Complaint letter template
A written complaint to the board or agency that licenses the business. What it contains, and the letter itself, ready to fill in.
The short version
A different reader than a demand letter
A demand letter goes to the business. A complaint like this goes to whoever licenses it: a state board, a department of agriculture, a consumer-protection division. It puts the same facts in front of someone who can act on a pattern, not just on your one case.
Most regulators expect you to have tried the business directly first, which is why this letter references that attempt rather than skipping straight to a complaint.
What one contains
Six things, in roughly this order
Who you are complaining about, and to whom
The business's name and license or registration number, and the name of the board, agency, or department that oversees it. Different trades and different states route to different regulators.
What was agreed
What the business said it would do, and where that was recorded. Same starting point as a demand letter: a regulator is measuring the same gap between promise and result.
What happened instead
The facts in order, with dates. A regulator reads complaints all day; a clear timeline gets read to the end.
What it cost
What was paid, and what is still outstanding or owed back. The same figures a demand letter would use.
What you have already done
Whether you contacted the business directly first, and when. Most regulators expect a good-faith attempt to resolve it before a complaint reaches them.
What you are asking for
Investigation, discipline, a referral to a recovery fund, or something else. A regulator has to know what outcome you are seeking, not just that you are unhappy.
The template
Fill in the brackets and send it
Select the text below, copy it, and replace each bracketed field with your own facts and the regulator that fits your state and trade. Nothing here names one for you.
To [Name of the licensing board, agency, or department],
Re: Complaint against [Business name], license/registration [License or registration number, if known]
What was agreed
On [Date of agreement], I hired this business, and we agreed that [What was agreed].
What happened
[What happened instead, with dates]
What it has cost
[Amount paid, owed, or in dispute]
What I have already done
[Steps already taken to resolve this directly, and when]
What I am asking you to do
[What you are asking the regulator to do: investigate, discipline, refer to a recovery fund, or something else].
Sincerely,
[Your name]
What it does not do
Worth knowing before you send one
A complaint does not compel a specific outcome. Regulators investigate on their own timeline, and some complaints close with no action at all. What it changes is the record: the business now has a filing against its license, not just an unhappy customer.
It also does not tell you which regulator to use or what remedy applies to your state. Licensing boards, bond programs, and recovery funds vary by state and by trade, and using the wrong one wastes the time you put into writing this.
Satisfy is not a law firm and this page is not legal advice. What it gives you is a common consumer-protection step and a blank form for it, ready to send under your own name.
If you would rather not
We find the regulator, and file it
Working out which board, bond, or fund actually applies to your state and trade is the part that stalls most people here. That lookup, and the filing itself, is the work we take on.
Tell us what happened and we will say whether it is something we can help with.