Business correspondence. Методические рекомендации

EX.1 Find the equivalents in the text:

обязательный для сторон;

поправка; изменение; должны быть должным образом подписаны;

цены фиксированы и не подлежат пересмотру; помещать на борт теплохода за (чей-либо) счѐт;

дата отправки; счѐт – фактура; при условии, что …; производить платѐж;

отправлять товары; экспедитор (экспедиторская фирма); со стороны (коголибо); считаться задержкой отгрузки; если поставщики не поставят товары ; указывать; в размере … процентов от стоимости товара; согласованные и заранее оценѐнные убытки;

иметь право осматривать ( проверять) и испытывать товары ; извещать; оказывать помощь в получении информации относительно заказанных товаров;

разрешение на отгрузку; допустить к отправке;

соответствовать во всех отношениях описанию; качество изготовления (отделка); возместить стоимость товаров; брать на себя обязательство устранить дефекты;

оказаться неисправными; вводить в эксплуатацию; по усмотрению Покупателя; соответствовать стандартам;

выдерживать морскую перевозку в РФ; вследствие (по причине ) недостаточной и неподходящей упаковки; считать ответственным; поставщики должны принять все меры, чтобы товары были надѐжно и надлежащим образом упакованы;

извещение; обращаться к экспедиторам за инструкциями относительно;

подтверждать заказ в течение … дней по получении; сохранять право отменить заказ.

CONFIRMATION LETTERS

A brief acknowledgment of an order is a way to build goodwill and trust with a customer. The letter assures the customer that you have received the order and that you are acting on it. It also gives you an opportunity to communicate other information such as when the goods will arrive, how you will deliver them , and what other products or services you can offer.

How to write confirmation letters

1.Offer a polite, appreciative response that helps clarify what is expected of you.

2.Repeat the details of the agreement so your reader can respond to any misunderstandings that may have arisen.

3.Clarify or amend the terms of your agreement, if necessary.

4.Be accurate. Check (and double check!) your facts before sending the letter.

5.Send the letter within a few days of receiving the original letter, report, order, or

other document.

Confirmation letters can save a lot of time and money by forestalling complications or misunderstandings down the road. Moreover, they allow you to:

Confirm and clarify a decision or an oral agreement in writing to ensure that all parties share the same understanding and that you have a written record for future reference.

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Acknowledge or confirm that you have received a letter, order, report, or other document and that you are acting on it.

Communicate important information such as when something will arrive, how you will deliver it, what other products or services you can offer, and so forth.

Assure a client that you will take the correspondence that you received from him or her seriously.

Express appreciation for the letter, invitation, or other document that you received.

Reaffirm information exchanged in a previous meeting or communication.

CONFIRMATION OF ORDER BY THE SELLERS

It is not generally necessary to provide written confirmation of an order; however, in a case where you have had previous problems such as late delivery, details of the order being changed, or a customer asking for confirmation, it is wise to provide written confirmation of receiving an order.

Dear Sirs,

Order No. … dated … for … Transport No.

We acknowledge receipt of the above-mentioned order and to agree to execute it in strict accordance with its terms, conditions and General Conditions which we hereby accept and confirm in all respects.

Yours faithfully, ….

Dear Mr. Kapustin:

Order No. … dated 04/12/01 for … Transport No.

Thank you very much for your first order of 04/12/01. We shall be only too pleased to supply you with 500 barrels of oil within 2 months after your prepayment. Please note that we shall ship the first batch as soon as we receive the copy of your payment order. We are quite sure that you'll be satisfied with the quality of our product and hope to have long lasting mutually beneficial business relations with you.

With best regards, John Smith

EX. Translate the letter in which the seller requests the buyer to revise the delivery time and the guarantee clause of the contract.

