1. Complaints and Adjustments
UNIT
Learning Objectives
 Making complaints and claims
 Handling complaints and claims
 Writing letters for complaints
and adjustments 11
投诉与理赔

2. CONTENTS ◆ Warm-up Practice ◆ Listening Task ◆ Speaking Task
◆ Reading Task
◆ Writing Task
◆ Follow-up Practice

3. Sure, that’ll help us understand better about what we are asked to do.
We need to discuss some questions about what we are going to learn in this unit.
Sure, that’ll help us understand better about what we are asked to do.
Warming-up Practice

4. Introductory Remark
In business, if the buyer can prove that it is the seller's responsibility for the loss of the goods, he can make a claim. The seller is obligated to compensate the buyer. Generally speaking, claims arise because the wrong goods may have been delivered; the quality may have been found unsatisfactory; the shipment may have been found damaged, short, missing, late; the prices charged may be excessive or not as agreed.
There is also another kind of claim. It is made by buyers who find fault with the goods as an excuse to escape from the contract, either because they no longer want the goods or because that they can get them cheaper elsewhere.
If a claim has to be made by the buyer, the matter should be investigated in detail and these details should be laid before the party charged. We must handle claims with the principle of "on the first grounds, to our advantage and with restraint" and settle them amicably to the satisfaction of all parties concerned.

5. 1.Read the following tips for making complaints.
Tips for Effective Complaints
1) Complain as soon as possible.
2) Find out about your legal rights. Are there any laws or regulations that can help you?
3) Pay attention to all printed information you have about the case, such as ads, brochure, warranty, or other document that describes the product or service
4) Talk to the right people, in the right order.
5) Be clear. Know your facts — preferably by keeping a file with all the necessary documents — and use them to ask for what you want.
6) Be polite. You'll get better, and maybe quicker, results if you explain the problem and ask for a resolution without resorting to anger or threats.
7) Be prepared to negotiate realistically.
8) Keep good records. Note the names of people you talk to, as well as the dates, times and outcomes of the conversations.
9) It's often best to explain the problem in writing.
10) Always keep a copy of each letter you write for your own files.

6. 2.Discuss the following questions.
1) Which do you think are the five most effective complaint tips? Why?
2) Which of the tips do you disagree with? Why?
3) Can you add more tips as advice for making complaints and claims?
4) Discuss in pairs or groups the common causes for complaints and claims in international trade and explain who should be held responsible for each case.
5) What documents are generally required for making a claim against an insurance company or shipping company?

7. Common causes for complaints and claims in international trade
Non-delivery or part-delivery
Wrong delivery
Inadequate packing
Delayed delivery
Non-fulfillment of the contract
Causes for
Complaints& Claims
Wrong or inferior quality
Delay in opening an L/C
Shortage of the goods
Goods missing
Damage to the goods
Discrepancies in specification

8. Parties involved in the claim and settlement process:
Ship owner; charters; freight forwarders; airlines, inland trucking companies; rail companies; shippers; insurance companies
Parties involved in insurance:
Seller, buyer, carrier and insurer.

9. Documents generally required for making a claim against an insurance company or shipping company
1. Survey Report (检验报告)
2. Certificate of Inspection (检验证书)
3. Mate’s Receipt ( 大副收据)
4. Invoice (发票)
5.Insurance Policy (保险单)
6.Weight Certificate (重量证明)
7.Marine Protect (海难证明书)
8. Packing List (装箱单)
9. Shortlanded Certificate (短卸证明书)
10.Damage Report (破损证明)
11.Weight Note (磅码单)
12.Tally-List (理货单)

10. Listening Task
In this part you are going to listen to a passage and a dialogue. Now listen and try to finish the exercises while listening.
Are you ready?

11.  12.1.1 Listen to the passage and answer the following questions.
1) What must the buyer do if he is going to make a claim?
The buyer must prove that it is the seller’s responsibility for the damage
or loss of the goods.
2) What are used as evidence when making a claim?
The inspection certificate and B/L.
What is the seller obligated to do if the buyer indeed can prove what he has
claimed?
The seller is obligated to compensate the buyer.
4) When does the conflict appear between the buyer and the seller?
The conflict appears when the goods are found to be damaged or of short weight when reaching the destination.
5) What would the seller do when he was negligent in supplying the
proper quantity at a time 6when he was still responsible for the
consignment during shipping on a CIF basis?
In that case the seller would most likely seek to find a way to satisfy his customer.

