Archive for letter
HUD to investigate landlord’s complaints against Belleville
Posted by: | CommentsA representative from the Office of Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity, part of the Midwest regional office of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, sent a letter to Belleville resident, landlord and business owner Rick Brown, acknowledging his complaint and announcing that the agency will complete an impartial investigation within 100 days. Brown received the letter, dated Aug. 14, through the mail Monday, and announced it to the council at its regular meeting Monday evening.
Mayor Mark Eckert, who has defended the city’s practices and said leaders have focused on strengthening neighborhoods, said it would be “premature” for him to comment on the federal HUD complaint, other than to say he had received correspondence Monday from HUD and that he would work with City Attorney Robert Sprague to prepare a response to the complaint.
The office of Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan also has confirmed an investigation of Brown’s allegations. Brown has notified the U.S. Department of Justice, though he hasn’t filed a formal complaint with that agency.
In Brown’s complaint, he accused city leaders of revising zoning ordinances to reduce the amount of minority residents and limiting rental opportunities for African-Americans. City leaders have said Brown’s allegations are not true.
Iran opposition rallies on complaints of torture, deaths in detention
Posted by: | CommentsAfter the son of a prominent Iranian politician died in police custody last week, 69 leading reformers sent an unusually harsh and direct letter to the nation’s clerical establishment, complaining of torture by the regime “reminiscent of the dark days of the Shah.”
The signatories of the July 25 letter included former President Mohammed Khatami, reformist cleric Mehdi Karoubi, and Mir Hossein Mousavi, the man whose supporters say had Iran’s June election stolen from him by hard-line President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
They warned of torture being used to extract false confessions from reformist activists, and said that they’d received “disturbing news in recent days about the physical and mental health of several of the detainees.” (A rough translation of the letter is available on Mr. Mousavi’s facebook page.)
Joe Stork, who covers Iran and other Middle Eastern countries for Human Rights Watch, says his group is certainly concerned about deaths in detention, but sees no evidence of a flood of such deaths.
However, despite government intimidation that has “left people frightened about communicating with groups like ours,” he says the scope of arbitrary detention in Iran now is a great worry. “
“There are lots of people who have been detained for many weeks now that have without access to lawyers or family, and what we’re hearing is rather alarming about their condition,’’ he says. “It’s hard to say anything for certain. There’s a real effort on the part of the government there to make sure that information doesn’t get out, in particular, complaints about detention and so forth.”
On Monday, Mr. Mousavi called for ongoing protests and continued to press for use of Tehran’s Grand Mosala, a sprawling public prayer location, this Thursday to commemorate the “martyrs” killed by pro-government security forces and militiamen in June.
The government has been reluctant to give such permission until now, well aware that mass mourning in Shiite Islam is a powerful tool of political mobilization. Thursday would mark the 40th day since 20 protesters were killed, an important milestone in the Shiite ritual mourning cycle.
The death – many Iranians are calling it a murder – that helped spur this weekend’s letter was of Mohsen Ruholamini, who was arrested at a July 9 protest in Tehran. Last Tuesday, his family was informed of his death, and he was buried on Friday. Mr. Ruholamini, who was 25, was apparently healthy when taken into custody, reformists say.
That death – and the detention of hundreds of students, lawyers, and journalists – in crowded and filthy conditions appears to at least be creating some cracks in the coalition of hard-liners that backed Ahmadinejad in the election.
Conservative member of parliament Ali Motahari told the Tehran Times on Monday that Iran’s intelligence and interior ministers need to make a full accounting to parliament about what’s happening to Iran’s political prisoners, and said there’s a strong movement among lawmakers to have the men fired.
President Ahmadinejad has also been at odds with his intelligence minister. On Monday, the head of Iran’s judiciary also called for some political prisoners to be released.
Evin Prison in Tehran has long been a house of horrors for Iranians, part of the reason regime opponents appear to be gaining traction over the issue
Complaint against Landlord
Posted by: | CommentsWHAT TENANTS CAN DO
When tenant has a complaint against the landlord, he should first contact the landlord directly, in writing. Tenant should mail the letter at the post office with the purchase of an U.S. Postage Certificate of Mailing, using first class mail or by certified mail, return receipt requested. Tenant should be sure to keep a copy of the letter.
Tenant should give landlord a reasonable amount of time to remedy the situation, and should allow access to the premises during normal working hours.
If the landlord does not remedy the situation, tenant can:
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Report the complaint to the local code enforcement office.
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If Code Enforcement is unable to help and the condition persists, contact BNI or another agency. If the uncorrected condition constitutes a serious threat to the life, health, or safety of the occupants of the dwelling, tenant should consider using the rent escrow procedure.
