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

Dear

You are one of our most valued accounts and it is with deep regret that I must advise you of a change in your account credit status.

From now on, it will be necessary that a check accompany each order for merchandise from your firm. We must insist upon this until your account is brought up to date, at which
time we will reevaluate your open account status.

I know this will represent an inconvenience to you and I hope that this will not interfere with our long and profitable relationship.

We value your business and look forward to resolving this difficulty in the immediate future. If I may be of further assistance please call me at your convenience.

Date: _

To: _

We are in receipt of your statement dated _, 19_,
indicating an account balance of $_.
We dispute said balance for the reason(s) checked.

____ Goods billed for have not been received.
____ Prices are in excess of agreed amount.
____ Prior payment made in the amount of $_ on _, 19_.
____ Goods were unordered.
____ Goods were defective as per prior notice.
____ Goods are available for return as per our right of
return and credit.
____ Other (Describe) _

Please adjust our account.

Very truly,

Dear
It is with great sorrow that I am hereby tendering my
resignation to you.

Although there is much to say, I believe the reasons
leading to this decision are known by you, and I will
therefore leave them unsaid at this time.

I appreciate having had the opportunity of being a
member of (name of firm) for so many years
and offer my best wishes for your continued success.

This is to inform you that in processing your credit
application it may be necessary to interview your neighbors,
friends and/or others with whom you have an association or
acquaintance. The inquiry conducted would be in respect to
your character, personal characteristics, reputation and
mode of living. Under federal law, you have the right to
make a written request within a reasonable period of time
and to receive detailed information about the nature and
scope of this form of investigation.

DISCLOSURE
(name of credit reporting agency) is a "consumer reporting
agency" and, under the Fair Credit Reporting Act, must
report information in a manner that is fair and equitable to
consumers.

The Fair Credit Reporting Act gives you the right to have
incomplete or incorrect information reinvestigated by
(name of credit reporting agency), unless the request is of
a frivilous nature. If the information is found to be
inaccurate or cannot be verified, you have the right to have
such deleted from your file.

If you dispute information (name of credit reporting agency)
has in their file, and such dispute cannot be resolved, you
have the right to have your version of said dispute placed in
your file and included in future consumer reports.

You have the right to be notified whenever information
reported by (name of credit reporting agency) results in a
denial of credit or an increase in the cost of credit to you.

You also have the right to disclosure, by telephone or in
person and upon proper identification, of the nature and
substance and the names of sources of the information in your
file.

(name of credit reporting agency) will provide you with
a copy of all information in your file, by mail, upon your
request of same.

FOR VALUE RECEIVED, the undersigned does hereby release
and discharge a certain security interest issued by _,
(Debtor) to the undersigned dated _, 19_.
This document ___ shall ___ shall not (check one)
constitute a discharge of any obligation for which said
security interest was granted.
Signed this _ day of _, 19_.

Dear
(individual) has been with our firm for several
years and has been one of our outstanding employees in
the accounting department. For family reasons, he is
moving to your area and we are truly sorry to lose him.

He has all of the fine qualities you would expect from a
good employee and I honestly feel that any firm that
hires him will be quite fortunate.

I believe that it could be mutually beneficial if the two
of you could meet once he arrives in (city) . He
is mature and of course realizes that there may not be an
opening for him at this time.

Shall I suggest that he make an appointment with you? I
will be looking forward to your reply.

Dear

Your letter requesting that we bill you quarterly rather
than monthly, presents us with somewhat of a problem.

Inasmuch as we would like to welcome you as a new customer
of our firm, we would like to accommodate you in any way
possible. Your request, however, would result in your
receiving preferential treatment for your account and would
be unfair to all of our customers who must settle their
accounts within 30 days. If we were to offer the terms
you have requested to all of our customers, we would soon
be out of business entirely.

I am sure you can understand our position in this matter.
We would welcome your account on our regular open account
basis and hope that we will have the opportunity to provide
you with our fine line of products as well as service.

Dear

This is to acknowledge receipt of your letter of [date],
in which you requested a three month extension on your
[type of] loan, number [number]

After careful review, we regret to inform you that we are
unable to grant you any further extensions for the payment
on your loan.

We are sorry about the difficulties you are experiencing,
but we must insist on receiving your payment by [date]

We hope that you will be able to find another solution to
your problem.