TACN1

Complaints
and Adjustments

2022/2023
 Table of

01 Definition
Contents

02 Complaints and
Adjustments

03 Example
COMPLAINTS AND
ADJUSTMENTS
Definition of complaint

A letter that describes the damage, errors or

mistakes that happened to the delivered good.

Claims for compensation.

Definition of claim

A complaint to inform the company of the problem

and suggest a fair compensation.

Definition of adjustment

A letter is written in response to a complaint/claim,

which explains how the complaint will be dealt with.
03
 Why are there
complaints?

When things go wrong

Improper communication
Internal processes: Unsatisfactory
quality of goods, Accounting
errors...
Poor quality of service: Wrong
goods received, Damaged goods
are not taken into consideration,
Late delivery/ non-delivery,
Problems Sketchy packaging…

04
 PROBLEMS
Unjustified complaints
Before you complain, make absolutely sure your
facts are right.
If you have to respond to an unjustified complaint,
be polite and remember that anyone can make a
mistake.
Example of unjustified complaints, and replies to
them:

Unjustified complaint Reply

Dear Sir, Dear Mr Axeby,
I strongly object to the extra charge of £ 9. We received your letter today complaining
oo which you have added to my statement. When I of an extra charge of £ 9. 00 on your May statement I
sent my cheque for £ 256. 00 last week, I thought it think if you check the statement you will find that the
cleared this balance. Now I find… amount due was £ 265. 00 not £ 256. 00 which

accounts for £ 9. 00 difference. I have enclosed a copy
of the statement and …

 HOW TO MAKE A
GENERAL COMPLAINT

Be polite as sarcasm or
Do not assume that the
Make your complaint rudeness will not help your
supplier is automatically to
at once. cause. Avoid a rude, hostile
blame.
or demanding tone.

06
 The language of complaints

Do not be rude or Do not use words like

Avoid emotional terms 'fault' ('your fault', 'our
personal. Nothing is
like “disgusted”, fault') or 'blame' ('you are
gained by being rude to
“infuriated”, “enraged”, to blame'); these
the individual you are
“amazed”. expressions are not only
writing to.
rude, but childish.

Never blame your staff, and finally, while writing the complaint remember that your
supplier wants to help you and correct the mistake. He is not in business to irritate
or confuse his customers but to offer them a service.
6 parts of a written complaint
01 02 03

Opening State of goods in Explanation of the

further details problem

04 05 06

Enclosed Suggestions for Closing

documents solutions

05
Opening
Acknowledge the consignment: name of goods,
order number (copy from the question),…
Describe briefly the problem (objective opinion)
Make sure you include:
The reason for writing
What went wrong

Note:
Do not delay
There is no need to open by apologizing.
Simply begin:
We would like to inform you…
I am writing to complain about…
I am writing with reference to Order No.P32, which
we received yesterday.
State of goods in
further details
Wrong delivery
Low quality
Damage
Explanation of
the problem
If you think you know how the mistake was
made, politely point this out to your supplier.
When a mistake occurs several times, work
out why it is happening more quickly.
Always be polite and respectful. Use ‘modal
verbs’, i.e., would, could or should.
Forms you can use to explain of the problem:
We presume (reckon/suppose) that…
The representatives from Vinacontrol hold
(maintain) that…
The shortage was due to the mistake in packing.
(due to careless/ improper/ inadequate/ poor
packaging).

* optional because you don’t have to try

to guess why these things happened
Enclosed documents
We can use:
To prove the situation (what we have said)...
To support our complaint (case), we
enclose (the following documents):

A survey report (SV)

A Cargo outturned report (COR)
A Report on Receipt of Cargo (ROROC)
A packing list/ an invoice/ a bill of lading
Suggestions for
solutions
Buyer’s possible activities
to put (hold) the goods aside at
one’s disposal
to put aside (on one side/at our
warehouse) until receiving further
instructions
to return the goods by parcel post
for immediate replacement
to return (send back) the goods at
your expense
to sell (dispose) the goods at the
highest possible (obtainable) price
Seller’s possible activities
to arrange to deliver the remaining
items as soon as possible
to send the replacements before (by)
…
to pick up the wrongly-delivered
goods
to offer a discount (a price reduction/
a credit for the next orders)
to arrange shipment of the missing
goods/ to arrange for repairs within
(not later than)
Closing
Express hope for a prompt and satisfactory solution of the problem
We look forward to your sensible (acceptable/ satisfactory) solution.
We hope you will look into (take up) the matter and have it solved immediately.
We hope the matter would be put right in no time (at once).
We feel there must be some explanation for this delay and await your prompt reply.
We hope to learn that you are prepared to make some allowance in these
circumstances.
I hope to receive a complete refund soon.
In case there is no satisfactory solution within a month, we have no choice but (we
are obliged) to take legal action.
How to deal with complaints?
01 02 03
Asking time to
Opening Explaining the
investigate the
mistake
complaint

