1、Unit Twelve,Complaints claims adjustments,商務(wù)英語(yǔ)函電教程Unit-12-投訴受理與處理,Learning Objectives,After this Unit, you should be able to,To describe complaint, claim, and adjustments,To understand claim practice,To know how to make a complaint,商務(wù)英語(yǔ)函電教程Unit-12-投訴受理與處理,General View,Generally speaking, complaints

2、should not be necessary. In doing business, it is necessary to abide by contracts and everything should be done so carefully that no mistakes are made and nothing is damaged. Unfortunately, everything doe not always go as well as what we expect. Often due to many unforeseen factors, errors occur and

3、 goods are mishandled; accidents happen,商務(wù)英語(yǔ)函電教程Unit-12-投訴受理與處理,General View,All these may be result in subsequent complaints and claims of different characters. They may result from: 1）wrong goods delivered 2）shipment overdue 3）shipment damaged, or short 4）goods in inferior quality 5）goods badly pa

4、cked,商務(wù)英語(yǔ)函電教程Unit-12-投訴受理與處理,General View,It is usually the hope of both sellers and buyer that any disputes between them be solved through discussion. However, if a satisfactory solution can not be reached between them after negotiation, a claim may be files to the court specified in the contract f

5、or arbitration. Complaints and claims can be often settled through friendly negotiation, arbitration or by law. Every complaint or claim requires a prompt answer or acknowledgement. Replies to complaint letters, often called letters of “adjustment,” should always be courteous, even if the complaints

6、 and claims are not justified,商務(wù)英語(yǔ)函電教程Unit-12-投訴受理與處理,General View,If the complaint is justified, you have to admit it readily, express your regret and indicate what steps the company is taking to put the matter right. If the complaint is not justified, point this out politely and in an agreeable ma

7、nner. In that case, your letter should be written carefully. The key is not to make the customer feel that he is considered over-demanding in making his request, but to assure him that his complaint has been seriously considered and used facts to convince him of your position,商務(wù)英語(yǔ)函電教程Unit-12-投訴受理與處理

8、,Guidelines of Writing,1Rules of complaint and claim Complaints and claims are usually made by the importers who suffered losses against the exporters. A letter of complaints or claims should be written as follows: 1). Begin by regretting the need to complain or claim. 2). Mention the details of the

9、 goods complained about, including the name of the goods, the order and contract number, the date of delivery, etc. 3). State the reasons for being dissatisfied and ask for an explanation. 4). Refer to the inconvenience caused. 5). Suggest how the matter should be settled,商務(wù)英語(yǔ)函電教程Unit-12-投訴受理與處理,Gui

10、delines of Writing,2. Rules of adjustment and settlement The following are the rules for replying to complaints and claims. (1)Take the complaint or claim seriously. (2)Explain what has happened and why it happened. (3)Ask for necessary cooperation from the customer,商務(wù)英語(yǔ)函電教程Unit-12-投訴受理與處理,Guideline

11、s of Writing,4)Do not shirk responsibility. If you are wrong, you should admit your mistake and apologize sincerely. You can state that you will never try every effort to prevent the error from happening again, but the trouble is caused by other people, you may promise to contact them and resolve th

12、e problems. (5)End with a friendly, positive comment,商務(wù)英語(yǔ)函電教程Unit-12-投訴受理與處理,Specimen Letter-1 (Complaining about wrong goods delivered) February 10, 2008 Dear Sirs Our Order No. 4312 We duly received the documents and took delivery of the goods on arrival of the s.s. “Isabella” at Hamburg. We are m

13、uch obliged to you for the promote execution of this order. Everything appears to be correct and in good condition except in case No. 71. Unfortunately, when we open this case we found it contained completely different articles, and we can only presume that a mistake was made and the contents of thi

14、s case were for another order,商務(wù)英語(yǔ)函電教程Unit-12-投訴受理與處理,As we need the articles we ordered to complete deliveries to our new customers, we must ask you to arrange for the dispatch of replacements at once. We attach a list of the contents of case No. 71, and shall be glad if you will check this with ou

15、r order and the copy of your invoice. In the meantime we are holding the above-mentioned case at your disposal; please let us know what you wish us to do with it. Yours faithfully Ali Albert Encl. Survey report,商務(wù)英語(yǔ)函電教程Unit-12-投訴受理與處理,Specimen Letters-2 (Settlement of wrong delivery) February 18, 20

16、08 Dear Sirs, Your Order No 43120 per s. s. “Isabella” Thank you for your letter of February 10 informing us that the consignment was delivered promptly. We appreciate your straightforwardness in pointing out that case No.71 did not contain the goods you ordered. On going into the matter we find tha

17、t a mistake was indeed made in the packing through a confusion of numbers, and we have arranged for the right goods,商務(wù)英語(yǔ)函電教程Unit-12-投訴受理與處理,to be dispatched to you at once. Relative documents will be mailed as soon as they are ready. Please keep case No. 71 and its contents until called for by our C

18、ommercial Counsellor s Office, whom we have informed of the matter accordingly. We were sorry for the trouble caused you by the error and wish to assure you that care will be taken in the execution of your further orders. Yours sincerely , David Zhao,商務(wù)英語(yǔ)函電教程Unit-12-投訴受理與處理,Specimen Letter-3 (Compla

