LESSON 28 

HOW TO RESPOND TO  ABOUT DELAY IN DELIVERY? 

怎样回复客户对延迟发货的抱怨？

I. USEFUL EXPRESSIONS

1. How to start your letter?

1] Thank you for your letter of July 3 in regard to the delay of your order #763482.

2] I am writing to you concerning your order (#DF47658) which you placed four weeks ago.

3] Your annoyance at not having received the books you ordered on May 15 is understandable.

2. How to assure the customer that goods will be delivered?

1] We have contacted our suppliers and they have informed us that they will meet all our future orders promptly.

2]Your order will be shipped on Monday of next week and should arrive within three days.

3] We are confident that we should be able to deliver consignments to you by the end of this month.

4] If you wish to cancel the order it would be quite understandable, but we stress that we will be able to complete delivery by the end of this month and would appreciate it if you could bear with us till then.

3. How to apologize for the delay?

1] We regret this unfortunate situation over which we had no control and apologize for the inconvenience.

2] It is very unfortunate that there should have been any mistake/misunderstanding, but we hope you will forgive the delay it has caused.

4. How to end your letter?

1] Please forgive the delay. I am sure there will be no similar mistakes in the future.

2]The vases you ordered are being shipped today, and I’m sure you will find them worth waiting for.

3] If this is not satisfactory, please let us know.

4] Thank you for your consideration/understanding.

II. SAMPLE

Dear _________:

Thank you for your letter of July 3 in regard to the delay of your order #763482. We are pleased to inform you that your order will be ready for delivery by July 10.

Over the last two months, we have had some problems with the supply of these items. We apologize for the delay. We have contacted the manufacturers and they have promised that they will meet all our future orders promptly. We will monitor this very carefully as we wish to give our customers the best service possible.

I will inform you as soon as the goods arrive. Enclosed is our new catalogue and price list, which is valid until the end of the year.

Yours sincerely,

__________[name]

___________[title]

Enclosure

III. TIPS

1. Tell the customer that you have received his/her complaint.

2. Apologize for the delay.

3. Explain what caused the delay.

4. Describe HOW and WHEN goods will be delivered.

5. Tell the customer that measures have been taken to prevent further delays.

6. Try to reestablish goodwill at the end of your letter.

IV. EXERCISE: WORDS, PHRASES AND SENTENCE PATTERNS

1. Choose the word or phrase that fits the sentence:

1]Our main supplier has _____ bankrupt and we have to find another supplier who could fulfil all the outstanding contracts we have to complete.

(A) made  (B) taken  (C) fallen  (D) gone

2]We are sorry for the delay. The printing job took a little more time to complete than we had _____.

(A) foretold  (B) forecasted  (C) anticipated  (D) foreseen

3] We quite understand your annoyance ____ not yet having received the goods ordered last month.

(A) in  (B) from  (C) of   (D) at

4] Orders for printed stationery are ____ taking from three to four weeks for delivery.

(A) for present     (B) at present  (C) in present  (D) of present

5]International orders take approximately four weeks for delivery and our representatives have been instructed to ____ this clear to customers.

(A) make  (B) tell  (C) say  (D) get

6]On receiving your letter we put your order ____ hand at once.

(A) on  (B) at  (C) in  (D) to

7] The books will be sent from here tomorrow by express parcel post and it should reach you _____ twenty-four hours of your receiving this letter.

(A) during  (B) for  (C) before  (D) within

8] We are sorry for the delay, but this particular brand is at present _____ stock in our store, so we had to order it for you from the manufacturer.

(A) in no  (B) out of   (C) with no  (D) out

9]Thanks to the excellent cooperation between the two teams, we completed the project _____ schedule.

(A) before  (B) earlier than  (C) ahead of  (D) faster than

10]Since the project is now way _____ schedule, it is unlikely that we’ll be able to ship the new product before the end of this year.

(A)    behind  (B) later than  (C) after  (D) slower than

2. Fill in the blanks with words chosen from the list below. Add capitalization when necessary:

majority, create, median, matures, into, ignore, increase, in, current, expanding

More and more companies begin to recognize the great marketing potential of the Internet. And as today’s generation of computer-savvy kids (1)______, this power of the web will only (2)______. Although the (3) ________of consumers still get to know the name of a product by watching TV or reading the newspaper, (4)______ the long run, the Internet will (5)______ a very attractive and continuously (6)______ consumer society. With the highest (7)______ income, today’s adult Internet users is a brand marketer’s dream. As the (8)_______ generation of children mature (9)______ the next great consumer generation, no marketer will be able to (10)______ the Internet as their favorite media.

V. WRITING WORKSHOP

2. Displayed below are phrases and sentences for you to compose a letter notifying the supplier that there is an error in his invoice. Number the phrases and sentences so that they form complete sentences arranged in a logical order:

1)  Dear Ms. Brooks:

2)  and should arrive at your address before July 7.

3)  international orders require a delivery time of 3 to 4 weeks

4)  Thank you for writing to check on the status of the camera (Order No. CM34572)

5)  instead of the usual 5 to 7 days for our domestic orders.

6)  Please let me know if there is anything else we can do for you.

7)  you ordered from us on June 7.

8)  I hope this won’t cause you too much inconvenience.

9)  According to our record,

10)  Perhaps our sales representative did not make it clear to you that

11)  your order was shipped on June 9

12)  Sincerely yours,

Mark Owen

Customer Services