04 05 06

Solving the Rejecting a Closing

problem complaint

05
 Opening

Inform that you have received the complaint

and say thanks to your customer.
Examples:
Thank you for your letter of 6 August
informing us that…
We would like to thank you for informing
us of our accounting error in your letter of
7 June.
 In case you cannot deal with the complaint immediately, tell your customer what you are
doing straight away.
Using email or fax messages is appropriate

Asking time to investigate the complaint

Example:
While we cannot give you an explanation at present, we are looking into the problem and will
contact you again shortly.
Would you please return samples of the items you are dissatisfied with, I will send them to our
factory in Dusseldorf for the test.
 Explaining the mistake

If the complaint is justified, explain how the mistake

occurred but do not blame your staff (You employed them,
so you are responsible for their actions)
Example:
The mistake was due to a fault in one of our machines,
which has now been corrected.
It is unusual for this type of error to arise, but the
problem has now been dealt with.
 Solving the problem

Having acknowledged your responsibility and explained what

went wrong
Example:
We have now checked our accounts and find that we
have been sending you the wrong statement due to
confusion regarding names and addresses. The database
has been adjusted and there should be no more
difficulties. Please contact us again if a similar situation
arises, and thank you again for pointing out the error.
 Rejecting a complaint

If you think the complaint is unjustified, you

can be firm but polite in your answer. (but
always try to give an explanation of the
problem)
Example:
We have closely compared the articles
you returned with our samples and can
see no difference between them.
Therefore, in this case, we are not willing
either to substitute the articles or to offer a
credit.
In the closing part, mention that the mistake
is an exception and rarely happens. You
should also apologize to your customer for
the inconvenience experienced.
Example: Closing
Finally, may we say that this was an
exceptional mistake and is unlikely to
occur again? Please accept our
apologies for the inconvenience.
Example 1 - Complaint
Salutation
Dear Sig. Causio
Opening
Our Order No.1447.
I am writing to you to complain
about the shipment of sweaters we
received yesterday against the
above order.
Kính gửi ngài Sig. Causio
Đơn hàng số 1447.
Tôi viết thư này để khiếu nại về
chuyến hàng áo len dài tay mà
chúng tôi nhận được ngày hôm qua
so với đơn hàng ở trên.
Example 1 - Complaint
States of the goods in further details
The boxes in which the sweaters
were packed were damaged and
looked as if they had broken open
in transit. From your invoice
No.18871, we estimate that thirty
garments have been stolen, to the
value of £550.00. Because of the
rummaging in the boxes, quite a
few other garments were crushed
or stained and can not sold as new
articles in our shops.
Các thùng hàng đóng áo len đã hư
hỏng và trông như thể các thùng bị
vỡ bật nắp trong quá trình vận
chuyển. Theo đơn hàng số 18871,
chúng tôi ước tính được có 30 món
hàng đã bị đánh cắp, tương đương
giá trị £550.000. Cũng do bị lục lọi
trong thùng hàng nên khá nhiều
món hàng khác đã bị nhàu nát
hoặc ố màu, và không thể bán dưới
dạng hàng mới tại cửa hàng.
Example 1 - Complaint

Suggestions for solutions

As the sale was on a CIF basis and
the forwarding company were your
agents, we suggest you contact
them with regard to compensation.
Bởi vì doanh thu là dựa trên nền
tảng cơ bản của CIF và hãng vận tải
là đối tác của bạn, chúng tôi đề nghị
bạn nên liên lạc với họ về vấn đề bồi
thường.
Example 1 - Complaint

Enclosed documents

You will find a list of the damaged Bạn sẽ tìm ra danh sách của những
and missing articles enclosed, and hạng mục bị hư hại và bị lỗi được
the consignment will be put to one đính kèm ở đây và sự uỷ thác sẽ
side until we receive your được đặt sang 1 bên cho đến khi
instructions. chúng tôi nhận được hướng dẫn của
bạn.
 Example 1 - Reply

Salutation
Dear Mr Crane Kính gửi ngài Crane

Opening
Thank you for informing us about Cảm ơn ngài rất nhiều về việc thông
the damage to our consignment tin cho chúng tôi về những hư hỏng
(Inv.No.18871) của hàng ký gửi của chúng tôi.

