The document outlines the essentials of writing a formal complaint letter and provides a sample letter regarding unsatisfactory maintenance service for air conditioners. Key components include a structured format, clear expression of the issue, and courteous language. It emphasizes the importance of specifics, avoids informalities, and requests prompt resolution while mentioning potential escalation to the consumer forum.

1. Letter writing
Complaint letter
Discuss the essentials of a formal letter.
Draft a complaint letter with accuracy of
thought and content.

2. Expected situations
• Complaint about a faulty product purchased
or delivered.
• Delayed delivery.
• Poorly maintained public places, or other
public utilities
• Against public nuisance

3. Marking scheme
• Format
• Content expression
• Coherence and relevance of ideas
• Style of writing
• Grammatical and lexical accuracy
• Spellings

4. Points to remember while drafting
letters:
• Write the letter in full block format (i.e., to the
left).
• State your reason for writing in the first
paragraph and stay on track.
– Always include specifics that will help ease the
recipient’s task. For instance, if you are writing to a
bank, mention your account number.
– If you refer to other correspondence, quote date of
the letter(s), reference numbers, file numbers, order
numbers, cheque number with date. Include copies,
whenever possible.

5. • Gently and respectfully direct the recipient’s
course of action.
– It may be strongly worded, but always be
courteous and use polite language and pleasant
tone.

6. • Self-introduction should be avoided.
– Informal expressions, greetings or contracted
forms of words should not be used. The language
should be simple, straight forward and to the
point.
– Leave a line/additional space between paragraphs
since no indentation is followed. Open
punctuation to be followed (no punctuation marks
to be used).

7. • Do not mix up the old format and the new
format.
• In letters to the Editor: Do not ask the editor
to solve the problems.
• Any attachment should not be included in the
body of the letter but after the complimentary
close, as an enclosure.
• In the letter to the Editor, use ‘yours truly’ as
the complimentary close.

8. Be careful
• One should not use contractions (Didn’t- did not)
• Use of Idioms must be avoided.
• No imperative (send it immediately )
• No exclamations points
• Use much or many instead of ‘a lot’
• Use formal connectors such as ‘furthermore,
moreover, hence, therefore etc
• Make use of modal verb to be assertive in your
writing.

9. Sample Letter
ABC Coaching Institute
K.M Nagar
New Delhi- 110088 Sender’s address
27 April 2020 Date
The proprietor
M/s Cool Service Agency
Sector 4 Receiver’s Address
New Delhi – 110084
Subject: Unsatisfactory Annual Maintenance Service for Samsung Air conditioners
Dear Sir
ABC Coaching Institute had taken an Annual Maintenance Contract for 16 of its Samsung Air conditioners with your agency
under contract no AMC 23/17 o 15th March 2019. We were assured by your Marketing Executive that your service engineer
would carry out a monthly preventive maintenance visit in the first week of every month and any other complaint registered
by the institute will be promptly attended within a day or two.
Unfortunately, the preventive maintenance monthly visit for the last couple of months has not been held so far. The
response to the earlier complaint regarding the matter was also very unsatisfactory, as we had to insist the executive of your
company before they registered the complaint. This is causing great inconvenience to us. Students of the institute have
started complaining about the discomfort they have to face in this summer due to the poorly maintained Air conditioners.
Hence, You are requested to address the matter with immediacy at the earliest so that you honour the terms of AMC,
otherwise, we will be compelled to go to the consumer forum for redressal.
Yours faithfully
Dev Basu Subscription, name and Designation
Manager