Dear Sirs,

We refer to your valued order of 30th April and before finally accepting it we wish to draw your attention to the following points:

1.If you will kindly refer to our quotation, you will find that the delivery time given for the Engine is quoted in working weeks. In calculating the estimated dispatch date, you do not appear to have taken into account the annual summer works‘ shutdown which takes place in July. Taking the shut-down of the works into account, we estimate that the Engine will be ready for final inspection at our works in September,20……

2.The Spare Parts which form part of your order are subject to export licence control, but we anticipate no difficulty in securing the necessary export licence.

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3.Under paragraph 9 of your General Conditions of the order you stipulate that in the event of the Suppliers replacing faulty goods, the new goods should be delivered c.i.f. Baltic or Black Sea port at the Buyers‘ option free of charge. We agree to this only on the understanding that the rate of freight does not exceed that which would be charged by a British Steamship Company.

We have already agreed on these points with your London representative Mr. A.B.

Petrov, and for order‘s sake would appreciate your confirmation that they are acceptable to you, after which we will send you our formal confirmation of the order.

Yours faithfully, …

THE ADVICE OF DISPATCH

This advice of dispatch follows the order acknowledgement.

Dear Sirs,

We have pleasure in notifying you that your credit was confirmed by our bank yesterday, 19th November. We have had the 1900 dresses collected today for transport by Delta Airlines to Chicago on 25th November.

Enclosed is our invoice for the goods in question plus the extra charges for airfreight , packing list to facilitate customs clearance at your end, certificate of origin, air waybill and insurance policy.

Hoping that this initial order will lead to further business.

Yours faithfully, ….

The first thing before writing such a letter is to examine carefully whether the partner‘s account is valid or not. So in the first paragraph we come across the phrase ― your credit was confirmed by your bank yesterday‖. The next paragraph deals with the documents, which are necessary while importing goods: invoice, packing lists, certificate of origin, air waybill and insurance policy. As it is the initial order by the Buyer, the Seller hopes to encourage him to place further orders, so their last phrase sounds very polite.

EX. Find the equivalents in the texts:

В строгом соответствии с условиями; подтверждать получение; выполнять заказ; настоящим письмом мы акцептуем и подтверждаем условия во всех отношениях ; извещение об отправке; подтверждение получения заказа ; нам приятно известить вас, что…; (банковский) счѐт; действительный; счѐт-фактура; прилагается …; сертификат происхождения; авиагрузовая накладная; упаковочный список; страховой полис.

EX.2 Match the following sentence and phrase halves. Notice how the linkers are used.

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COMPLAINTS AND CLAIMS

It often happens that one of the parties infringed the terms of the contract. In such cases the dissatisfied party may think it is necessary to send the party a letter of complaint which contains a claim, i.e. a demand for something to which the sender of the letter, in his opinion, has a right ( for example, a claim for damages , a claim for reduction in the price etc.).

Complaints and claims may arise in connection with the inferior quality of the goods, late delivery or non-delivery of the goods and in many other cases. The essential rule in writing a complaint letter is to maintain poise and diplomacy.

1.In the letter, the customer should identify the reason he is writing and avoid leaping into the details of the problem in the first sentence.

2.The customer should state exactly what compensation he desires, either before or after the discussion of the problem or the reasons for granting the compensation.

3.The customer should provide a fully detailed description of the problem. The letter should refer to the articles in question by pointing out the customer‘s order number or that of his supplier‘s invoice, or both.

4.The customer should also declare what actions he wants his supplier to take and explain why his request should be granted.

5.The customer should suggest why it is in the recipient's best interest to grant his request by appealing to the recipient's sense of fairness, desire for continued business, but the customer should not threaten. He should find some way to view the problem as an honest mistake. He shouldn‘t imply that the recipient deliberately committed the error or that the company has no concern for the customer. Toward the end of the letter, he should express confidence that the recipient will grant your request.

