, an assistant manager escorted us to the Presidential Suite, overlooking the Molokai Channel.  The whales were frolicking just outside our window.  Inside, I idled the early evenings away playing old Hawaiian tunes on the grand piano in the suite’s living room.  Every day – without fail – I was phoned by an assistant manager to make certain I was content.  And although Mr. Toner’s offer didn’t include meals, every meal we ate at the hotel turned out to be “comped.”  They even picked up and returned us to the airport in the hotel’s limousine!

Keep in mind the lessons of this letter:

1. Surprise the reader.

Don’t write it in an expectable way.  Make it personable.  Make it interesting.  Make it intriguing…

Keep in mind that it’s likely that your letter will be read by someone – an executive assistant, most likely – before it gets read by the person you’ve actually addressed it to.  Executive Assistants are usually very very smart people.  If your letter resonates with the assistant, he or she will likely push the boss to read it!

2. Praise first.

Establish that you have high expectations; that you expect the best.  And prove you really have a right to your expectations.  You’ve been a customer in the past and hope to be one in the future.  You’ve been happy with their product or service.  Be thoughtful about it…

3. Don’t linger.

If your letter reaches a key executive, he or she won’t have all the time in the world for “a chat.”  Get to the point; get to the issue; get to the problem.

4. Be reasonable.

Mr. Toner couldn’t control the weather at Kapalua.  But he could/should have recognized that if the weather was such (high winds) that the beach had to be closed, the pool simply shouldn’t have been closed at the same time.  (After all, what’s the point of being in Hawaii at a luxury resort if you can’t go to the beach or the pool?)  That argument made sense.

5. Be clear that you haven’t written them off.

Mr. Toner wouldn’t have had any incentive to do anything for me if my letter said “I hate you and never want to see you again!”  I had concluded the letter by asking for a free night or two or some sort of discount on my next visit.  That demonstrated that as disappointed as we were, we were still “fans” and wanted to return.

And, of course, never forget to follow-up a great response with a “gush!”