Business Writing

Lesson 6: Setting the Tone

Writing Demands and Complaints

When you write a demand or complaint, you are placing yourself in a dominant position, and your writing should reflect that. Your writing should be more formal in tone, and you should sign your letters 'yours sincerely'. Short, snappy sentences provide your writing with a more assertive tone.

You will usually be writing demands only when somebody with whom you are trading has already let you down. You may be owed money some time after it should have been paid, or goods may be overdue. An initial letter of demand should be polite in tone, short and to the point. It should make reference to the possibility that there has been a mistake and that you were not let down deliberately. If people feel that they are being given the opportunity to resolve the situation without having to admit they were at fault, they will be more willing to co-operate. For this reason, you should avoid using words of phrases which appear to condemn them, and you should avoid questioning their moral integrity. You may also find it useful, in your initial letter, to suggest an easy process of recompense (for example, offering to let somebody who owes you money pay you in stages rather than all at once).

If you do not receive a satisfactory response to your initial letter of demand, you should word your follow-up letter more strongly. As in all business correspondence, you should avoid swearing and personal speculation, but you may wish to state that you consider the addressee's behavior unprofessional and/or that you are considering warning your business contacts against trading with them. Any threat of legal action should normally be reserved for a third letter (and made only after consultation with a lawyer); but if you are dealing with a member of the public who probably won't care about your opinions or about what you may say to your contacts, you may wish to introduce the legal aspect earlier. Many people will rush to resolve the situation when such a threat is made, so that there may be no need for you to actually take legal action.

Letters of complaint should be made only when an incident has occurred or a situation arisen which cannot be resolved directly, for instance when a contractor's negligence has resulted in damage to your business' property. Complaints may result in offers of compensation, but they should not be relied upon to do so. It is more important than ever to use good spelling and grammar when you write a complaint, as you must avoid giving the reader any opportunity to doubt your own professionalism.

Initial complaints should be made to the individuals responsible for your problems or, where no-one is directly responsible, to the manager whose duty it is to oversee that area. In the event that you do not receive a satisfactory response, you should write to the next person up in the business hierarchy; if that fails, you should go to the very top and contact the managing director. If you are dealing with a sole trader or a member of the public, there may be little you can do to obtain an apology or offer of compensation, but nevertheless a strongly worded complaint will often unsettle a person and make him or her think twice about letting down somebody else in the same way.

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