Letter to complain about the poor standard of a service

This advice applies to Wales. See advice for See advice for England, See advice for Northern Ireland, See advice for Scotland

You might want to use it to complain about things like:

  • problems with car repairs

  • poor service in a hotel or restaurant

  • badly done hair and beauty treatments

It should help the trader understand your point of view and their legal obligation to sort out the problem.

If your problem is with poor quality building work, badly done decorating or a botched home improvement use the letter to complain to a trader about poor quality work instead.

You can send the letter by post or copy the text into an email. If you’d prefer to talk to the trader on the phone or in person you could read it out to them.

Before you use this template, make sure you read our advice on how to complain about a service or what to do if you have a problem with a car repair.

Sam Hoolin

8 Park Avenue
Arlton
AL1 4CA

sam123@mail.com

01632 960001

Giltham Traders

24 Station Road
Giltham
GT16 3LP

28 March 2024

To whom it may concern,

Consumer Rights Act 2015

On 10 December 2022, you agreed to the following work: Install a bathroom suite in my home.

We agreed this work would be completed by 12 December 2022 at a cost of £300.

However, I have had the following problems:

1) The sink you installed doesn't drain properly
2) The flush on the toilet doesn't work at all

According to the law named above, I am entitled to have this work done with reasonable care and skill.

I would like you to repair both of these faults within a week or I would like you to refund my money and I will ask someone to do the work who is able to.

Please respond to my complaint/complete the work in the next 14 days. If you fail to respond/remedy in this time, I will have no option but to consider taking the matter further.

Yours faithfully,

Sam Hoolin

Further help

Contact the Citizens Advice consumer helpline on 0808 223 1133 if you need more help - a trained adviser can give you advice over the phone. You can also use an online form.

If you’re in Northern Ireland, contact Consumerline.

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