Complaint letters that worked All three example letters shown here are real (with company names and identifying numbers intentionally changed). All three produced desired results. (Please see the November 2007 edition of EditPros News.) Sample letter No. 1           Mr. John Doe, President & CEO Verwirren Computer Co. 1234 Fifth Street Nowhere Specific, CA 00000 Dear Mr. Doe,      During the past several years, I have purchased several Verwirren brand products, including three photo printers (two of which my wife and I sent to relatives as gifts) and a laser printer (which I've used to print this letter). I've been satisfied with all of the purchases I have made from your company--that is, except for the most recent one.      I have a Verwirren scanner (Model No. AAAAA; Serial No. 00000). It appears this model has a design flaw, because following replacement of a part to correct a problem, it eventually developed the same problem again. This afternoon a representative of your customer service department told me that the unit is now out of warranty--by five days. I am now going to begin shopping for a new scanner, and it will not be a Verwirren. But out of courtesy, I would advise you of the defect in this piece of equipment.      I bought the scanner from Megapendous Stores on Feb. 17. The scanner worked well for seven months. Then on Oct. 10, I contacted Verwirren technical support by e-mail to report a problem that had developed. I explained that when I used the TMA (transparent materials adaptor) to scan 35 mm transparencies (black and white and color negatives), many of the scanned images had a skinny, dark, perfectly straight line running down the center of the image. The negatives I was scanning were not scratched; the line was being created during the scanning process.      The problem did not occur when scanning reflective art; it appeared only when scanning 35 mm transparencies (slides and negatives). I indicated that the scanner is connected by USB to my Brawny computer running the Corpulent 5.3 operating system, and that I am using Verwirren scanning software.      On Oct. 11, a Verwirren representative named Sheila responded by e-mail and asked me to perform several diagnostic and maintenance checks: 1. plug the power to a wall outlet (rather than through a surge suppressor); 2. clean the scanner glass by spaying window cleaner on paper towel; 3. activate "dust and scratch removal" in the scanning software.      I performed all of those steps, but the TMA continued to generate a line down the center of images. It was clearly an electronic problem that occurred during the scanning process. Sheila assigned me case number 3333333-33 and shipped a replacement TMA unit (Part No. AAAA-4444) to me on Oct. 12.      The shipment was under Customer Service Order Number 55-5555. In an e-mail message to me, Sheila told me that Verwirren had updated the warranty status of my scanner at that time (apparently untrue, according to the Verwirren customer service rep who spoke with me this afternoon and told me that my scanner is now out of warranty).      The replacement TMA unit corrected the problem, but for just three months. It worked fine only until late January, when a black line began appearing down the middle of grayscale scans again (a red line on color scans). So on Feb. 9 (eight days before the expiration of the original warranty) I sent another e-mail message to Verwirren. I received an e-mail reply from an unnamed customer service representative directing me to call Verwirren technical support at (800) 000-0000. I did so this afternoon, and that's when Verwirren representative Carol told me that my scanner now is out of warranty (even though I had first e-mailed Verwirren a week before the expiration of the warranty). She assigned me a new, apparently meaningless case number: CCCC-5555.      Because the problem has materialized on the replacement TMA unit as well, it appears that the problem is more pervasive than defective TMAs. I would say this is indicative of a design flaw. I'm very disappointed in this Verwirren product. Even if you were to authorize shipment of a third TMA, I would have very little confidence that it would resolve the problem more than temporarily. What do you suggest? Here's how to reach me: office, weekdays, 8:30 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.: (000) 111-1111 home, evenings and weekends: (000) 222-2222 cell phone: (000) 333-3333 e-mail: thatsme@bcde.com I'm looking forward to your reply. Sincerely, Purchaser's name      << Return to EditPros News    |    Read sample letter No. 2 >>