Letter of complaint

[chazza]

After writing a letter of complaint to a high street company, how long should I wait for a reply before taking things further?

[B00]

Most companies will send you an aknowledgement letter confirming they've recieved your letter and this will usually advise of the time scale they hope to resolve your query.

[WendyS]

If you haven't had an acknowledgement within two weeks I would certainly get back to them.

[Buenchico]

There's no golden rule but 21 days is often cited as a maximum reasonable period within which you should expect some type of positive response (By 'positive response', I mean something more than just an acknowledgement).

Hopefully, you will have kept a copy of your original letter. Make a further copy. Write another letter, something like this:

"Dear Sirs,

I refer to my prevoius letter to you, dated xx/xx/xx, of which I enclose a further copy. I have not yet received a reply to this letter. I therefore give you notice that, unless I receive a satisfactory reply within the next seven days, I intend to pursue this matter through the small claims court. Furthermore, unless I receive a satisfactory reply, I intend to express my dissatisfaction with the poor service of your company to the local press.

Yours faithfully, xxxxxxxxx "

Send this letter by recorded delivery. Then just wait for the grovelling phone call expressing sincere apologies and offering to put things right immediately. It always works for me!

Chris

[kazza12345]

i always put something in about "i will expect your reply within blah amount of time" then you know when you can take it up again (not that i complain a lot)