12. Slip-up in the seller’s shipping department.
 Listen to the dialogue. Note down what the problem is, what caused the problem and how it is settled.
Problem
Cause of the problem
Settlement
Wrong delivery
Slip-up in the seller’s shipping department.
The seller will ship a load of Class A1 tomorrow morning and charge the buyer 20% less for the wrong delivery.

13. Speaking Task
In this part you are going to read two dialogues in pairs and then you will be asked to answer some questions about what you have read.

14. 12.2.1 Read the dialogue and then answer the following questions.
1) Why did Mr Nelson want to talk to the general manager in person?
Because he had already talked to some departments of the company but they
didn’t solve his problem. So this time he has to talk to the general manager.
2) Why didn’t the secretary put him through to the general manager first?
Perhaps the secretary didn’t want to trouble the manager with trifles. So she
said that the manager was not available and offered help herself.
3) Why did the secretary put him through to the general manger then?
Because he found the customer was really angry and insisted on talking to the
general manager.
4) What did Mr Nelson complain about?
He bought a bedroom suit from their store six weeks ago and they promised to
deliver it within three days. Over a week later a van arrived at his house —
with the wrong goods. It took another two weeks for them to sort that out. The
next time they delivered goods, it was damaged. Now he has been waiting for a
replacement for another three weeks.
5) What is the general manager going to do about it?
He is going to make some inquiries himself right away, and then call
back when he’s sorted things out.
6) How would you handle such a complaint if you were the manager?
(Open)

15. 12.2.2 Read the dialogue and then answer the following questions.
1) What was Mr Wood’s purpose of coming to China?
He came to China to solve the problem about the rollers.
2) What was wrong with the rollers?
Some rusty spots on five rollers were found.
3) What was the cause of the problem according to Mr Chen?
The cause of rust was due to poor workmanship. Their experts held
that the rust was not scoured off completely before electro-plating. As
a result, the chrome coating would certainly not hold.
4) Did Mr Wood accept Mr Chen’s explanation about the rusty rollers?
What would he do about the problem then?
He thought his explanation sounded plausible. He would ask for their
manufacturers to probe into the matter. If they proved the Chinese
company’s findings were the same as theirs, the faulty rollers would
be replaced by new ones.
5) What happened a week later?
Mr Wood came to the Chinese company again and told Mr. Chen that
their manufacturers apologized for the trouble and promised to replace
these rusty rollers by new ones.
6) What did they do about the rusty rollers in the end?
Mr Wood would take back two of the worst ones for examination and
leave the others to Mr Chen with some charge for the cost of the material only.

16. Reading Task

17. PRE-READING QUESTIONS FOR PAIR WORK
1. Do you have any experience of making a complaint about the goods you bought? How was it settled? Were you satisfied with the settlement?
2. Discuss some effective ways of making
and handling complaints.

18. Questions Errors and misunderstandings may cause customers to make
1) What may cause customers to make complaints?
Errors and misunderstandings may cause customers to make
complaints.
2) What may customer complaints result in?
They may result in losing future sales from customers and from
everybody else who hears about their bad experience.
3) Which do you think are the four most important actions? Why?
( Open)
4) When customer complaints have occurred, what is considered to be important for a company to do?
When customer complaints have occurred, the manner in which a company responds to its customers is important and worth its careful consideration.
5) Can you add more tips as advice for handling customer
complaints and explain them?

19. Writing Task
In this part you are going to learn how to write letters of complaints and adjustments.

20. Complaint Letters
A complaint letter requests some sort of compensation for defective or damaged merchandise or for inadequate or delayed services. While many complaints can be made in person, some circumstances require formal business letters. The complaint may be so complex that a phone call may not effectively resolve the problem; or the writer may prefer the permanence, formality, and seriousness of a business letter. The essential rule in writing a complaint letter is to maintain your poise and diplomacy, no matter how justified your gripe is. Avoid making the recipient an adversary.

