6A Writing and Vocabulary An email of complaint

• I can write an email of complaint.

Same complaint, two voices: a friend and a company

discuss how an email complaining about a bad holiday experience to a friend, and to the company responsible might differ in language.

Now read the same complaint written to the company.

From chatty to formal: find the equivalents

Find the formal phrase in email B for each informal phrase from email A.

1 It didn’t arrive on time.

2 More than 30 minutes late …

3 The next thing that went wrong was …

4 You know that …

5 To top it all …

6 Not an apology from anyone.

7 Luckily …

8 By the skin of our teeth …

Five habits of a forceful but polite complaint

• Concession: Use clauses of concession to give balance.
• Although a short delay might be acceptable, ...
• Passives: Use passives to be less direct and more formal.
• We were only informed of the timetable change ...
• Tone: Remain polite and be assertive but not aggressive.
• I would like to emphasise that treatment such as this cannot be tolerated.
• Emphasis: Use emphasis to strengthen your position.
• Never have I experienced such discomfort.
• Initial comment adverbs: Use initial comment adverbs: realistically, ultimately.
• Ultimately, the fault lies with the supplier.

Use clauses of concession to give balance.

Use passives to be less direct and more formal.

Remain polite and be assertive but not aggressive.

Use emphasis to strengthen your position.

Use initial comment adverbs:

Strong adverb + adjective: deeply disappointed

1 deeply

2 drastically

3 completely

1 If you think I’m not willing to take my complaint further, you are gravely ___ .

2 The information I received about flight departure times was wildly ___ , leading to me missing my plane.

3 The whole process of delivery was fundamentally ___ , resulting in my new phone taking two months to arrive.

4 I found the quality of the shoes I bought to be vastly ___ , with them needing repairs after just one month.

5 Please understand that I am vehemently ___ to travelling with your company again after the way I was treated.

6 The way I was spoken to by the assistant was wholly ___ and I was treated as a problem rather than a customer.

7 I think it is blindingly ___ that there is a serious issue with your system.

Now write your own email of complaint