Please send your letter in English by ordinary mail (not by e-mail), preferably typed, including your and the trader's/supplier's full name and address, outlining your grievance to the trader/supplier concerned and a copy to: The Customer Service Column, The Sunday Times, PO Box 328, Valletta, CMR 01, or vice-versa. This must be made clear to both parties by marking your letter "c.c." accordingly. Readers must be prepared to have their full personal details disclosed to the relevant traders/suppliers, their case published, and their name featured in full. It is up to the complainant to chase the progress of his/her case with the trader/supplier by ordinary mail (not by e-mail) while, in the process, copying me in. On our part, we follow up all letters of complaint and complainants' chasers by asking the respective suppliers for their comments by ordinary mail. Suppliers/traders too must reply by ordinary mail and it is in their interest to do so.

Since we have cases where traders/suppliers refuse to communicate with us, complainants are kindly requested to inform us, by ordinary mail, if the complaint is positively resolved. It is regretted that advice on personal complaints cannot always be given. We must stress that letters or complaints naming traders/suppliers negatively will not be dealt with by e-mail.

From a legal point of view the ordinary mail system has proved to be the only fair and safe system. If we were to accept and deal with complaints by e-mail, it would not be possible to operate such a fair system whereby suppliers/traders are given more than a fair opportunity to give us their side of the case prior to publication.

Letters, once sent, cannot be withdrawn and all cases are subject to publication. Readers are kindly requested not to telephone the Sunday Times offices in connection with the column. They must put their queries in writing.