21. Complaint Letters
1. Identify early the reason you are writing — to register a complaint and to ask for some kind of compensation. Avoid leaping into the details of the problem in the first sentence.
2. State exactly what compensation you desire, either before or after the discussion of the problem or the reasons for granting the compensation.
3. Provide a fully detailed narrative or description of the problem. This is the "evidence."
4. Explain why your request should be granted. Presenting the evidence is not enough: state the reasons why this evidence indicates your request should be granted.
5. Suggest why it is in the recipient's best interest to grant your request: appeal to the recipient's sense of fairness, desire for continued business, but don't threaten. Find some way to view the problem as an honest mistake. Don't imply that the recipient deliberately committed the error or that the company has no concern for the customer. Toward the end of the letter, express confidence that the recipient will grant your request.

22. Adjustment Letters
Replies to complaint letters, often called letters of "adjustment," must be handled carefully when the requested compensation cannot be granted. Refusal of compensation tests your diplomacy and tact as a writer.
Some suggestions:
1. Begin with a reference to the date of the original letter of complaint and to the purpose of your letter. If you deny the request, don't state the refusal right away unless you can do so tactfully.
2. Express your concern over the writer's troubles and your appreciation that he has written you.
3. If you deny the request, explain the reasons why the request cannot be granted in as cordial manner as possible. If you grant the request, don't sound as if you are doing so in a begrudging way.
4. If you deny the request, try to offer some partial or substitute compensation or offer some friendly advice.
5. Conclude the letter cordially, perhaps expressing confidence that you and the writer will continue doing business.

23. Sample complaint letter
Dear Mr Smith
Order No I am writing to inform you that the goods we ordered from your company have not been supplied correctly. On 15 June 2006 we placed an order with your firm for ultra super long-life batteries. The consignment arrived yesterday but contained only
1 200 batteries. This error put our firm in a difficult position, as we had to make some emergency purchases to fulfill our commitments to all our customers. This caused us considerable inconvenience.
I am writing to ask you to please make up the shortfall immediately and to ensure that such errors do not happen again. Otherwise, we may have to look elsewhere for our supplies. I look forward to hearing from you by return. Yours sincerely,

24. Sample adjustment letter
Dear Mr Coleman
Order No
Please accept our apologies for the error made by our company in filling your Order No dated 15 June 2006.
You ordered size ultra super-long-life premium batteries, but our dispatch office sent This was due to a typing error.
The balance of batteries was dispatched by express courier to your store this morning and will arrive by Monday, 3 July 2006.
Since we value your business, we would like to offer you a 10% discount off your next order with us.
We look forward to receiving your further orders and assure you that they will be filled correctly.
Yours sincerely   

25. Writing Practice 1) Write a letter to complain about late delivery /
inferior or wrong quality/shortage of goods.
2) Write a letter responding to the complaint letter you
receive from one of your classmates that responds
negatively or positively to the complaint.

26. We will practice what we have learnt in this unit.
Follow-up Practice
We will practice what we have learnt in this unit.
Yes, let’s do it!
Practice makes perfect

27. 1. Questions and Answers What would you say?
1. A: Our customers complain that the goods they received last week are much inferior in quality to those you delivered in the past.
B: __________________________________________________________.
2. A: I’m sorry to tell you that a lot of cases are broken and the contents are badly damaged.
B: __________________________________________________________
3. A: The computer we bought from you last month is broken down.
4. A: We ordered chairs but received tables.
5. A: The cases are found to be badly damaged. This was apparently attributable to faulty packing.
B: _____________________________________________________________
6. A: The goods we received are not what we ordered, which made us suffer a heavy loss. So we have to lodge a claim with you.
7. A: We placed an order on 1 May for tables, but still haven’t received them.
8. A: ___________________________________________________________
B: I’m sorry about the mistake. I’ll look into it right away.
9. A: __________________________________________________________
B: I’m sorry. It’s our fault. We are ready to permit 15% off the invoice price if you can accept the goods wrongly delivered.
10. A: __________________________________________________________
B: Our product enjoys high prestige. I guess it’s not a matter of inferior quality.

28. 2. How would you reply to the following complaints?
1) There seems to be a mistake.
2) The goods are inferior in quality to those we received in the past.
3) The delivery was late.
4) Your rep was extremely rude.
5) We were surprised to receive an invoice as the goods have been returned.
6) We have to make a claim with you for a compensation of $5 000.
7) The goods we received are not what we ordered.
8) There seems to be mix-up. We ordered radios but received calculators.
9) We placed an order two months ago for TV sets, but we still haven’t
received them. We are in bad need of the goods.
10) There is a difference of 10 tons between the actual weight and the invoiced weight of this consignment.

