Chapter Nine Complaints, Claims and Adjustments

Revision: Translation 要求你们用 “ 加尔加斯 ” 号船装运所订购的货物，而不是将货物装在原先通 知的 “ 曼哈顿 ” 号船上。 Instead of S.S. “ Manhattan ” as previously advised, you are now required to ship the goods of this order by S.S. “ Calchas ”. 请你们抓紧备货，并尽你们最大努力毫不延迟地将货物装船。 Please rush the preparation of the goods and try your best to ship the same without the least delay. 合同中明确规定月底前装船，然而假若你们能安排提早装船，我们将不 胜感激。 It is stipulated in the contract that shipment is to be made before the end of this month, however, we shall appreciate it if you will arrange to ship the goods at an earlier date.

Revision: Translation 已经在 “ 济南 ” 号船上订舱，该船预定将于下月底从你们港口驶往青岛港。 The space has been booked on S.S. Jinan, which is due to sail from your port to Qingdao at the end of next month. 我方今天已将一批男式衬衫通过 “ 东风 ” 号船运往贵方，今附上该批货物的 相关提单和发票。 We have today sent you by S.S. “ Dongfeng ” a consignment of Men's shirts for which we enclose our bill of lading and invoice. 你方是否可以为我们安排，替下列瓷器产品投保从以上地址所示的仓库 至马尼拉的保险？ Will you please arrange to insure for us on the following consignment of crockery goods from our warehouse at the above address to Manila?

Revision: Please look at the following classifications In our country, the cargo insurance is classified into basic risks and additional risks. Basic risks include: (1) Free from Particular Average (FPA); (2) With Particular Average/ With Average (WPA/WA) (3) All Risks (AR). Additional risks include: (1) General Additional Risks (2) Special Additional Risks.

General Additional Risks include: Clash & Breakage Risks; Taint of Odor Risk ； Fresh and/or Rain Water Damage Risks; Theft, Pilferage & Non-delivery Risks (T.P.N.D.) ； Shortage Risk ； Leakage Risk ； Leakage Risk; Intermixture & Contamination Risks ； Hook Damage Risk ； Sweating & Heating Risks ； Rusting Risk ； Breakage of Packing Risk.

Special Additional Risks include: War Risk; Strike, Riots and Civil Commotions (S.R.C.C.); Aflatoxin Risk; Failure to Delivery Risk; On Deck Risk; Import Duty Risk; Rejection Risk; Survey in Customs Risk; Survey at Jetty Risks

Questions for discussion  As far as you know, what might be the causes for complaints?  What are to be noted by the sellers when they are dealing with a complaint?  Is it necessary for the sellers to go into a long story of how the mistake was made? Why?

Read and answer (1)What is a complaint letter? (2) What is a claim letter? (3) What is an adjustment letter?

A complaint letter A complaint letter is written to complain about the quality of goods or service, the damage which has happened to the goods, or late or incomplete delivery, etc.

A claim letter A claim letter aims to convince the reader that the claimer has a legitimate complaint which deserves a desired response. Its aim is to ask for compensation for the loss or damage which has already occurred. It should be professional and well-arranged, otherwise the writer cannot receive positive feedback in his favor.

An adjustment letter An adjustment letter is a kind of reply to a complaint with an aim to solve problems. It is also with an intention to convince the other side that the mistake occurred is only a slip.

Complaint of wrong goods delivered Dear Sir/Madam, Our Order No. 189 We duly received the documents and took delivery of the goods on arrival of the S. S. “Happiness” at Ningbo. We are much obliged to you for the prompt execution of this order. Everything appears to be correct and in good condition except in case N Unfortunately when we opened this case we found it contained totally different articles, and we can only presume that a mistake was made and the contents of this case were for another order. As we need the articles we ordered to complete deliveries to our own customers, we must ask you to arrange for dispatch of replacements at once. We attach a list of the contents of case No , and shall be glad if you will check this with our order and the copy of your invoice. Meanwhile, we are holding the above-mentioned case at your disposal. Please let us know what you wish us to do with it. Yours faithfully, Acknowledging receipt. Stating unfortunate happenings. Lodging complaints. Proposing a solution.

Making a complaint about inferior quality of goods Dear Mr. Yip, We are sorry to inform you that we have received the goods of our Order No. 9876, but found that the quality is not same as previous. The goods are out of shape and workmanship is too rough. Enclosed is a sample for your appraisal. We have always been able to rely on the excellent quality of your goods and we are quite disappointed in this case. As we are out of stock now and need the goods urgently, please let us know immediately what you can do to help us to overcome this difficult situation. Yours sincerely, Acknowledging receipt. Stating unfortunate happenings. Lodging complaints. Proposing a solution.

