Commercial_Correspondence

FUIFillture Ltd

Telephone: +44 (0)1628 26755

NO. C517

Tib Street

Maidenhead

Berkshire

s L6 502

U K

20 May 20—

£40.00

Cvedk vote

Seymore Furniture have made a mistake on another invoice and must now send a credit

note. Note that the form for a credit note is the same as that for a debit note, except for the heading. Credit notes, however, are often printed in red.

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7

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1 13

Complaints and adjustments

Complahrt abe0 accouneng enovs

M. Lancelot (a builders'

supplier) has received a

statement which

contains several

accounting errors.

Dear Mr Winford

I have received your July statement for £3,280.64 but notice it contains a number of errors.

1 Invoice Y1146 for £256.00 has been debited twice.

2 No credit has been listed for the wallpaper (Cat. No. WR114) which I returned in July. Your credit note No. CN118 for £19.00 refers to this.

3 You have charged for a delivery of paintbrushes, invoice No. Y1162 for £62.00, but I neither ordered nor received them. Could you check your delivery book?

I have deducted a total of £337.00 from your statement and will send you a draft for £2,943.64 once I have your confirmation of this amount.

Yours sincerely

Maw/ice, Lai/ccdot

Maurice Lancelot

Director

Telephone

+44 (0)1253 61290/1/2

Fax

+44 (0)1253 61378

Email

wink@winford.co.uk

Preston New Road

Blackpool

Lancashire

Fy4.4u L

7 August 20—

M. Maurice Lancelot

Director

M. Lancelot SARL

703 rue Metairie de Saysset

F-34000 Montpellier

Dear M. Lancelot

Thank you for your letter of 5 August in which you pointed out that three mistakes totalling £337.00 had been made on your statement.

I apologize for the errors. These were due to a software fault which has now been fixed. I have enclosed another statement for July, which shows the correct balance of £2,943.64.

Yours sincerely

K.WiPtftrat

K.Winford

Enc. Statement

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WRNS

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Complaints and adjustments

Points to remember

1 Minor complaints can be faxed or emailed, but use letters when dealing with more serious ones.

2 Before writing a letter of complaint, make sure you have got your facts right.

3 Complaints are not accusations, they are requests to correct mistakes or faults. They should be written remembering that the supplier almost certainly wants to put things right.

4 Never make the complaint personal (e.g. your mistake,yourfault,you are to blame).

Use an impersonal tone (e.g. the mistake, it must have happened because..., the error).

5 When answering a complaint, thank your customer for pointing out the problem. If the complaint is justified, explain how the problem occurred and how you intend to deal with it.

6 If you need more time to investigate the complaint, tell your customer.

7 If the complaint is unjustified, politely explain why, but sympathize about the inconvenience it has caused.

122Reply granting open account facilities

123Request for general credit faciii .ties

124Refusal of credit facilities

125Request for a change in the terms of payment

125Hotification of taking up ref,wences

126ASKING ABOUT CREDIT RATING

126 Opening

126Details

126Closing

126Using an enquiry agency

127REPLYING TO ENQUIRIES ABOUT CREDIT RATING 127 Refusing to reply

127 Replying unfavourably

128Replying favourably

131 Letter to a referee 2

132Referee's reply 2

133eg2i: I ve replies to enqui:ies about credit rating

134Letter to an enquiry agent

135Enquiry agent's reply

136Points to remember

1)

i 0

1 Reputation — Credit may be given to firms which have an established reputation, i.e. are well known nationally or internationally.

2 Long-term trading association —If a customer has been trading with a supplier over a period of time and has built up a good relationship by, for example, settling accounts promptly, they may be able to persuade the supplier to grant credit facilities on this basis alone.

3 REFERENCES - Nom-Lally, when asking for

credit, a customer will supply references, i.e. the names of concerns or companies which will satisfy the supplier that the customer is reputable and CREDITWORTHY. Banks will

supply references, though these tend to be brief, stating the company's capital and who its directors are. TRADE ASSOCIATIONS, i.e. organizations which represent the company's trade or profession, also give brief references telling the enquirer how long the company has been trading and whether it is large or small. References can also be obtained from, e.g. the customer's business associates and the commercial departments of embassies.

