Guide
Last updated September 16, 2026
You gave them a deadline, it came and went, and your inbox is empty. This is more common than getting a reply on time, so don't treat it as a sign your original letter failed. Treat it as the start of a second, shorter round, one where the rules are a little different.
Your first letter was about the original problem. Your follow-up is about two things: the original problem, and the fact that they ignored a reasonable deadline. Say that plainly near the top. Reference the date you first wrote, the date the deadline fell on, and the fact that nothing came back. That's not padding, it's the new evidence that makes your case stronger than it was the first time around.
The first deadline was a courtesy. The second one should be noticeably tighter, five to seven business days rather than ten to fourteen. You've already given them a reasonable window once. A second long deadline signals you're not actually in a hurry, which undercuts the point of setting one at all.
If your first letter went to a general support address, this is the point to widen who sees it. A named manager, a second department, or a company's official complaints channel if one exists separately from day-to-day support. DraftMyComplaints has a CC field for exactly this: add the new contact rather than starting an entirely separate thread, so the person you're escalating to sees the full history in one place instead of getting your story secondhand.
Don't suddenly ask for triple what you originally requested. That reads as opportunistic and gives them a reason to focus on your escalation instead of their own failure to respond. It's fair to add something modest that reflects the extra time and hassle the silence has cost you, but the core ask should stay recognizable from the first letter. Consistency is what makes you look reasonable and them look like the ones who dropped the ball.
Be specific about your next step without pretending to know exactly how it plays out. Depending on what you're dealing with, that might mean a chargeback through your card issuer, a complaint to a regulator or ombudsman relevant to the industry, or an honest public review. Don't name a specific law, agency, or guaranteed outcome, look up what actually applies to your situation and country before you commit to a specific escalation path. The point of mentioning it now is to show the second deadline isn't an empty threat, not to get the details of the process right in the letter itself.
Subject: Follow-Up: Formal Complaint — Order #12345, [Company Name]
1. Reference the original letter's date and what it asked for.
2. Note that the deadline passed without a response.
3. Restate the ask, unchanged or slightly firmer.
4. A shorter final deadline, and a general note on what comes next if it's missed.
Keep every email and reference number from both rounds in one place. If this does end up going to a bank, a regulator, or anywhere else, a clean paper trail matters more than how well-written any single message was.
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