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The Complaint Letter Assignment

This assignment has two parts:

First, write a letter of complaint based on one of the scenarios described below. Obviously, your letter should follow the guidelines/advice we covered in our assigned readings and in our classroom discussions.

Second, write a one page memo from you to me where you explain the choices you made in your complaint letter. Be sure to provide some explanation as to the scenario you used to write this complaint letter.

Here are some things to think about:

• Most of us have something to complain about, so coming up with a scenario for this assignment shouldn't be too difficult. To give you some ideas, here are some appropriate reasons for a complaint letter:
  • an error in your utility, telephone, cable, or credit card bill
  • discourteous customer service over the phone (often with a utility, telephone, cable, or credit card company)
  • discourteous customer service in a retail store, restaurant, airline, etc.
  • a shipment of some sort that arrives late and/or damaged
  • a product you purchased does not work as well as promised

  If you want to write about something that seems appropriate but that isn't covered in this list, let me know.

• If, for some unusual reason, you have nothing to really complain about, you will be writing about an error that Eastern Michigan University has made to your bill where they charged you twice for tuition in Fall 2004.

• We will have a peer review for this assignment on February 15, and the final version of the assignment is due on February 22!