American Company Complains About Drive Belts of Sewing Machines

Gentlemen:

In execution of our order of January 24 you sent us ten industrial sewing machines for our factory.

We have been very much surprised to find that the drive belts for these machines, which are made of some sort of plastic material, tend to disintegrate within a short time. This has rendered the machines completely useless to us and has caused us considerable inconvenience. We are returning the ten defective belts by airmail and request you to replace them free of charge, as soon as possible.

Please let us have your comments regarding this matter. We hope that a repetition of the trouble can be avoided in the future.

Yours very truly,

Canadian Agent of German Manufacturer of Cameras Complains About Defective Shutters

Baumann & Schmitt

Munich, Germany

Gentlemen:

Recently we have received several complaints from customers who state that the shutters in your cameras do not function properly.

You will certainly understand that the dissatisfaction of our customers with your products is a matter of great concern to us, as it might cause a decline in sales. Since the prices of German cameras are higher than those of comparable American products, we have always emphasized in our advertising the excellent workmanship and dependability of the German cameras. If they lose this reputation, it will be very difficult for us to maintain our present position on the market.

As this matter is very urgent, we hope to receive your comments by return mail.

Very truly yours,

Campbell & Co. Ltd.

 

London Agent of German Chemical Company Complains About Samples Damaged in Transit

Neckar Chemie AG

Mannheim, Germany

 

Dear Sirs,

 

We refer to our letter of 16th November, regarding the inquiry from Mr. John Buckley of the Lenham Chemical Company Ltd., London, and regret to advise you that the samples of catalysts you submitted arrived in a badly damaged condition, with the tins broken and the contents mixed together.

Unfortunately it is not possible for the Lenham Chemical Company to make use of this delivery, and we hope you will kindly arrange for further samples of Catalysts 106, 216 and 312 to be dispatched immediately.

We are wondering whether it would not be convenient for you to send our address, in which case we will ensure that they are immediately forwarded to the Lenham Chemical Company. But we will, of course, leave this entirely to your own discretion.

 

Yours faithfully,

Alford & Co.Ltd.

 

Supplier at Fault - Claim Granted

Dear Sirs,

Thank you for your letter of the 12^th April, in which you included a cutting of the cloth you received from us some days ago.

You are quite right. The cloth is not quality you ordered; we sent a thinner material by mistake. As requested, we are sending you Credit Note No. 8773 to adjust the difference in price.

We offer our sincere apologies for this oversight and hope that the matter has now been settled to your complete satisfaction.

 

Yours faithfully,

 

Encl.

 

Customer at Fault - Claim Refused

Dear Mr. Tower:

 

We have received your letter of May 19 and the Slumbertone Clock-Radio which you want us to repair free of charge under the terms of our guarantee.

Our Repair Department has carefully checked the clock-radio and reports that it has apparently been tampered with, as two tubes and the loudspeaker are damaged.

Since our guarantee covers only faulty material and workmanship, we cannot assume the repair costs ourselves. However, we would charge you only $10. If you want us to go ahead with the work at this price, please let us know at once, and we shall return your clock-radio in perfect working condition in about three to four days.

 

Yours sincerely,

 

Damage in Transit

Dear Sirs,

We are sorry to hear that 58 jars of our most recent shipment of McMuir Marmalade were broken when they arrived in Hamburg. Your order was properly packed and shipped in good condition, as evidenced by the clean bill of jading issued by the shipping company. The damage must therefore have occurred in transit.

We are sending you today a replacement for the broken jars. Please let us have the survey report made out by Lloyd’s Agent in Hamburg, so that we can report the damage to the insurance company.

We hope that the new consignment will arrive safely and in good time.

 

Yours faithfully,

Tasks

I. Translate letters from Russian into English:

Претензии, рекламации

№1

Уважаемые господа!

Нам очень жаль, что приходится сообщить Вам о том, что Ваша последняя поставка не соответствует Вашим обычным стандартам. Мы считаем, что ткань в этой поставке более низкого качества. Отдельной посылкой мы отправили Вам образцы ткани последней и предшествующей поставок, чтобы Вы могли их сравнить.

Мы всегда были уверены в высоком качестве тканей, заказываемых у Вас, и были очень разочарованны этим случаем. Ждем Ваших предложений, как можно выйти из сложившейся ситуации.

С уважением,

 

№2

Уважаемые господа!

заказ № АВ 528

21 марта я заказал у Вас комплект дисков «А». Сегодня я получил посылку, но после ее вскрытия обнаружилось, что Вы прислали мне диски «В». У меня уже есть этот набор, поэтому возвращаю его Вам. Надеюсь, Вы вышлете мне заказанный комплект и возместите почтовые расходы в размере £ 17.90.