The buyer asking the seller to make the insurance claim Dear Sir/Madam, Our Order No. 119 When the S. S “Merry Sailor” arrived at Hangzhou on 13 th August, it was noticed that a part of cases, nearly half were wet. We therefore had all the wet cases opened and the contents examined by a local insurance surveyor in the presence of the shipping company’s agents. Each case was invoiced as containing 10 dozen cartons, four or five of which were badly damaged, and the goods have lost a great deal of their quality by wetting from sea-water. We enclose the surveyor’s report and the shipping agent’s statement. As you hold the insurance policy we should be grateful if you would take the matter up for us with the insurers. We hope no difficulty will arise in connection with the insurance claim and thank you in advance for your trouble on our behalf. Yours faithfully, Stating unfortunate happenings. Lodging complaints. Proposing a solution. Expectation for settlement.

Settling a claim Dear Sirs, We are very sorry to learn from your letter of December 6 th that our shipment covering your order No. 100 was found defective. Upon investigation, we have discovered that defective goods sometimes filter despite rigorous inspection prior to shipment. We protested very severely to the manufacturers with whom your order was placed. They deeply apologize for the matter and assure that they shall never allow such carelessness to happen again in future shipment. As a settlement we have arranged to reship the whole goods by the first available vessel, with a special discount of 3% off the invoice amount. We add our apology for your trouble and promise to execute your order in the future with maximum care and efficiency. Yours faithfully, Informing the receipt of the complaint. Telling the results of the investigation. Conclusion about the compliant. Promises or friendly close.

Rejecting a claim Dear Mr. Leung, Order No Thank you for your letter of August 10 th concerning the quality of the cotton fabric. After a careful investigation, we could not find any error on our part because we took every effort to fulfill your order as shown in the enclosed certificate of packing inspection. Since the quality is up to the standard and slight quality variation is unavoidable, we are sorry that we can’t accept your request to return the goods. We suggest, therefore, that you lodge a claim with the insurance company. We will assist you wherever possible to process the claim. Though it is quite beyond our control, we are very sorry for the inconvenience you have suffered. Peg Tse Informing the receipt of the complaint. Telling the results of the investigation. Conclusion about the compliant. Making a suggestion for solution. Friendly close.

Discussion Read these letters repeatedly and tell their common structures.

The common structure of a complaint or claim letter 1. Referring to the receipt of the order. We have just received a consignment of personal computers from your company. 2. Lodging complaints. When we discussed delivery dates, you assured us that you could deliver by 2 Dec. However, the goods are now two weeks overdue. Unfortunately, you have sent us the wrong items. We ordered Model 602 but you have sent us Model Propose a solution. We would be obliged if you would replace the goods you delivered with the correct ones （ Optional ）. 4. Tell the recipient that actions will be taken if the requirements are not met. Or: More orders may follow if the requirements are met. If you do not refund all of the money we have paid, we shall have no choice but to seek legal advice in the matter.

The common structure of replies to complaints. 1. Informing the complainer of the receipt of the complaint. Thank you for giving us the opportunity to look into our delivery procedures. 2. Telling the reader what are the results of the investigation and what actions the writer will take or have been taken. I have checked with the transporters, and they inform me that… According to our investigation, the delay was due to the bad weather condition. 3. Decision about the compliant. I really must apologize for the inconvenience resulted from our belated delivery. I regret to inform you that the goods cannot be returned to the shop. 4. Propose a solution or accept the suggestion made by the reader. We take all our customer’s comments seriously. With this in mind, we are more than happy to cover the cost of replacing the defective goods.

Classroom activity Please discuss these pairs of sentences to see which is better in each pair and try to tell why. The purpose of this exercise is to help students to see how different ways can be found to express the same idea.

Exercise A (1) We are sorry to hear that, when the 80 pieces of china you ordered on 4 th May arrived yesterday, three of them were found broken and two were missing. (2) The survey report indicates that the broken bags were due to rough handling instead of improper packing, for which the shipping company should be definitely responsible. (3) We are deeply sorry that the delay in shipment has caused you much inconvenience, and for the present we can only ask you to accept our apology. (4 ) We shipped your order before the shipping date specified in your L/C and so the delay was not caused by us.

Exercise A (5) We are prepared to make you a reasonable compensation but not the amount you claimed, because we cannot see why the loss should be 50% more than the actual value of the goods. (6) The wrong pieces may be sent back via next available steamers for our account, but it is preferable if you can sell them out at our price in your local market. (7) We take all our customers’ comments seriously. With this in mind, we are more than happy to cover the cost of replacing the defective goods. (8) In view of the reasons stated above, we have no choice but to return the defective goods and ask you to replace them for us.

Exercise C Dear sir, Thank you for your of June 10. We are sorry about the problems you had with the performance of our X-80 LD monitor and have referred the matter to our engineers. They hope that you will send the instrument back to us so that it can be given a thorough inspection. Payment for the instrument will not be requested until our inspection has been completed. Would this be acceptable? We wish this inconvenience won’t have any negative influence on our future co-operation. Yours sincerely,

Exercise D Dear Sir, Thank you for giving us the opportunity to look into our delivery procedures. And I feel great sympathy for the damage to the 800 tins of condensed milk. We have checked with the transporters, and they admitted that the damage was due to improper handling instead of defective packing. So they have agreed to make a compensation of 3% for your loss. We hope you will be satisfied with the solution. Sincerely yours,