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Consider joining, or forming, a tenants’ organization. Tenants across the country organize to protect and further their interests.
Iran council asks for more time for vote complaints
Posted by: | Comments“We are urging you to allow us to extend the deadline to receive further complaints five more days,” the Guardian Council said in a letter.
The Guardian Council has rejected demands for a rerun from two losing candidates, former prime minister Mousavi and pro-reform cleric Mehdi Karoubi.
The legislative body said the extended deadline would pave the ground for removing any ambiguities over the disputed vote.
“As the legal deadline to review the complaints ends on Wednesday, extending the deadline will help the council to remove ambiguities,” the letter said.
Ten days of protest against elections that confirmed hardline anti-Western President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in office have produced unprecedented protests and a public split in the Islamic establishment.
Defeated candidates accuse the authorities of rigging the election and have demanded a rerun.
Moderate cleric Karoubi, defeated in the 12th June poll, signaled on Tuesday opposition would continue, calling on Iranianas to hold ceremonies on Thursday to mourn those killed at protests.
Denver group files complaint about Fort Collins candidate Boucher
Posted by: | CommentsA Denver-based watchdog group is alleging that Fort Collins City Council candidate Andrew Boucher violated city campaign laws by soliciting donations for another candidate
The complaint was filed by Colorado Ethics Watch, which said it uses “hard-hitting, direct legal action against government officials for abusing the public trust.” It centers on a letter Boucher wrote Feb. 18 to about 200 friends and acquaintances in which he announced he would challenge District 5 incumbent Kelly Ohlson and solicited campaign contributions.
At the end of the letter, Boucher included a postscript that encouraged people to donate to Aislinn Kottwitz, who’s running in District 3.
The Fort Collins City Code says it’s illegal for one candidate committee to make a financial or in-kind contribution to another candidate committee. Colorado Ethics Watch said Boucher’s request for donations to Kottwitz constituted an in-kind contribution.
“Candidates are not supposed to contribute to other candidates,” said Luis Toro, senior counsel for Colorado Ethics Watch.
But the City Code says a “person is a candidate if the person has publicly announced an intention to seek” a City Council seat. The first line of Boucher’s Feb. 18 letter said, “I’m running for the Fort Collins City Council against Kelly Ohlson.”
Colorado State University student Theodore Gates also is seeking the District 5 seat.
Colorado Ethics Watch has filed a number of complaints in recent years alleging ethics violations, most frequently against Republicans but also occasionally against Democrats. Boucher is a Republican, though Fort Collins municipal elections are non-partisan.
customer service response letter to a customer complaint Sample
Posted by: | CommentsName and address
Date
Reference
Dear………
I am writing with reference to (situation or complaint) of (date).
Firstly I apologise (‘apologize’ in US) for the inconvenience/distress/problems created by our error/failure.
We take great care to ensure that important matters such as this are properly managed/processed/implemented, although due to (give reason – be careful as to how much detail you provide – generally you need only outline the reason broadly), so on this occasion an acceptable standard has clearly not been met/we have clearly not succeeded in meeting your expectations.
In light of this, we have decided to (solution or offer), which we hope will be acceptable to you, and hope also that this will provide a basis for continuing our relationship/your continued custom.
I will call you soon to check that this meets with your approval/Please contact me should you have any further cause for concern.
Yours, etc.
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Other points of note when dealing with customer complaints and complaints letters:
Always take personal responsibility for problems until they are fully resolved. Don’t just ‘throw it over the wall’ and hope that a colleague sees it through. You must be the guardian of the complaint and look after the customer to ensure that your organisation does the right thing, even when someone else has responsibility to deal with it. Always check that the customer has been looked after, and the problem finally resolved – it’s just a phone call.
Always check your policies, procedures, standing instructions, latest bulletins, etc relating to service delivery levels and complaints resolution. If procedures and standards are hazy then do your best to encourage management or directors to create and publish clearer expectations and procedures for staff and customers. When things go wrong it’s normally because people don’t understand what expectations are, rather than a failure of an individual, or the action or reaction of a customer.
Be careful about accepting liability if you have no guideline or policy enabling you to do so, and in any event, whereever you perceive potentially significant liability could exist, delay any decision or commitment until seeking advice from a person in suitable authority.
Always try to speak to people on the phone – even if you’re writing a letter – make contact by phone as well. Voice contact is so much more reliable and effective when trying to diffuse conflict and rebuild trust.
Before you send anything – read it back to yourself and ask, “What would I think if I received this? How would I feel?” If your answers are less than positive you should re-write the letter.
