Letter of Adjustment Mistakes

The letter has too much detail of the cause of the complaint. The reader should already know this, so it is not necessary to repeat it. (Click here to go back to the letter.)

The customer may think that there is not enough explanation of the cause of the invoicing problem and the solution to it. The customer may have more confidence in your future service if you show that you know the cause and can therefore prevent the problem from happening again. (Click here to go back to the letter.)

There is no assurance that this problem will not occur again ('promptly' is not the problem, the number and colours of the dresses is the problem). This is important because the complainer is a customer who may want to do business with you again, and wants to know that you are now more reliable. (Click here to go back to the letter.)

In the organisation of this letter the solutions to the problems raised by the complainer are not together with the causes of the problems. This makes the letter harder to understand. Also, these solutions are not very good, as both the clerk and the factory may make mistakes again. Double-checking order quantities by two people and doing quality control on orders before they are sent out would be better solutions. (Click here to go back to the letter.)

The subject heading is not precise enough. A good subject heading should allow the reader to easily find the background information on this situation. To do this the subject heading can include one of the following:

• a file or order number; e.g. 9857/E
• the date the letter of complaint was written; e.g.
• the name of a product or service; e.g. Order of 100 Red Dresses

It should not remind the reader of any negative opinions of your organisation that have been caused by this problem, so do not use:

• Complaint about Dresses
• Late Delivery of Order 9857/E

(Click here to go back to the letter.)

The salutation (Dear...) should be to a specific person, and/or there should be an attention line (Attn: Ms Wong) to show who is handling this case. This is also more polite and shows that your service is more personalised. The receiver's name should also be above their company address. (Click here to go back to the letter.)

In modern business writing style it is not necessary to put a comma after the salutation (Dear Mr Wong,) or the 'Yours sincerely,' or 'Yours faithfully,'. (Click here to go back to the letter.)

Do not use 'The' before the job title of the writer of the letter of adjustment.  (Click here to go back to the letter.)

The compensation offered in this letter is probably too much, as it is probably greater than the profit margin on the items. However, to retain an important customer it might be necessary to offer a large discount. Therefore, be sure to check with your manager what level of discount is appropriate both for this customer, and in your industry and for your products or services. (Click here to go back to the letter.)

In the modern business writing style called 'block style', all text in the letter, including the addresses, start at the left margin. (Click here to go back to the letter.)

If the salutation is 'Dear Sir', the writer should use 'Yours faithfully'. If the salutation is 'Dear Mr Wong', the writer should use 'Yours sincerely'. (Click here to go back to the letter.)

Here is a corrected version of the letter of adjustment: