Vocabulary notes

1. Make a claim against the company – зробити заяву проти компанії

2. Have an occasion to – мати нагоду

3. Be familiar – бути обізнаним

4. At no cost – ні за яку ціну

5. Make a mistake (error) – зробити помилку

6. Become upset – бути у пригніченому стані

7. Do harm – робити зло, шкодити

8. Grant the claim – погоджуватись, задовольняти вимогу (заяву)

9. Frame of mind – настрій

10. On the other hand – з іншого боку

11. Under the circumstances – за даних умов

12. Weigh the evidence – зважити доказ

13. On the way to – по дорозі до

14. See to it – простежити

Exercises

1. Transcribe and practice correctly the following words from the text.

Claim, turn, therefore, faulty, apology, assurance, fault, stupid, clerk, sympathy, accomplish, quality, superb, accusation,, ethics, value, suffer, exaggerate, warrant, expire, persuasive, occasion, policy, adjustment, exception, weigh, soothe, enough, slipup, empathy, discount, irritable, reparation, quibbling.

2. Comprehension check.

1. What are the reasons of claims against the company?

2. Why is it necessary to be familiar with claim situations?

3. What are people writing claim letters interested in?

4. How should claimants present their cases to the people they feel are at fault?

5. Is it wise to write a claim letter when you are angry?

6. In writing a successful claim letter the author must be reasonable in his request, mustn’t he?

7. Is it important to conclude a claim letter with a statement that builds goodwill? Why?

8. What is the motto some firms have established to place the customers? Do you like it?

9. How do adjustment letters differ from claim letters?

10. Under what conditions can an adjustment be refused?

3. Are the following statements true or false?

1. People writing claim letters are interested in one thing: satisfaction.

2. In writing answers to claim letters you are on the other side of the fence.

3. Negative words tend to put an unhappy claimant in joyful spirits.

4. Every day customers request adjustments that are unreasonable.

5. In all instances the authors rely on their skills as business writers.

4. Complete the text with words from the box.

relations order employment department personnel

sales advertising

If you do not know the name of the person who would handle you request, you can at least speed up its handling by indicating the ________ you think will respond. For example, if your letter concerns ________, you would address the _________ department; if it concerns an _________, you would address the _________ department; if it concerns advertising or customer ___________, you would probably address the _________ department or public relations department.

5. Respond to the following situations.

1. Suppose you had purchased a Bell-Tone tape recorder from Good Sounds Inc., 2703 Callaway Street, Pittsburg, Pennsylvania 15229. After you had used the recorder four or five times, it failed to record properly and required adjustment. Now Good Sounds bills you $22.50 for the adjustment. Naturally you feel the charge is not justified since this is a new recorder. Write the claim letter addressed to Vincent Way, you would send to the store. Indicate several possible ways that Good Sounds might adjust your claim.

2. Assume that you are answering the claim in the previous assignment. Because the recorder had been improperly loaded, its winding mechanism was bent. Write a refusal letter to Peter C. Hale, 1811 Holiday Road, Sante Fe, New Mexico 87501.