When a company has let you down, the instinct is to tell them how angry you are. Resist it. The complaints that get resolved are the ones a stranger would read and immediately think “that is fair”. Calm and factual is not weak; it is much harder to dismiss.
Lead with the facts, in order
Open with what happened, in plain order: what you bought, when, the order or reference number, what went wrong, and what has happened since. Dates and numbers do the persuading for you. A reader who can see the timeline at a glance cannot pretend not to understand the problem.
Make one clear ask, with a deadline
State exactly what you want, once: a full refund, a replacement, a repair. Then give a reasonable deadline to sort it, such as 14 days. A complaint with no specific ask invites a vague reply; a complaint with a clear ask and a date invites a decision.
Climb the ladder, do not jump to the top
- First contact: calm and factual, giving them a fair chance to fix it.
- No reply: a firmer chase that refers to the first message and restates the ask.
- Final notice: a short summary, a final deadline, and the next step you will take.
That next step is your real leverage: a chargeback through your card provider, the company’s formal complaints process, or the relevant ombudsman. Name it plainly, without threats or insults.
Keep a paper trail
Put it in writing (email or letter) so there is a record, keep copies of everything, and note the dates. If it does escalate, a clean trail of reasonable messages is the strongest thing you can have.
Example first complaint
Common mistakes
- Leading with anger. Save the feelings; lead with the facts.
- No specific ask or deadline, so the reply can be a polite nothing.
- Threats and capitals. They make you easy to dismiss as unreasonable.
- No record. If it is not in writing, it is hard to escalate.