Chapter 6 Adjustment and RefusalsIn business world it is unavoidable to receive complaints and claims. How to appropriately resolve the matter becomes a tough and challenging task. It is said the most difficult business letter is to respond to complaints and claims. However, there are still some useful tips for writing it without damaging the company's image.AdjustmentWhen you get a complaint or claim, you may either grant an adjustment or reject it depending on the circumstances. When you grant an adjustment, the situation is a happy one for your customer. You are correcting an error. You are doing what you were asked to do. As in other positive situations, a letter written in the direct order is appropriate. The direct-order plan follows these general steps:1.Begin directly---with the good news.2.Incidentally1 identify the correspondence that you are answering.3.Avoid negatives that recall the problem.4.Regain lost confidence through explanation or action.5.End with a friendly, positive comment.RefusalRefusal of a request is definitely a bad news message; therefore, an indirect order is preferred. In the refusal letter, you have two goals. The main one is to say no; the other is to maintain goodwill. You could achieve the first goal by simply saying no ---plainly and directly. Maintaining goodwill, however, requires more. The following general pattern will help you better handle the tasks.1.Begin with words that indicate response to the request and are neutralas to the answer, and set up the strategy.2.Present your justification or explanation, using positive language andyou-viewpoint.3.Refuse positively.4.End with adapted, goodwill comment.The following two letters are written according to thewriting principles mentioned above. Now read the lettersand try to figure out how the writing principles areapplied in them. The questions after the letters might helpyou accomplish the task.Letter A Letter of adjustmentDear Mrs. Williams:Your repaired video game is being returned by UPS, and you should receive it within a week. Skilled engineers made your video game almost as good as new.Recently Pace Electronic has acquired the assets of Four Star Games and has became responsible for repairs under warranties. Now you can be assured of prompt and reliable service. Any future repairs can be made by one of the dealers of our expanded network (see enclosed sheet).Also enclosed is a brochure showing some of our exciting new products, as well as Four Star's old favorites. You can order by mail, using the order form in the brochure, or call 1-800-877-PACE. We look for-ward to helping you enjoy your video game.Letter B Credit refusal letterDear Mr. Sands:We sincerely appreciate your interest in an account with White-Horton & Company. Whenever we can, we are always willing to serve you.In determining what we can do for you regarding your June 8 request for credit, we made the routine checks you authorized. The information we have received permits us to serve you only as a cash customer2. But as you know, cash buying here at White-Horton's discount prices canmake a very real saving for your budget.We hope to see you in the store again very soon, and we look forward to the opportunity of serving you.Questions for Comprehension1.What kind of order does each letter adopt?2.How does the author of adjustment begin his/her letter?3.Do the replies clearly state the problems?4.How does each author arrange the body of his/her letter?5.Is the tone of each letter polite and considerate?6.How does each author end his/her letter?7.What's the purpose of each letter?8.Does each letter state clearly its explanation?9.What's your impression on these letters?10. Sum up the requirements for writing an adjustment and a refusal.Sample Analysis1Sample 6-1 Adjustment for the wrong materialsDear Glenn Presley:The correct consignment of the clothing material will reach you within 20 days.I'm grateful for your letter dated September 1st. We're sorry to learn that the clothing materials don't match the sample. After careful examination, we found that we had misfilled3your order and another order that was different from yours with only one letter. We have arranged for the correct consignment and it would arrive at your place by September 24th.As compensation for the wrong delivery, I would like to provide you a 5% discount on this consignment, and I hope such an arrangement is satisfactory to you.Thank you for your letter of March 3rd and we will take care of your broken-down sewing machines.It is our common practice to carry out a careful screening to ensure our machines functional and reliable before they are finally sent out to customers. We are so confident and proud of our quality that our warran-ties4 run for as long as the customers possess the products.Your letter informing us of the problem has been handed to the Technology Department. The senior engineers will make a careful research to find out the potential problem areas. Simply send us the bill for the repairs and we'll reimburse you the costs.For any problems arising with this or any other machines we produced, simply take it to your nearest Sharp Machine Distributor who will repair it at no expense for you.Sincerely yours,Sample 6-3 Refusal to claim on replacement1Dear Mr. Mitchell:We understand your concern about the software Model 4050 you mentioned in your letter of May 6. We are willing to do as much as we reasonably can to make things right.From your description and our staff's careful research, we found that there was something wrong in the computer networks you adopted.As it is stated in the operating instruction, this software is solely compatible5 with Windows XP, which is different from Windows 98. And before you use this software, you should have to install the starting