We’re aiming to tackle 5 tasks this morning:
- Meet w/ your Tech Briefing partner(s).
- Define a letter of complaint.
- Discuss the readings.
- Analyze examples.
- Write your own.
1. Meet with your Tech Briefing partner(s). Check out the partners and then meet and discuss your plan for the proposal that is due on Tuesday.
2. Define a letter of complaint. I want to share a recent incident I had with Wegmans:
Tech writer Mike Markel defines a letter of complaint or claim letter as “a polite, reasonable complaint” written in response to a faulty product or inadequate service. Here’s a humorous take on the genre (courtesy of Rachel):
3. Discuss the readings. What are some strategies for writing letters or tweets? What might you consider before deciding which medium to use for your complaint (i.e. print, email, phone, or social media)?
Readings:
- Use This Template to Write Concise, Effective Complaints When Companies Piss You Off (Lifehacker, Oct 2010 — don’t miss the comments!),
- Professional Complaint Letter Writer Shares His Secrets (Consumerist, June 2008)
- How to Get Your Complaint Heard on Twitter (Media Bistro, Nov 2012)
- Fewer Companies Listen For Customer Complaints On Twitter(Forbes, Mar 2014)
4. Analyze examples — Look at these letters and describe what’s effective and what’s not.
As you do, think about the author’s audience, claim, evidence, organization/format, and tone.
5. Writing your own. After we share some examples from our own experiences as a large group, work with your neighbor to develop answers to these question through your own story:
- Who are you writing to? Do you know them? Did you meet them?
- What is your exact, specific, and reasonable complaint? In other words, what is the problem?
- Have you gathered relevant information (receipts, docs, data) that would help you write a more detailed or persuasive letter?
- What should have happened? Is your version reasonable?
- What do you want to see done about it?