ASKING FOR CREDIT

Opening

When asking for credit facilities, it is best to go straight to the point and specify what form of credit you are looking for.

—I am writing to ask if it would be possible for us to have credit facilities in the form of payment by 6o-day bill of exchange.

—Thank youfor your catalogue and letter. As there was no indication of your credit terms, could you let me know if you would allow us to settle on monthly statements?

—We appreciate your prompt answer to our enquiry. As I pointed out in my letter, our suppliers usually allow us open account facilities with quarterly settlements, and I hope this method of payment will be acceptable to you.

Convincing y© suppiiev

As mentioned above, your supplier will only grant credit if they are convinced that you will not DEFAULT, so mention your previous dealings with them.

— As we have been dealing with you for more than a year, we feel that you know us well enough to grant our request.

—We believe we have established our reliability with you over the past six months and would now like to settle accounts on a quarterly basis.

—During the past few months we have always settled promptly, and therefore we feel we can ask for better credit facilities from you.

Mention your reputation, and offer references.

— We are a well-established company and can offer references, if necessary.

—We can certainly pay on the due dates, but if you would like confirmation concerning our creditworthiness, please contact any of the following who will act as our referees:...

—We deal with most of our suppliers on a quarterly settlement basis and you may contact any of those listed below for a reference.

aosing

—We hope fora favourable decision and look forward to your reply

—We hope you will follow up the references we have submitted. We look forward to your confirmation that payment by 3o-day bill of

exchange is acceptable.

— As soon as we receive your confirmation that you will allow the open account facilities we have asked for, we will send our next order.

REPLYING TO REQUESTS FOR CREDIT

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If the supplier does not think it necessary to take up references, they may grant credit immediately.

—As we have been trading for over a year, references will not be necessary. You may clear your accounts by 3o-day bill of exchange, which will be sent to Burnley's Bank (Queens Building, Cathays Park, Cardiff CF1 gur) with shipping documents for your

acceptance.

— We are pleased to inform you that the credit facilities you asked for are acceptable, and as we know the reputation of your company there will be no need for us to contact any referees. I would just like to confirm that we agreed settlement will be made against monthly statements. We look forward to receiving your next order.

If references are considered necessary, however, the supplier will acknowledge the

119

o Nuoglees

SID n etaN

21 Mead Road, Swansea

West Glamorgan 351. 1D R

Telephone: +44 (o)1792 58441

Fax: Swansea +44 (01792 5947 2

Email: r.hughes@huson.co.uk

18 July 20—

Mr R. Cliff

Homemakers Ltd

54-59 Riverside

Cardiff CF1 LTW

Dear Richard

I have enclosed an order, No. B 1662, for seven more 'Sleepcomfy' beds which have proved to be a popular line here, and will pay for them as usual on invoice. However, I wondered if in future you would let me settle my accounts by monthly statement as this would be more convenient for me?

As we have been dealing with one another for some time, I hope you will agree to trade on the basis of open account facilities. I can, of course, supply the necessary references.

Yours sincerely

kobert

Robert Hughes

Enc. Order No. B1662

Request foci. open amount faaltOes

Mr Hughes, some of whose correspondence we looked at in previous units r•see pages 26-27,

93-94, and 103-104, asks his supplier if he will allow him open account facilities. Although some of their exchanges have been by email,the topic of credit

is more sensitive and 8 would be dealt with by

letter. Mr Hughes makes his request while sending an order rather than making his next order conditional on Mr Cliff's acceptance. Compare this with the letter in which F. Lynch & Co. made their next order conditional on revised terms

i> see page 84.

e-.

...

u

Reply ranting open account facilKles

In his reply, Mr Cliff says he is prepared to give credit, even though he feels it may not be in Mr Hughes' best interests.

54- 59 Riverside, Cardiff crFi 11W

Telephone: +44 (0)29 20 49721

Fax: +44 (0)29 20 49937

Email: rcliff@homemakers.com

24 July 20—

1 Why does Mr Cliff

o

think it would be

vi

o better for Mr Hughes 0° to settle invoices

within seven days?

2 What form of open

account facilities is

Mr Cliff offering?

3 Why doesn't Mr Cliff need any references from Mr Hughes?

4 When should Mr

Hughes pay invoice

om1113?