sys-tem6 at the bottom of the box first. But you haven't installed it. Therefore, please install the starting system first and then try it with Windows XP. For other procedures, please follow the procedures strictly with our instruction brochure.We hope the software will bring much convenience and profit to you.Sample 6-5 Adjustment of a wrong order •Dear Mr. White:I would be disappointed to lose your cooperation, but even more disappointed to lose your faith and friendship in our firm. So I sincerely thank you for your letter that was written in friendliness to give us an-other opportunity.I am sorry that you had to send the wrong order back, which, I know, is really bothering. Though you didn't send back the leather chairs of which we sent the wrong style and the amount is not that much, we want to made it right. We will immediately send the sandal-wood chairs that you wanted.I must apologize again for the inconvenience has caused you. If you want to change any other items in your order, let me know and we will send them to you. You can return them when you are convenient. A check for postage is also enclosed as we don't expect to have you pay the extra expense because of our mistakes.You have been a customer of long standing. We will try our best to avoid mistakes in serving you.Dear Sirs:We have received your letter of October 15, but we are surprised to know your unreasonable request.Obviously, the rice was wetted by the seawater during the transportation, so you shouldn't claim on us. You have to write to those who are responsible.Sincerely yours,Language for WritingI. Notes1. incidentally: adv.The issue was brought up incidentally at the meeting.2. cash customer:The credit investigation survey permits us only to serve you as a cash customer.3. misfill: v.We misfilled your order owing to the carelessness on the part of our warehouse worker.4. warranty: n.The car enjoys a five-year warranty period.5. compatible: adj.The two systems are not compatible.6. starting system:The new starting system proves much faster than the older ones,7. route: v.We will route the information to the headquarters by tomorrow.II. Useful Sentence Patterns1. BeginningAdjustment1)... should reach you in three days...2) The attached check for... is Newton's way of assuring you that yoursatisfaction is very important to us.3) By... (time), your three Dove Bicycles should reach you at... shop.Refusal1) We understand your concern about the.... As always, we are willing to do asmuch as we reasonably can to make things right.2) You were right in assuming that.... We are always interested in doingwhatever we can to make our sales satisfactory.3) Your order and request are sincerely appreciated. We are always grateful forthe opportunity of serving you in the best way we can.2. Indirect Refusing1) The best we can do is...2)... permit us to serve you only as a cash customer.3) We feel at this time you will be acting in your own best interestby...4) We must consider the sale final.5)In view of this explanation, you will understand why we must stand by ourguarantee policy in this case.3. Ending1) Thank you for this opportunity to explain. We shall continue to work hard toprovide you with the service you have a right to expect.2) We hope to see you again in the store, and we look forward to theopportunity of serving you..3) We are always pleased to do business with your organization and willcontinue to serve you with quality industrial equipment.4) So, whenever it is convenient, please come by and let us...5) We wish you the best in enjoying from...ExercisesI. Put the following sentences into the right order and make it a completeletter.a.. Please accept our apologies for the delay.b. The mistake has been corrected and will never occur again.c. Our internal research has uncovered a bottleneck in our fulfillmentprocedures.d. Thank you for your letter of December 10th regarding your order thechinaware.e. Therefore, we have delayed several shipments, including yours.f. Your order has now been ranged and shipped.g. Please contact me if I can offer any help.II. Fill in the blanks of the following letter with the words given. Change the form where necessary.recover invoice appreciateregarding account inconvenienceDear Sirs:Thank you for your letter dated January 18th __________ the mistaken bill.On January 4th, a virus hit our computer system. When we ________ our collapse system, we discovered the __________ were out of order.We realized that all the _____________ we have sent out were inaccurate, including the one you received on January 8th.We have corrected all the accounts and sent new invoices.We are extremely sorry for the ________ brought to our customers; therefore, we enclosed a 15% discount coupon for your next order.W e ___________ your cooperation during this time and look forward to serving you again.Sincerely yours,III. Read the following adjustment and see if you can improve i t.Thank you for your letter of May 3rd concerning the furniture you purchased. I'm sorry that we have sent you the wrong size.The mistake was made by our distribution department and they made a mistake in looking for the right name.Sincerely apologize for the inconvenience it brought you.Frankly yours,1) One of your customers, Mrs. Douglas, wrote to claim to you that you have mixed up the tables she ordered. After examination, you foundthat it was owing to the loss of the sales file of that purchase.You are asked to write a response to her claim and tell her you will offer her a 10% discount on her next purchase as compensation.2) Y our customer, Mr. Bidwell wrote to you that you had sent him the wrong bill with $150 overcharged. After calculation, you found that hehad missed to calculate the transportation fees.Now write him a letter to refuse his request.。
