CLAIM LETTER

Making claims
■ When you have to pay because of somebody’s mistake, your immediate and
natural reaction will be anger. If you draft a letter in this mood, it may contain
sarcasm, accusations, and threats. A second thought will reveal to you that these
explosive reactions do not help. You must realize that all of us are liable to make
mistakes and a tolerant attitude towards the realities of life achieves more than
hasty and ill-conceived reactions.
■ When a product or service does not meet customers’ expectations, the customers
are disappointed and usually file a complaint.
■ Their complaints should not be called complaint letters, because complaint
connotes irritation, unpleasantness, negativism, and even anger. Using a word with
such negative connotations could lead to a bad attitude towards customers.
Letters about such complaints should be called claim letters.
Your claim letter should generally
contain the following four elements.
1. A clear explanation of what has gone wrong. Give full information for quick
identification of the defective product or faulty service. In case of a product,
details such as the exact date of purchase and arrival, the amount paid,
order number, colour, size, model number, make, etc. are helpful in making a
re-check by the supplier easier.
2. A statement of the inconvenience caused or the loss suffered as a result of
the mistake or defect.
3. An appeal to the reader’s sense of fair play, honesty, reputation or
professional pride with a view to motivating him to take necessary action
promptly to rectify the situation.
4. A statement of what adjustment you would consider fair.
■ To secure a prompt and satisfactory response a claim letter is usually written
to the head of the unit or the department responsible for the mistake.
■ Two examples of claim letters are given below.
Claim Letter- Model 01

Dear Madams/Sirs,

We had ordered 2000 1 kg tins of Nihal Baby Food Powder under our order No.
M-4006/FP dated 4 July 2017. Today when the consignment arrived we
checked its contents and found only 1500 tins, out of which 45 were badly
damaged. It seems one of the cases was not packed properly or some heavy
load had been placed over it in transit.
There is a great demand for this powder in the town at this time of the year and
we expected to clear the whole stock during the next two months. But it appears
some of our customers will have to be disappointed.
With enormous resources at your command we hope you can save the situation
by sending 500 tins immediately by quick transit service.
As regards the damaged tins, we want your advice. There are two alternatives:
either you allow us to sell them at reduced price in which case we shall send you
the total amount realized after deducting our usual commission of 7 per cent or
permit us to return them to you at your cost for replacement.
We would very much appreciate an early reply.
Yours faithfully,
M R Rahman
Purchase Manager
Claim Letter- Model 02

Dear Madams/Sirs,

Thank you for your letter No. TP/463 of 4 July 2017 forwarding Bill No. M 437
dated June 2017. In it you have included two items which we did not buy. They
are:
■ Punching machines 6 Nos. BDT 206.50
■ Gum bottles (big) 1 Doz. BDT 160.25
It seems there has been some mistake in copying from our personal account
maintained by you. Will you please get it checked and send us another bill? I am
returning them with your bill No.437. according to our calculation only BDT
384.75 are due from us.
Yours faithfully,
A Alam
Office Manager
Exercise

As the purchase Officer of an organization you had ordered 12 dozen bed sheets
after examining the samples sent by the wholesaler. When the consignment
arrives you find neither in texture nor in shades do the sheets confirm to the
samples you had approved. Write a claim letter demanding their replacement.