If you ever find yourself using a nasty old standard customer complaints response letter, that your department has been using for ages, to the distress of your complaining customers, take responsibility for getting the standard letter replaced with something that is positive and empathic and constructive.
A complaining customer is an opportunity for the supplying organisation to improve and consolidate the relationship, and to keep the customer for life. Make sure you use it.
In responding to serious, large complaints and implications, you should initially respond with an immediate solution to resolve the current issue, and then arrange with the customer how best to develop and agree a remedial change that will prevent re-occurrence, which for large contracts should probably entail a meeting, involving relevant people from both sides. In some situations you will find that the need is actually for a fully blown re-negotiation of the service level agreement. In such cases do embrace the opportunity as a very positive one – a chance to consolidate and strengthen the relationship, and normally an opportunity to extend the length of the contract.
In dealing with complains of any sort, take heart from the fact that customers whose complaints are satisfactorily resolved, become even more loyal than they were before the complaint arose.
Complain by Phone
Posted by: | CommentsObviously if a situation needs resolving urgently you must phone, but that’s different to complaining. When something goes wrong the the temptation is often to get on the phone straight away, and give someone ‘a piece of your mind’ about whatever has disappointed or annoyed you, but phoning to complain in this way is rarely a good idea. This is because:
‘Heat of the moment’ complaints almost always produce confrontation, emotion, and misunderstanding, which are not conducive to the cooperation necessary for good solutions and outcomes.
For organizations to handle complaints properly they need to be able to deal with facts and written records. Written details are essential to their complaints processing, and a letter is a far more reliable way of communicating these things than a verbal phone exchange.
You will need a your own record of the complaint to establish accountability, responsibility, that you have actually complained, when you complained, and to whom. Telephone conversations do not automatically create a record. With a phone complaint there is nothing for you to refer back to; no copies can be produced when and if you need to follow up the complaint.
A letter gives you the chance to present your case in the best possible way. Telephone conversations can quickly get out of control.
Writing a letter helps you to calm down and do things properly. Calling people immediately on the phone often fuels your emotions, especially if the person at the other end isn’t good at handling you. When you lose control of your emotions you lose control of the situation, your credibility, clarity, cooperation, goodwill and objectivity; all of which you need if you want to achieve the best possible outcome.
For very serious matters you should be using recorded or registered post, which effectively guarantees that your letter reaches the recipient. There is of course no equivalent by telephone.
Sample Complaint
Posted by: | CommentsWhen filing a complaint, keep these things in mind:
* Remain calm. The person who can help didn’t cause the problem.
* Don’t use an angry, threatening or sarcastic tone.
* State exactly what you want done about the problem.
* Document each step, and keep copies.
* Start with the seller first. You can resolve many problems by calling a company’s toll free number. Even on the phone, you should know the details of the complaint. You can use the sample letter below to jot down a few notes before you call. If necessary, ask to speak to a manager.
* If that doesn’t work, send a letter or e-mail to the manufacturer’s national headquarters or consumer affairs office. Some experts suggest that a letter is the most effective method for contacting a company. If e-mails and phone calls don’t work, try the old fashioned way.
* If the problem still isn’t resolved, try your local consumer protection agency, Better Business Bureau or other helpful organization.
*If all else fails, consider filing a small claims suit or hiring an attorney.
Sample Complaint Letter
Your Address
Your City, State, Zip Code
(Your e-mail address if sending via e-mail)
Date
Name of Contact Person (if available)
Title (if available)
Company Name
Consumer Complaint Division (if you have no specific contact)
Street Address
City, State, Zip Code
Dear (Contact Person):
Re: (account number, if applicable)
On (date), I (bought, leased, rented, or had repaired) a (name of the product, with serial or model number or service performed) at (location, date and other important details of the transaction).
Unfortunately, your product (or service) has not performed well (or the service was inadequate) because (state the problem). I am disappointed because (explain the problem: for example, the product does not work properly, the service was not performed correctly, I was billed the wrong amount, something was not disclosed clearly or was misrepresented, etc.).
To resolve the problem, I would appreciate your (state the specific action you want – money back, charge card credit, repair, exchange, etc.). Enclosed are copies (do not send originals) of my records (include receipts, guarantees, warranties, canceled checks, contracts, model and serial numbers, and any other documents).
I look forward to your reply and a resolution to my problem and will wait until (set a time limit) before seeking help from a consumer protection agency or the Better Business Bureau. Please contact me at the above address or by phone at (home and/or office numbers with area code).
Sincerely,
Your name
Enclosure(s)