The prompt
Score 10 of 10, Excellent
Use it when A supplier delivered goods that do not meet the agreed specification, and you need a clear, factual complaint that asks them to fix the cause.
- {{supplier}}
- {{sender}}
- {{agreed_spec}}
- {{findings}}
- {{impact}}
- {{requests}}
Full prompt and why it works
Prompt
Write a formal quality complaint to {{supplier}} about the delivery described below, to be sent by {{sender}}. The goal is that the supplier understands exactly what was wrong, contains it quickly, and replies with a root cause and corrective action by a set date, while the working relationship stays professional. What was agreed (specification, drawing, purchase order terms or quality agreement), quoted: """ {{agreed_spec}} """ What we found (dates, order and lot numbers, quantities checked and rejected, measurements, photos or reports available): """ {{findings}} """ Effect on us so far: {{impact}} What we ask for, and by when: {{requests}} Write: 1. A subject line with the order or lot number. 2. The message, 200 to 350 words, with short labeled parts: What happened, Requirement, What we found, Effect on us, What we need from you (numbered: immediate containment such as sorting or replacing stock, a root cause analysis, corrective action, and the reply dates), Evidence available. 3. A one-line summary for our own records. Rules: - State facts and measurements exactly as given, side by side with the requirement, for example "Specified: 12.0 mm ±0.1. Measured on 20 of 200 parts: 12.3 to 12.4 mm." Where the supplier's own figures use other units, add the conversion in brackets. - Do not claim costs, penalties or contract rights that are not in my notes, and do not threaten. If my notes say we will charge for costs, state it once, plainly; if they only say we might, leave it out and mention it to me. - Do not speculate on what caused the problem at their end; that is what we are asking them to find. - The tone should be firm and businesslike, like a buyer who expects this fixed and wants to keep working together. If the agreed specification does not clearly cover one of the problems we found, tell me before the draft, because a complaint is much weaker when the requirement is not written down. Then write the draft with that point marked [CHECK].
Variables
- {{supplier}}
- The supplier's company name and contact.
- {{sender}}
- Who signs the complaint, for example "our quality manager".
- {{agreed_spec}}
- The specification, drawing tolerance or purchase order terms the delivery had to meet, quoted.
- {{findings}}
- What you found: dates, order and lot numbers, how many checked and rejected, measurements, photos.
- {{impact}}
- What it has cost or caused so far, for example "line stopped two hours; 180 parts quarantined".
- {{requests}}
- What you want and by when, as dates, for example "replacement stock by Friday, May 9; root cause and corrective action by May 23".
Why it works
- An example. The example puts the requirement and the measurement side by side, the form that makes a quality complaint hard to dispute.
- What to avoid. It claims no costs or contract rights beyond your notes, leaves out costs you only might charge, and does not guess at the cause, leaving the supplier to find and own it.
- If unsure. If the specification does not clearly cover a problem, you hear that before sending and the point is marked [CHECK], since a complaint without a written requirement is easy to reject.