Below are the examples of the sentences which may be used in complaints:

in connection with delay in delivery

We shall be glad to know when we may expect delivery of the goods as they are most urgently wanted ( needed, required);

If you cannot deliver within the next 3 weeks, we shall have to cancel the order and obtain the goods elsewhere;

The delivery of the goods was to have taken place last month, and we have been caused the serious inconvenience through the delay;

When placing this order with you, we particularly stipulated for delivery within eight months;

The order was placed with you on the strength of your undertaking to effect delivery within eight months;

Should you fail to deliver the goods by the 20th August, we shall be compelled to cancel the order;

We are surprised that no advice has been received from you as the execution of our Order No. 1225;

Please dispatch the spare parts by the first steamer available;

We refuse the goods on the grounds of late delivery;

As the delay in delivery has lasted over six weeks, you will have to pay us agreed damages in accordance with the contract;

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in connection with unsatisfactory or damaged goods

We regret to inform you that the examination of the goods shipped by M.V. “ Svetlogorsk” against Contract No. 1250 has shown that they are not in accordance with the contract specification;

The bulk of the goods discharged from the vessel do not correspond with the samples submitted;

The goods shipped by you in execution of our Order No. 1250 do not correspond with the samples on the basis of which the order was placed;

The quality is not up to sample ( or inferior to sample);

We cannot make use of the goods and are very sorry to have to place them at your disposal.

The goods are being held at your disposal pending your instructions as to how they should be returned.

The goods do not correspond to the quality contracted for and we claim an allowance of 1,25$ per pound.

We can accept the goods only on the condition that you grant us an allowance of

… per .. ;

From the calculation enclosed you will see that our losses amount to 7 % of the value of the goods, and we propose that you should allow us such a discount in settlement of our claim;

Failing your acceptance of our offer, the claim will be submitted to Arbitration;

in connection with shortage in weight, unsatisfactory packing, etc.

We regret to draw your attention to the fact that a shortage of weight of 12 cwt. was found when the goods were discharged; hundredweight

We find that eleven bales show a landed weight of 2,496 kg. Against a shipping weight of 2,750 kg, thus showing a loss of 254kg.;

A considerable number of cases arrived in a badly damaged condition, the lids be-

ing broken and the contents crashed;

The consignment contains only 35 cases whereas 42 cases are stated on the Bill of Lading.

Unfortunately you did not send us the Bill of lading for these goods and in order to obtain delivery we have had to incur extra expenses for which we hold you responsible.

EX.1Find the equivalents of the following phrases in the text.

Жалоба; нарушать условия контракта; претензия; требование; возникать в связи с низким качеством товара; не переходить к детальному описанию проблемы в первом предложении; предоставление компенсации;

предпринять действия; удовлетворять просьбу; обращаясь к чувству справедливости; угрожать; намекать, что получатель письма намеренно совершил ошибку; компания не проявляет заботы (участия) по отношению у заказчику; выразить уверенность;

Отменить заказ; получить(купить) товары; доставка должна была произойти к …; вызвать серьѐзные неудобства; оговаривать (обусловливать); на основании (в силу) вашего обязательства осуществить доставку…; мы будем вынуж-

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дены…; извещение ( об отгрузке); исполнение заказа; отгрузите запасные части; согласованный ( установленный по обоюдному согласию) ущерб;

Проверка товаров, перевозимых теплоходом «Светогорск» по контракту… ; спецификация (описание); груз (перевозимый навалом), выгруженный с судна не соответствует представленный образцам; предоставить в ваше распоряжение; груз находится в вашем распоряжении в ожидании ваших указаний относительно…; качество, обловленное в договоре; мы требуем предоставит скидку ; при условии, что вы предоставите нам скидку; ущерб составляет ( доходит до) …; урегулирование претензии; в случае если вы не примете наше предложение, наш иск будет представлен в арбитраж;

Недостача груза в размере 12 центнеров была обнаружена, когда товар был выгружен; тюк (брикет); вес при выгрузке; вес при погрузке; содержимое было раздавлено; в то время, как …; коробка ( ящик); производить дополнительные расходы.

