Many of you will have an opportunity to write a follow-up email after having received a complaint from a customer. You will need to have it be a professional and courteous email. I will explain and show you by examples what your email should look like.
A complaint follow-up email is an email to the complaining customer which acknowledges their complaint has been received and handled by the company. It is a chance to tell the customers courteously that they were heard and the company has taken steps to rectify the matter.
When you write it, make sure it is a courteous email that is formatted in formal tone. Most business emails are written in block format. You the writer of the email have the address of the customer and his/her name. Make sure to include a “re” line. A “re” line looks like this:
Re: Described Problem or Re: [Complaint: 12345] Your Company Name
Some actually do both the above “re” line and restate the problem in the first paragraph of the email. It is always good to restate the problem being discussed after it was resolved. Then you explain what you, being the company, did to resolve the complaint. Be brief but courteous and explain to them what happened.
For Example:
I called customer service and we reviewed your order and the date it was sent out. I called up the warehouse where it was packed and had it verified who handled the package there and what happened in transport. We found out it was damaged in transit and are sorry for the state the package arrived at your doorstep. We will be happy to send you a new package to arrive shortly.
This is a good explanation of what you did to help resolve the problem. You then close the email with the following:
I hope that I have resolved this problem to your satisfaction. If not, then please contact me back at this number: 800-555-1212. Or some other similar language.
Some Tips for Writing a Good Follow-Up Email:
- Restate the problem exactly as the customer said it to you. It is always best to use the customer’s words.
- Explain clearly and concisely what you did to resolve the problem.
Include mention of a survey to follow up with the customer after they receive this email as a way to check your interaction with them. It is also used to monitor customer approval for the company.
Templates & Examples
Follow Up on Customer Complaint Samples
Sample 1:
From: [email protected]
Subject: Follow Up on Customer Complaint
Dear Michael,
This letter is concerning the complaint we received from a customer concerning the faulty air conditioner. The complaint letter is dated September 14 2020, and the customer’s name is John Junior. According to the complaint, he purchased the air conditioner two weeks back from our store—the details of the letter from the complaint letter dated September 1 2020. The customer has written to us several times but in vain, and he is very unhappy with our lack of response.
I profoundly believe that you will be able to resolve the problem. Please look into the issue on a priority basis and follow up with the customer. I am aware that you know that customer satisfaction is what we value the most. The customer is extremely disappointed, and I have assured him that the matter will be resolved this week. Please call up the customer and inform him about the next steps taken to resolve the matter and how soon you can offer him a solution.
Please update me on the developments of this issue.
Sincerely,
Michael
Sample 2:
Dear Kelvin,
I would like to follow up on the complaint you submitted on September 24, 2020, concerning the faulty water heater and to make sure that the issue was resolved as per your expectations.
Please confirm that your complaint was correctly addressed so that we can close your case. If not, then please explain what exactly it is that you require so that we can serve you better. Thank you for your feedback.
I am looking forward to helping you.
Regards.