19、int about inferior quality) 21 March 2007 Dear Sirs， We duly received the documents and took delivery of the dress materials supplied to our Order No. LNG-521. We are much obliged to you for the promote execution of this order. After careful examination, however, we are both surprised and disappoint

20、ed to find that the quality of these materials is certainly much below that of the samples you sent us,商務(wù)英語(yǔ)函電教程Unit-12-投訴受理與處理,We are enclosing a cutting sample from the goods we received. You will admit that these materials do not come up to the sample on which we passed the order. As the materials

21、 are quite unsuited to the needs of our customers, we hold the goods at your disposal. Please look into the matter and let us know what you can do about it as soon as possible. Yours faithfully, Mark Twain,商務(wù)英語(yǔ)函電教程Unit-12-投訴受理與處理,Specimen letter-4 (Settlement of inferior quality) March 30, 2008 Dear

22、 Sirs, We very much regret to learn from your letter of March 21 that you are not satisfied with the dress materials supplied to your Order No. LNG-521. Tracing our records, we find that there has been some mistake in our selection of the materials meant for you. We are very sorry for this carelessn

23、ess on our part. To settle the problem, we would like either to,商務(wù)英語(yǔ)函電教程Unit-12-投訴受理與處理,replace the inferior materials as soon as possible or to give you a special allowance of 30% for the invoice amount. We apologize once more for any inconvenience our mistake may have caused you and look forward t

24、o your decision as to which of the above two adjustments is preferable to you. Yours faithfully, John Wendy,商務(wù)英語(yǔ)函電教程Unit-12-投訴受理與處理,Specimen letter-5 (Claim for improper packing) GREGORY CORPORATION 359 Moonstone Street, Karachi, Pakistan Tel: (61) 2-87869923 E-mail: 21 August 2007 Fair Textiles Imp

25、ort & Export Co. 10 Guanghua Road Beijing, China Dear Sirs, Our order Number HK-285 for 40 cartons of woolen carpets was received on August 18. But we regret to say that 11 cartons were found broken and the carpets in them were soiled. This was obviously due to improper packing,商務(wù)英語(yǔ)函電教程Unit-12-投訴受理與

26、處理,Needless to say, we have suffered a great loss from this as we cannot possibly deliver the merchandise in this condition to our customers. We, therefore, have to ask you to give us a 15% allowance on the invoice value or we will return the soiled carpets to you and ask for replacement. We hope yo

27、u will give our suggestion your most favorable consideration and let us have your decision at an early date. Faithfully yours, Alexandria,商務(wù)英語(yǔ)函電教程Unit-12-投訴受理與處理,Specimen letter-6 (Declining a claim) August 28, 2007 Dear Mr. Stone, We regret to learn from your letter of August 21 that 11cartons of c

28、arpets shipped under your order No. HK-285 were found soiled and we are required to grant you a 15% allowance on the invoice value of the order. We took your case seriously and have looked into the matter in detail. The packing department of our company informed us that the carpets were properly,商務(wù)英

29、語(yǔ)函電教程Unit-12-投訴受理與處理,packed first in waterproof paper and then in double thickness of canvas as stipulated in the contract. Furthermore, the clean B/L covering the goods indicates that they were received for shipment in apparent good condition. Therefore, we are certain that the damage must have occ

30、urred through careless handling in transit. Such being the case, we are afraid that we cannot accept your request. We would advise that you take up the case with the shipping company and have the claim settled to your satisfaction. Faithfully yours, Li Jun,商務(wù)英語(yǔ)函電教程Unit-12-投訴受理與處理,Specimen letter -7（

31、Claim for short weight ） Victory Trading Company Ltd. 80 Victory Street P. O. Box 4199 Auckland, New Zealand Tel: (09) 5000006 E-mail: May 16, 2007 Shandong Foodstuff Trading Co., Ltd 202 Huihuang Street, Zibo, Shandong, China Dear Sirs， Our Order No. 07223 We refer to our Order No. 07223 in connect

32、ion with the foodstuff which was shipped per S.S. “Victoria” and discharged at London. On its arrival at the destination, the shipment was found of short weight,商務(wù)英語(yǔ)函電教程Unit-12-投訴受理與處理,We now lodge claims with you as follows: Claim number Claim for Amount 49 short weight USD 3,500.00 Enclosed you wi

33、ll find a copy of Inspection Certificate No. 07189 with our statement of claims, which amounts to USD 3,500.00. We are looking forward to a satisfactory conclusion of the matter. Yours sincerely, Susan,商務(wù)英語(yǔ)函電教程Unit-12-投訴受理與處理,Specimen letter-8 (Settlement of short weight) May 23, 2008 Dear Sirs, You

34、r Order No. 07223 With reference to your letter of June 20, 2007, a claim has been lodged for a short delivery. We express our deepest regret over the unfortunate incident. While we regret this unfortunate incident, we must point out that the rice underwent physical weighing by independent surveyors

35、 and the superintend of a shipping company at our end. The Shanghai Commodity Inspection Bureau had also carefully inspected the goods before they were shipped as evidence by their certificate now in your possession,商務(wù)英語(yǔ)函電教程Unit-12-投訴受理與處理,We dont think we should be responsible for the shortage. It

36、must due to pilferage while the goods were in transit under such circumstances. We therefore suggest that you make a claim Immediately against the Insurance Company. If you will send us the papers which show exactly the shortage of the shipment that reach you, we will take up the matter for you with a view to recovering the shortage in weight from the Insurance Company.