EX.2 Answer the questions.

1.What is a claim? What are the reasons for claims?

2.What are the rules in writing complaints?

3.What expressions can be used in complaints in connection with delay in delivery?

4.What expressions can be used in complaints in connection with unsatisfactory or damaged goods?

5.What expressions can be used in complaints in connection with shortage in weight

and unsatisfactory packing ?

Ex.3. Read the letter of complaint below and give the English equivalents to the following words and expressions: партия (товара); выяснить причину; заказывать; за исключением; изучить вопрос (проблему);недостающие пиджаки; авиафрахт;

Answer the following questions:

1.What is the reason for writing the letter of complaint?

2.What solution of the problem does the customer suggest? Dear Sirs,

Your consignment arrived today and has been found correct with the exception of

jackets ―Azra‖ of which 12 were ordered while the case contained only 6.

Please examine the matter and send the missing 6 coats by Air Freight as we can accept them only if they arrive before the end of the month.

Yours faithfully, …

LETTERS OF ADJUSTMENT

Replies to complaint letters, often called letters of "adjustment," must be handled carefully when the requested compensation cannot be granted. The replies to complaints must always be courteous. Here are some suggestions that may help in writing an adjustment letter:

1.The writer should begin with a reference to the date of the original letter of complaint and to the purpose of his letter.

2.Even if the writer thinks that the complaint is bottomless he shouldn‘t say that until he has reliable grounds on which to repudiate the claim. He shouldn‘t deny the request and state the refusal right away.

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3.The writer should express his concern over the customer's troubles and his appreciation that the customer has written him.

4.If the complaint is justified, the writer should at once apologize to the customer and suggest a solution. There is no need for the writer to go into a long story of how the mistake was made; a short explanation will be enough.

5.If the writer denies the request, he should explain the reasons why the request cannot be granted in as a cordial manner as possible.

6.The writer should conclude the letter cordially, perhaps expressing confidence that he and the customer will continue doing business.

Below are the examples of the sentences which may be used in replies to complaints:

in connection with delay in delivery

We are very sorry that you have to complain of delay in delivery of the goods.

We ask you to accept our apologies for the delay and the incontinences you have been caused.

We assure you that we’ve done all we could to speed up the delivery.

As the delay was due to reason beyond our control, we cannot be held responsible for it.

Unfortunately production in our factory was held up for six months by a fire ( or by a breakdown of machinery).

The delay in delivery occurred through no fault of our own. The great pressure of orders for these goods has made it impossible for us to deliver the goods in August .

in connection with unsatisfactory or damaged goods.

We are sorry to see from you letter of … that you are not satisfied with quality of the consignment shipped by …

We regret to hear that the goods dispatched in execution of your Order No. .. have not met with your approval.

We should be obliged if you would return us a few pieces so that we could look into the matter.

We suggest that consignment should be examined by experts.

We had specially selected the goods which were superior to the samples in every respect.

We cannot accept your claim for the following reasons.

We cannot be responsible for any damaged incurred during the transport.

We agree to consider a settlement of the claim on the lines proposed in Mr. Brown’s report. - We hope that you will be satisfied with this explanation and withdraw your claim.

We agree to pay $… in full and final settlement of your claim.

in connection with shortage in weight, unsatisfactory packing etc.

We have received your letter of … claiming for shortage in weight in the consignment of

…We request you to send us the certificates of landed weights for the consignment in question to enable us to compare them with the shipped weights.

The goods were packed in strong cases and with the greatest care, and we can only conclude that the cases have been stored and handled carelessly. We should rec-

ommend you to lodge your claim with the Insurance Company.

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We have taken up the matter with the shipping company and requested them to send an explanation to you direct.

EX.1 Find the equivalents of the following phrases and words.

