Great Letters That Work Hunt

Midmac

Any one fancy writing me a very articulate letter to complain about a pack of Jacobs Clubs(mint) that had no sticky bit on all the indiviual wrappers !

Caused great inconvience having to put them in the biscuit barrel instead of in the cupboard !!!

Scarlet_Fever

WelshConsumer wrote:

How about this to remove the penalty fees on your bank account for going overdrawn.

To the Manager XYZ Bank.
Dear Sir, You have recently charged me £XXX pounds for becoming overdrawn.

i also ask them for a refund to the charges they try and put on

eg: you unfairly tried to charge me £25, so now i require a credit of £15.

sometimes it works!

cochon

I would be interested in seeing your letters.

stinkeymonkey1

Hi. I'm not providing a 'template' letter, so hope this post is acceptable, but as Complaints Manager for a Local Council, I have some 'hints' on the best way to make your complaint count.....

1. Target your letter! Sending your complaint to lots of different people just slows things up. Find out who has the power to help you and focus your efforts on them
2. Keep it factual! Explain what has gone wrong, what effect this has had on you, and what you would (reasonably!)like the organisation to do to put things right. Keep a copy of all your letters.
3. Be polite but persistent! Keep the person on your side. If you need to chase, make regular, short and polite, enquiries about their progress.
4. A Right Result? If the person or organisation has done well in dealing with your complaint, tell them. It's money in the bank if you ever need to complain again!
5. A disappointment? If the result isn't what you hoped for and haven't already been told, ask how you can escalate your complaint, and do it! If you still have no success, find out who else can help - e.g. The Local Government Ombudsman.

Hope this helps!

dubs_2

letter to BT after they charged for cancelling a servivce they never delivered, had a similiar issue with ntl:

*******
*********************
04-05-2006
BT Plc
Correspondance Centre
Durham
DH98 1BT

RE: Cancellation of non-delivered service.

Dear Sir,

A few weeks ago, after moving into a property with an existing bt line, I decided to activate a phone line for the sole purpose of getting dial up access to the internet and the bt yahoo anytime service.

The line that was set up has never granted me access to the internet, there has been a fault on it since it’s inception meaning I cannot handshake the number used to access bt yahoo anytime. The number allows me to ring other phone numbers but otherwise has a fault. My pc is in full working order and so is my modem, the setting used to connect to the internet are also correct but I still cant handshake the number.

After numerous phone calls it was confirmed last week that there was indeed a fault on my line or on the network and that a technician was looking at it and would text me in the next fews days. It’s now been nearly a week with no contact so I thought I’d cancel the line rather than waste anymore time.

I must say im very surprised that despite not having service from you im still being charged the cancellation fee. In my opinion the service was never actually delivered meaning I shouldn’t be charged for the cancellation of the service. If I had been able to access the internet and was cancelling early I could fully understand the charge, but as ive not actually got any use out of the line im incredulous that im being charged to cancel a service I never had.

Im sure you can see it from my point of view, I started a service which was never delivered- my time instead being spent on the phone trying to fix the problem, im told that yes there is indeed a fault stopping the delivery of the service yet when I request the service cancelled I get charged to cancel it!! All of any call charges made are from contacting your various helpdesks so im left with an experience of utter frustration im paying £18 for.

I only requested the line be set up for 3 months as im only at this residence temporarily and would like to start a proper service when I move into my own residence but I must say if this is the way the average BT customer is treated I cant see myself ever returning to take advantage of any service you offer. It’s a shame as your internet packages were attractive but what took a matter of hours with my old supplier has taken two weeks with yourselves.

Therefore im requesting that someone of authority looks at my case and agrees to waive the cancellation charges, sadly the young woman spoken to over the phone could only offer me stock answers from a script and only served to frustrate things further with her inability to explain the logic behind the policy.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Yours Faithfully,


mr g

no word back yet but when i wrote in a similar vein to NTL they cancelled my contract any any incrued charges, although this took two recorded delivery letters sent to persons of authority.

dubs

shimmasok

This is the most relevant topic I could find for this point and although it doesn't directly save you money it could save you a lot of hassle, perhaps get you that refund and if nothing else really wind up a big company

In contract law there is a principle to avoid the so called battle of the forms. It is primarily designed for use in transactions between two companies, one of which orders something using their standard terms and conditions, the other of which accepts the order sending back their terms and conditions. So whos do you use when they conflict?

Well the answer is whichever persons terms were sent last, before they were accepted by the contract being performed, e.g. the goods being sent

You can really use this to your advantage with companies such as electricity or phone suppliers. If they send you some terms in the post before they connect you which no doubt they will, simply alter a few of them to your liking and send them back 99% of the time they will ignore your letter thinking your having a laugh or your just a pain in the backside. They will then commence the contract by supplying you with a nice phone and or line to use it on little knowing that they have just accepted your amended terms by doing this

Its a bit fiddly i know but its soooo much fun explaining it to their customer service department, especially when they check it with the legal department

niamhtra66

dubs wrote:

letter to BT after they charged for cancelling a servivce they never delivered, had a similiar issue with ntl:

*******
*********************
04-05-2006
BT Plc
Correspondance Centre
Durham
DH98 1BT

RE: Cancellation of non-delivered service.