09
Example 1 - Reply

Explaining the mistake and telling what has been done

From our previous transactions you Từ những giao dịch cơ sở dữ liệu

will realize that this sort of problem
is quite unusual. Nevertheless, we
are sorry about the inconvenience
it has caused you.
trước đó, ngài sẽ nhận ra rằng loại
rắc rối này là quá không bình
thường. Dẫu vậy, chúng tôi cũng lấy
làm tiếc về sự phiền phức gây ra
cho ngài.
 Example 1 - Reply
Solving the problem
Please would you return the whole
consignment to us, postage and
packing forward, and we will ask the
shipping company to inspect the
damage so that they can arrange
compensation. It is unlikely that our
insurance company needs to be
troubled with this case
Xin hãy đóng gói và gửi lại cho
chúng tôi toàn bộ lô hàng cùng bưu
phí. Chúng tôi sẽ yêu cầu đơn vị vận
chuyển kiểm tra thiệt hại và sắp xếp
bồi thường. Công ty bảo hiểm của
chúng tôi sẽ không chịu trách
nhiệm cho trường hợp này.
Example 1 - Reply
Closing

If you want us to send you another
shipment as per your order
No.12278, please let us know. We
have the garments in stock and it
would be no trouble to send them
within the next fortnight
Nếu như bạn muốn chúng tôi gửi
cho bạn một đơn hàng khác giống
như đơn hàng số 12278 trước đó.
Hãy báo cho chúng tôi biết. Chúng
tôi vẫn còn hàng trong kho và hoàn
toàn có thể giao đến cho bạn trong
hai tuần tới
Example 2
Complaint & Reply to complaint
about accounting errors

Complaint about accounting errors

A complaint about accounting errors is written with the structure of a standard complaint
letter including 6 parts.
The problem explanation mainly concentrates on pointing out accounting errors that
appeared in a previously received letter

14
 Points to remember when
typing letters of complaint

Avoid emotional Use the passive and

Short, exact, concise, List with numbers or Avoid using words
terms like disgusted, impersonal structures
straight to the error to bullets if there are 2 like your/our fault or
infuriated, or to avoid being rude
be solved or more mistakes blame
amazed or personal

15
Example 2 Complaint & Reply to complaint about accounting errors

Reply to complaint about accounting errors

A reply to complaint about accounting errors need to have the same structure as a normal-
standard complaint letter four to five parts.
Points to remember when replying to letters of complaint
Suggesting the solution
to the mentioned
Complaints should
accounting errors. If unjustified, be firm
be answered as
Emphasize the but polite
quickly as possible
solutions rather than
errors

Reassure the
If you are at fault,
customer of future
express regret and Never blame staff
good service to
admit your fault
build loyalty

17
Example 2
CREDIT NOTE

Credit notes are usually used in the following 3 cases:

Credit notes are sent because of accidental overcharges

e.g. Invoice … should have been 6%, not 9%. Credit = $2,100.00.

A credit note may also be issued when a deposit is refunded

e.g. on the cartons or cases which the goods were packed in) or when goods are returned
because they were not suitable or were damaged.

e.g. Received 3 returned cases charged on Invoice … @ $5.00 each = $15.00.

As with a debit note, in the case of mistakes a covering letter of

explanation and apology should be sent with a credit note.

e.g. I have pleasure in enclosing a credit note for $240.00. This is due to
a miscalculation on our invoice dated 15 November. Please accept our
apologies for the error.
Example 2
DEBIT NOTES

Debit notes are a second charge for a consignment and become

necessary if a customer has been undercharged through a mistake in
the calculations on the original invoice.

VAT should have

An explanation is
Invoice No… been calculated at
included on the debit
undercharge 12% NOT 10%.
note:
Difference = £85.00
We would like to I regret that we
A letter of apology
apologize for the mistake miscalculated the VAT
should always
on invoice No….… Please and must now ask you to
accompany a debit
could you send us the forward the difference of…
note.
balance of…

09
Thank you!
Any question? Raise your hand.