Письмо – урегулирование; компенсация не может быть предоставлена; вежливый; предложения; ссылка на дату; цель письма; безосновательный; веские (заслуживающие доверия) основания; отклонять иск (претензию); отказывать в просьбе и сообщать об отказе немедленно; выразить озабоченность проблемами заказчика и признательность; обоснованный; принести извинения; предложить решение; начинать долгий рассказ; объяснить причины ; выражая уверенность;

Принять извинения за задержку и причинѐнные неудобства; мы уверяем вас, что …; ускорить доставку; задержка произошла по независящим от нас причинам; мы не можем отвечать (быть ответственными) за …; производство было приостановлено;

Задержка в доставке произошла не по нашей вине; Товары, отправленные во исполнение вашего заказа , не заслужили вашего

одобрения; мы были бы вам благодарны (обязаны), если ..; изучить проблему; партия должна быть проверена экспертами; удовлетворить ( принять ) претензию; вы не можем нести ответственность (быть ответственными) за повреждения, возникшие во время транспортировки; отозвать претензию; для полного и окончательного урегулирования претензии;

Требовать (возместить) недостаток веса партии …; вес при выгрузке (выгруженная масса);вес при погрузке(погруженная масса); ящики хранили и грузили неосторожно; подать претензию в страховую компанию; обсудили (подняли) вопрос; потребовать; отправить объяснение непосредственно вам;

EX.2 Answer the questions.

1.What are the rules in writing letters of adjustment?

2.What expressions can be used in letters of adjustment in connection with delay in delivery?

3.What expressions can be used in letters of adjustment in connection with unsatisfactory or damaged goods?

4.What expressions can be used in letters of adjustment in connection with shortage in weight and unsatisfactory packing ?

EX. 3

A.Write a letter complaining about an actual problem with a product or service that you have paid for. Request an adjustment that you feel is appropriate.

B. Write a refusal letter. Assume that you are the recipient of the complaint letter that you wrote previously (Letter A). Write a reply in which you refuse to grant the customer's requested adjustment. Explain your decision courteously and appropriately. Craft your letter so that it will restore goodwill and encourage a strong future relationship with the customer.

C.Write a letter of adjustment. Assume that you are the recipient of the complaint letter that you wrote previously(Letter A). Write a reply in which you offer a reasonable adjustment while also restoring goodwill and encouraging a strong future relationship with the customer.

EX.4 Translate the letters concerning the time of delivery of a turbine plant.

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Moscow,15th March,20…….

Dear Sirs,

Contract No. 50/16525. Trans. No. 14154

The time of delivery of the Turbine Plant against the above contract expires on the 1st July.

Please inform us by return of post of the progress of manufacture of the Turbine.

Yours faithfully, …

Sheffield,20th March,20……

Dear Sirs,

Contract No. 50/16525

With reference to your letter of the 15th March we very much regret to advise you that there have been unexpected delays in the development of the air starting for the

turbine which we are manufacturing against your order and in consequence there may be a two months‘delay in delivery over and above the promised delivery date of the 1st July.

However, we can maintain the contract delivery time, namely 1st July,2005, if electric starting equipment is fitted to the turbine, which, as you will recall, was included in our original quotation to you.

Yours faithfully, ….

Dear Sirs,

Contract No. 50/16525

We have received your letter of the 20th March from which we learn with regret that you are unable to deliver the Turbine Plant by the 1st July, 20…….., because of delay in development of the air starting for the turbine.

We have contacted our Clients on this question, and as the Turbine Plant is urgently required by them they agree to your fitting electric starting equipment to the turbine instead of the air starting.

In this connection we have faxed you today as follows:

‗YOURLET 20th MARCH PLEASE DELIVER TURBINE PLANT FIRST JULY

20….WITH ELECTRIC STARTING EQUIPMENT CONFIRM ROSIMPORT‘.

Yours faithfully,

……………

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TESTS

Task 1

a.Choose the words and word-combinations on the right, which correspond to the expression on the left

b. Write an enquiry using phrases given above

Task 2

a. Find the corresponding Russian word-combinations:

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