Dear Sir,

A few weeks ago, after moving into a property with an existing bt line, I decided to activate a phone line for the sole purpose of getting dial up access to the internet and the bt yahoo anytime service.

The line that was set up has never granted me access to the internet, there has been a fault on it since it’s inception meaning I cannot handshake the number used to access bt yahoo anytime. The number allows me to ring other phone numbers but otherwise has a fault. My pc is in full working order and so is my modem, the setting used to connect to the internet are also correct but I still cant handshake the number.

After numerous phone calls it was confirmed last week that there was indeed a fault on my line or on the network and that a technician was looking at it and would text me in the next fews days. It’s now been nearly a week with no contact so I thought I’d cancel the line rather than waste anymore time.

I must say im very surprised that despite not having service from you im still being charged the cancellation fee. In my opinion the service was never actually delivered meaning I shouldn’t be charged for the cancellation of the service. If I had been able to access the internet and was cancelling early I could fully understand the charge, but as ive not actually got any use out of the line im incredulous that im being charged to cancel a service I never had.

Im sure you can see it from my point of view, I started a service which was never delivered- my time instead being spent on the phone trying to fix the problem, im told that yes there is indeed a fault stopping the delivery of the service yet when I request the service cancelled I get charged to cancel it!! All of any call charges made are from contacting your various helpdesks so im left with an experience of utter frustration im paying £18 for.

I only requested the line be set up for 3 months as im only at this residence temporarily and would like to start a proper service when I move into my own residence but I must say if this is the way the average BT customer is treated I cant see myself ever returning to take advantage of any service you offer. It’s a shame as your internet packages were attractive but what took a matter of hours with my old supplier has taken two weeks with yourselves.

Therefore im requesting that someone of authority looks at my case and agrees to waive the cancellation charges, sadly the young woman spoken to over the phone could only offer me stock answers from a script and only served to frustrate things further with her inability to explain the logic behind the policy.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Yours Faithfully,


mr g

no word back yet but when i wrote in a similar vein to NTL they cancelled my contract any any incrued charges, although this took two recorded delivery letters sent to persons of authority.

dubs

I work as a customer service advisor for the said company (BT) Call them, ask them to check if any calls were made on the account, the answer should be no, allso on your account will be the delayed notes from the engineer, TELL them you want all charges removed from the account straight away (this can be done) and tell them you allso want compensation ( as i advise before on this site the advisor can give up to £40) if they don't do this ask to speak to a manager or have a manager call back. Your complaint cannot be closed until YOU are fully resolved.
Hope this helps.

Kylie

shimmasok wrote:

This is the most relevant topic I could find for this point and although it doesn't directly save you money it could save you a lot of hassle, perhaps get you that refund and if nothing else really wind up a big company

In contract law there is a principle to avoid the so called battle of the forms. It is primarily designed for use in transactions between two companies, one of which orders something using their standard terms and conditions, the other of which accepts the order sending back their terms and conditions. So whos do you use when they conflict?

Well the answer is whichever persons terms were sent last, before they were accepted by the contract being performed, e.g. the goods being sent

You can really use this to your advantage with companies such as electricity or phone suppliers. If they send you some terms in the post before they connect you which no doubt they will, simply alter a few of them to your liking and send them back 99% of the time they will ignore your letter thinking your having a laugh or your just a pain in the backside. They will then commence the contract by supplying you with a nice phone and or line to use it on little knowing that they have just accepted your amended terms by doing this

Its a bit fiddly i know but its soooo much fun explaining it to their customer service department, especially when they check it with the legal department

I ALWAYS alter the terms and conditions (crossing things out I don't agree with, etc) on any banking, credit cards etc contracts before signing and sending them back

No-one has ever questioned it and they ALWAYS proceed with application and send out cards, accounts , etc.

Mr_Warren_2

There is a link on page 1 that no longer "links" to a site offering advise on speeding fines. My wife got caught doing 38 in a 30mph zone which is a steep bank up and down (most likely a mobile speed camera). My point is that said 30mph zone has no panel saying so, is not in a build-up area and other local roads are 40mph near housing estates and a hospital. Police wrote to me as the owner of the vehicle asking me to tell them "who was the driver at the time" etc..threats of 3 points and £60 if I did not oblige within X days. Your help in the matter is much appreciated. many thanks.

Timeslides

I wouldn't like to say where I work, but I've read many complaint letters over the years. To encourage the reader to help you, my tips to all writers are:
Give the message in the first sentence and use the rest of the letter to explain.
Don't be sarcastic (I'm amazed to find blah blah..)
Don't say 'You're quick enough to take my money, but when it comes to a refund....' This is because everyone says it and it's meaningless - the officer is just doing a job.
Re read the letter 24 hours after writing it - then post it if it's still ok.