[Eric18]

By the way, learning to write complaint letters remains a practical skill in our imperfect world!

I often have students write five-paragraph letters complaining of specific consumer problems during intermediate writing courses. It tends to re-enforce some core concepts: consider the target audience, be specific, numbers add precision, tone matters, and conclude with a clear recommendation. Students later revisit these same issues in a more formal problem-solution essay.

Bottomline: if we want managers to "look into a complaint", it helps if they don't feel personally under attack. People prefer to solve problems, but few employees like to "face complaints". Sometimes, however, it's essential to challenge false accusations and confront/face the facts leading to the complaint by directly facing the complaint.