A letter of complaint about a billing error must be sent at the soonest possible time, and must be written in a courteous, yet firm manner. Note that errors (like in the case of wrong amount or missing quantity of goods received as shown in the sales invoice) are usually not intentional. The facts must be double checked and only the relevant details must be included in the letter.

The main purpose of a letter of complaint about a billing error is to immediately bring to the Collection Officer that an error was made while processing the bill. A common example is double charging of a customer for a single credit card purchase, which is reflected in the billing statement. In this case, a customer service officer may be called, upon receipt and after reviewing the credit card billing statement with the error.

The transaction report and billing statement may then be faxed to the credit card company along with the letter of complaint. Once the error is acknowledged, the equivalent amount may be offset in the succeeding credit card statement. In other cases, like when a guest checks in at a hotel and is given a billing summary, any error may immediately be checked and brought to the attention of the front desk manager.

Here is a sample letter of complaint for a billing error:

Dec. 1, 2010

MS. JANET CELIA
Front Desk Manager
St. Regis, Shanghai
889 Dong Fang Road, Pudong
China

Dear Ms. Celia:

I am writing this letter to point out an error in my hotel bill summary that I requested from the front desk clerk. I would like to bring to your attention that I checked in on November 30, but the summary indicates that my check-in date is November 29.

The billing statement therefore shows that I am being billed an additional night at St. Regis, Shanghai.
Kindly investigate this matter and correct the billing error before I check out this evening.

Sincerely Yours,

Terry Carroll
Hotel Guest