С уважением,

 

Письмо-ответ на жалобу

№3

Уважаемый г-н Рейнс!

Из Вашего письма от 12 апреля мы с сожалением узнали об ошибке, произошедшей с Вашим заказом.

Приносим Вам свои извинения за доставленные неприятности. Комплект «А» был выслан Вам сегодня. Мы кредитовали Ваши почтовые расходы в размере £ 17.90 на Ваш счет. Кредитовое авизо прилагается.

Еще раз приносим извинения за эту ошибку.

Искренне Ваши,

Приложение

 

II. Draft letters in English from the following particulars:

№1

Фирма «А» в Глазго c сожалением сообщает фирме «В» в Бредфорде о том, что она не удовлетворена последней партией товаров. Была обнаружена нехватка веса, часть товара повреждена во время перевозки, вероятно, из-за несоответствующей упаковки. Фирма «А» также сообщает, что она готова принять товар, если цены будут снижены на 20% и надеется, что при выполнении её заказов в будущем фирма «В» будет аккуратнее.

№2

Фирма «В» в Бредфорде просит фирму «А» в Глазго принять извинения за неудобства, причиненные ей из-за получения повреждённого товара. Фирма «В» объясняет, что повреждение произошло в силу обстоятельств вне её контроля, обещает предъявить претензию управлению железными дорогами во избежание неприятностей в будущем и постарается урегулировать вопрос к полному удовлетворению фирмы «А».

 

III. Read, translate and act out the dialogues:

Asking for Repairing

C. – Customer, S. – Supplier

C.: We called you yesterday morning about the network you installed. I’m afraid that it’s still not working correctly.

S.: Oh, that’s strange. I asked our service team to send a technician to take care of it immediately. Somebody should have fixed the problem yesterday.

C.: Well, I haven’t seen any technicians, and I must say I’m getting rather annoyed. Our mail order unit still can’t access the system, and it’s costing us money.

S.: I realize this must be frustrating for you. How can I best help you?

C.: I need someone here by noon or else we will have to consider switching to a different system.

S.: By noon? That should be no problem. I’ll personally get on to the service unit immediately and make sure they take care of it.

C.: Can you confirm that someone will be here by noon? We can’t afford any more delays.

S.: Yes, I understand. I can assure you that the technician will be on your premises before twelve o’clock.

C.: OK, thanks.

Making a Complaint

L. – Linda, A. – Alena

A.: Hello, Alena Novak speaking.

L.: Hello, Alena. It’s Linda Matthews at Logistics International here.

A.: Hello, Linda. How are things in Glasgow?

L.: Well, not so good. Unfortunately, there’s a problem with the latest shipment.

A.: Oh, I’m sorry, Linda. What seems to be the problem?

L.: We ordered your special premium paper for our copiers and printers a week ago, but we’ve received the wrong paper, and we have some very urgent orders coming up.

A.: Right, I understand your situation. Of course you can’t send out your material with the wrong paper.

L.: No we can’t, and our deadlines are approaching.

A.: OK, Linda, I realize this is a priority for you so I’ll see to it immediately. May I just ask you a few questions first?

L.: Yes, sure.

A.: What exactly do you mean by the wrong paper? I mean, is this the thickness, the size, the colour, or the quality?

L.: Actually, the major problem is that the paper has a watermark that’s not ours. Also, the paper’s standard white instead of cream white as ordered.

A.: Right, and can I just ask one more thing? I see from my documents that you also ordered shipment of standard white paper. Is that correct?

L.: Yes, that’s used for internal documents. But we ordered the other type of paper last week.

A.: Of course. There must have been a mix-up. I’ll speak directly with Production and arrange a special delivery to you by 10 a.m. tomorrow. Would that suit you?

L.: That’s fine. I think we can wait until then. Can you guarantee that delivery time?

A.: Yes, absolutely!

L.: We really can’t afford any more problems.

A.: I understand. I’ll make sure the shipment is at your location no later than 10 a.m. tomorrow. I’ll also fax you a copy of the original order. Could you please fax it back to me immediately with your signature for confirmation?

L.: Yes, that’s no problem.

A.: Thanks, Linda. I’m really sorry about this and I’ll personally make sure you get the right paper tomorrow.

L.: Thanks, Alena. Bye.

A.: Bye, Linda.

IV. Read and translate the text:

Not Satisfied

An elderly spinster bought a television set in a department store. A few weeks later the adjustment manager of the store received the following letter from this lady:

“Dear Sir: The television set I bought in your store works all right, but the program is very bad. Could you exchange the set for one with a better program?”

 

IX. Collection Letters