For some people, writing a letter of complaint is an art form. There is a world of difference between someone who articulates their complaint in a straightforward constructive manner and someone who rants and raves like a madman off their medication.

Learning how to write a complaint letter and getting it right is the key to your complaint being taken seriously and acted upon. Getting it wrong is the key to be labelled a lunatic and ignored.

As someone who has some extensive experience in this area, I have 7 tips on writing that perfect complaint letter.

1) Take a while to cool off - The worst thing you can do, when writing a letter of complaint, is to let your feelings cloud your judgment. That’s why, when something goes wrong, it’s best to wait a few days before acting upon it. If you jump right into complaining while emotions are high and tempers are frayed, then the chances of you presenting a calm and reasoned argument will be minimal. You need to be calm, rational and lucid if you want the other party to take you seriously.

2) Find out who you need to speak to - When it’s time to make your letter of complaint, you need to make sure it gets to a person who is in a position of authority to do something for you. There’s no point going to a lot of effort with writing a complaint, only for it to be bounced around from department to department for the next six months and never getting looked at. Getting it into the hands of someone with authority is vital. So contact the place you wish to complain to and calmly state you wish to make a complaint, and who should you address your letter to? Make sure you get their full name and full job title.

3) Just the facts – Starting at the beginning, and leaving nothing out, write out a full calm account of what happened and why they are in the wrong. I can’t emphasise enough that you need to keep emotion out of it. Even if the shop salesman stripped you naked, covered you in honey and let the bees loose, and you are furiously angry about it, don’t let that anger influence your letter. Just state the facts and state why you are angry. Impress them with your self-control.

4) What do you want? - as well as stating the facts of the case, you also have to be very clear as to what you want as compensation. Cash? A refund? A free upgrade? The salesman getting publicly whipped? Make sure to tell the other party what you want in return and why you feel you deserve it. This maps out a clear path to the situation being resolved which will show the other party that this won’t turn out to be a never-ending unwinnable argument.

5) Don’t threaten legal action unless you know you can win – It’s very easy in these situations to say “you’ll be hearing from my lawyer!” but in actual fact, it is an empty, pointless and futile threat if your chances of winning a court case are as good as Lazarus actually rising from the dead. And the other side will take notice of that, label you a lunatic and throw your letter in the bin. If you actually do have a court case, then of course mention that if they don’t resolve the situation to your satisfaction then you will seek legal advice. But if you don’t have a case, then don’t sink yourself by loudly threatening a lawsuit.

6) Make sure the letter arrives at its destination – Don’t rely on the regular mail to deliver your letter. Since there is no tracking mechanism, it’s very easy for the other side to lie and say they never received your letter. Get proof that they DID get it by sending it by registered post and get the postman to obtain a signature. Or even better, deliver it personally. Get the full name of the person who accepts your letter and get them to sign a receipt saying they received it.

7) Don’t expect instant results – Don’t expect them to get in touch within a few hours, the next day or even the next week. Give them at least 14 days and if you don’t hear from them by then, calmly and politely phone and ask when you can expect to receive a response.

Follow these 7 tips on how to write a complaint letter, and if you have a valid complaint, you will find the other party taking you much more seriously and you will start to see some positive results.

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Mark O’Neill is a freelance writer of 20 years experience, and also the managing editor of MakeUseOf.com, since August 2007. You can see his personal website at markoneill.org Mark has 21 post(s) at Free Writing Center