29. 3. Description Describe what the two parties do when they deal with an inquiry.
Buyer’s action
Seller’s action
买方收到货物发现品质不良 1 2
认为有权请求赔偿 3
向卖方提出索赔 4
聘请独立鉴定人 5
寄出索赔信及有关索赔文件
卖方不接受索赔 6
将索赔提交仲裁 7

30. Describe causes for complaints and claims in international trade
4. Presentation Practice Make a short presentation on one of the following topics. Try to find as much information as you can from different sources available for your talk.
Describe causes for complaints and claims in international trade
How to make complaints effectively
How to resolve customer complaints
Relevant topics of your own choice

31. 5.Translation Practice
说实话我并不喜欢投诉，可你们公司老给我带来这样那样的许多麻烦。我找过你们许多部门，但无济于事。这次我要直接找你们领导反映。
To be honest, I don’t like having to complain, but I’ve had lot of trouble with your company, one way or another. I have contacted several departments of your company but nothing has been done. So this time I’m going right to the top.
2. 目前恐怕我们还没有办法解决此事。但我会在一两天内给您答复。
I’m afraid there’s nothing we can do at the moment. But I’ll get back to you as soon as I can, say, in a day or two.
3. 他的话听起来似乎有些道理，但我们还是应该找出错误的真正原因。
What he said sounds plausible, but we still should put our finger on the real cause of the error.
4. 我们没有要这种货物是由于它的价格不合适，更不用说其质量差。
We rejected the article for its price, not to mention its bad quality.
5. 得知此事给你们带来如此多的不便，我们的供货商也非常难过。
Our supplier was also very distressed to learn that matter which had caused you so much inconvenience.

32. 6. 因为这种不正常的事情以前从未发生过，所以我们要对此进行彻底调查，以便采取措施防止类似不幸的事情今后再发生。
As such irregularities have never happened before, we want to go into the matter thoroughly so that we can take measures to prevent similar mishaps in the future.
7. 重新考虑了一下，我认为你们是对的，没有必要仅仅为了检验而将全部有毛病的货物都运回去。因此，发回两个受损最严重的，其余的你们自己处置。
On second thought, I think you are right. There is no point in returning the whole lot of defective goods just for the sake of checking up. So just send back two of the worst ones and leave the others at your disposal.
8. 我们要进行彻底调查，以查明责任所在。但在这以前，我们不能做出任何承诺。
We’ll make a thorough investigation to find out where the responsibility actually lies. But before that we can’t promise anything.
9. 我们上周收到的货物低于销售合同规定标准。因此我们不得不向你方提出索赔。
The goods we received last week are not up to the standard stipulated in the sales contract. So we have to lodge a claim with you.
10. 对于我方未能按时发货而产生的损失一事 我们真诚地向你们道歉。无论如何，我们将尽最大努力解决这宗索赔事件。
We sincerely apologize for all the losses incurred as a sequence of our failure of shipping in time. Anyway, we’ll try our best to settle this claim.

33. 6. Role Play
1) Role A Several weeks ago you placed this order with CBS Company. The delivery arrived this morning. When you unpacked the goods you found the goods were not what you ordered. They are pocket calculators. Phone the company and explain. You need the goods urgently.
Order No: 02332
Role B You work in the Sales Department of CBS Company. A customer phones you to complain about a delivery. Find out what the problem is and try to handle it. This is part of your catalogue.
Quantity
Description
Price
2000
M1/739 Electronic Dictionary
$18
TOTAL
$36 000
Description
Price
M1/737 Pocket radios
$28
M1/738 Pocket calculators
$ 4
M1/739 Electronic Dictionary
$18

34. 2) A businessman from England has ordered 600 cases of green tea from Hangzhou Tea Company. Upon arrival, 40 cases were found wet. The British buyer lodges a claim against this. How would you talk him out of his claim in a satisfactory manner?
3) You represent the Zhejiang Machinery Corporation and lodge a claim with a British company for the rust of the rollers. Mr Smith is sent by the British company to discuss this matter with you. How are you going to settle it in a satisfactory way?