12. Use «Perhaps» and «We assume that» to make a polite suggestion for these:

Notice how these phrases are used to suggest politely that the recipient has made a mistake or has been inefficient in some way.

Model: Perhaps your forwarding agent made a mistake?

We assume that your forwarding agent made a mistake.

1. You didn’t' send the advice of despatch by air mail.

2. Your packing department received the wrong catalogue reference number.

3. The S/S Sheppey was delayed in the port of London.

4. The Bill of Lading was not «clean».

5. The case was not marked «USE NO HOOKS».

6. The contents of Case No. 9 were for a different order.

7. The containers were too light and weak.

8. Your forwarding agent was unaware of the penalty clause.

9. The goods were stowed in a hot place on board ship.

10. Your forwarding agent doesn't understand French customs regulations.

13. Notice how this sentence expresses urgent and immediate demands:

We must insist on replacements for the four cases immediately.

We must insist on replacements for the four cases at once.

Use the italicized words and phrases for the following demands:

1. A despatch of the shipping documents.

2. A visit from your agent.

3. Replacements for the goods in Case No. 4.

4. A consignment of spare parts.

5. A correction of the details printed on the Bill of Lading.

6. A cancellation of the order.

7. A detailed statement of freight and insurance costs.

8. A reply to our complaint about your merchandise.

9. The despatch of a Pro-Forma Invoice.

10. A cable in reply to our enquiry about the advice of despatch.

14. Notice the use of the words «concerning» and «regarding»:

We received the documents concerning the above order on the 10^th December. Please inform your forwarding agents regarding customs difficulties.

((Concerning)) and ((regarding)) are very often used in official correspondence instead of the more common word ^“about”

Use these words to connect the following sentences:

1. We received your letter. It mentioned the Certificate of Insurance.

2. Inform your agents. Tell them about our packing instructions.

3. We saw the notice. It was about the new customs regulations.

4. Please send instructions. They must tell us about shipment.

5. We noticed a difficulty. It was about unloading.

6. We received your instructions. They were about methods of payment.

7. Please send information. It should tell us about marks and numbers.

8. We received the documents. They were about shipping arrangements.

15 Read a letter of complaint and fill the gaps with the verbs given below in a suitable form:

have not arrived	found	was torn
have contacted	received	were damaged
have not had	showed
have informed	unpacked
C.R MENDEZ S.A.
Avda. del Ejercito 83	E-48015 Bilbao
The Sales Manager
15 October,19..
Seymore Furniture Ltd.
Tid Street
Maidenhead
Berks. SL6 5DS

Dear Mr. Harrison

I am writing to complain about a shipment of tubular steel garden furniture

we (1)_______________yesterday against our invoice no. G 3190/1.

The crates (2)___________________on the outside, and looked as if they

had been roughly handled. When we (3)_________________them, we (4)

_________________that some of the chair legs were bent and rusty, and the fabric on the seating (5)_____________ , or (6)__________________

signs of wear.

Two further crates from the consignment (7)________________yet, so we

(8) _________________ the opportunity of inspecting them. I (9)

________________ the shipping company that we cannot accept this

consignment from you, and they (10)_______________your insurers.

As we will be unable to retain this consignment in our stores, we are returning the shipment to you carriage forward, and we shall expect a full refund.

Yours sincerely

C.R. Mendez

Managing Director