Responding to a letter of complaint
Wednesday, October 19, 2011, 12:43 GMT+7
Level: Pre-intermediate and above
Brief description:
In the last lesson we practiced writing a letter of complaint.
This lesson practices the language of dealing with complaints. It will be particularly useful for students who may need to deal with correspondence in their work.
KEY CONCEPT:
A customer making a complaint is a dissatisfied customer.
When we respond to a complaint, our aims are:
• to make our customer satisfied;
• to make our customer loyal.
We can do this by:
• showing we have listened and understood the complaint, and that we take it seriously;
• explaining how the problem arose;
• explaining what action we will take to remedy the situation;
• making an offer.
Understanding the letter of complaintIn the last lesson you wrote a letter of complaint about a hotel stay. Compare your letter to the letter below.
| Dear Mr Geiger
I am writing to complain about my visit to your hotel. I stayed with you for two nights on the 25th and 26th May this year and I am dissatisfied with the service I received. Your website claims that guests receive a warm welcome, but when I arrived at reception on the first night I had to wait 25 minutes before a receptionist helped me. I had booked a double room with an en-suite bathroom through the Internet, but there were no en-suite rooms available so I had to use the bathroom in the corridor. The website also says the hotel is comfortable and relaxing. But my room was too hot and at night there was construction noise from outside. I often visit your city and stay overnight for business. While your hotel is near the centre and therefore convenient, I will have to stay somewhere else if the service does not improve. I hope you will provide better service next time. Yours sincerely Rosalind Lee |
The visitor had four problems. List them below:
a __________________________________
b __________________________________
c __________________________________
d __________________________________
Now check your answers below
a. long wait at reception
b. booked room was not available
c. room was too hot
d. room was too noisy
Responding to a complaint As the hotel manager you want the visitor to return. What explanation can you give for the problems? What can you offer the visitor in the future? Match the points you will make in the letter to their purpose below.
• explanation
• offer
• remedial action
• show you have listened
• apology
|
Point |
Purpose |
|
I was sorry to hear of the problems you experienced during your recent stay at our hotel. |
|
|
Some of our staff were sick that evening. |
|
|
Renovation meant that we had to close the West wing, resulting in a shortage of rooms. |
|
|
Unfortunately, the room you were offered was in the old section, and not to the same standard as our executive rooms. |
|
|
The renovation works are now complete and we think you will now find our accommodation to be of an exceptional standard. |
|
|
On behalf of Crown Hotels, I would like to offer our sincerest apologies for the inconvenience these problems have caused you. |
|
|
In order that you can experience the new accommodation first hand, I would like to offer you two nights in our newly renovated executive rooms at the basic room rate of $50. |
|
|
I also enclose a free voucher for dinner for two at our newly refitted restaurant. |
|
Writing Practice:
Use the information in the table to write a letter to the guest.
• Show you take the complaint seriously
• Explain how the problems arose
• Apologise
• Make an offer
Remember: you want to make a dissatisfied customer into a satisfied and loyal customer!
ANSWERS:
Purpose
|
Point |
Purpose |
|
I was sorry to hear of the problems you experienced during your recent stay at our hotel. |
Show you have listened / apology |
|
Some of our staff were sick that evening. |
Explanation |
|
Renovation meant that we had to close the West wing, resulting in a shortage of rooms. |
Explanation |
|
Unfortunately, the room you were offered was in the old section, and not to the same standard as our executive rooms. |
Explanation |
|
The renovation works are now complete and we think you will now find our accommodation of an exceptional standard. |
Remedial action |
|
On behalf of Crown Hotels, I would like to offer our sincerest apologies for the inconvenience these problems have caused you. |
Apology |
|
In order that you can experience the new accommodation I would like to offer you two nights in our newly renovated executive rooms at the basic room rate of $50. |
Offer |
|
I also enclose a free voucher for dinner for two in our newly refitted restaurant. |
Offer |
Letter
The letter below is one possible letter. Compare it to the one you wrote.
| Dear Ms Lee
I was sorry to hear of the problems you experienced during your recent stay at our hotel. We pride ourselves on the standard of our service and I have carried out an investigation to find out how we fell short this time. We are always looking to improve the standard of service we can provide and as part of this programme we undertook an extensive renovation programme in May, the time of your stay. This renovation meant that we had to close the West wing, resulting in a shortage of rooms. Unfortunately, the room that you were offered was in the old section, and not to the same standard as our executive rooms. On the night of your stay, some of our staff were sick, resulting in delays in checking in. The renovation works are now complete and we think you will now find our accommodation to be of an exceptional standard. On behalf of Crown Hotels, I would like to offer our sincerest apologies for the inconvenience that these problems have caused you. In order that you can experience the new accommodation first hand, I would like to offer you two nights in our newly renovated executive rooms at the basic room rate of $50. I also enclose a free voucher for dinner for two in our newly refitted restaurant, with our compliments. We hope that you will take advantage of our offer and stay with us again. We look forward to seeing you soon. Yours sincerely Roger Geiger Customer Services Manager |
This material is provided by the Australian Centre for Education and Training (ACET).
