• Firm? Definitely.
• Threatening? If necessary.
• Rude? Never.

A customer, Ms Sweet, returned a dress she had bought the day before and was told by the shop that they would credit her account with the amount she had paid for it. Six weeks later the refund had still not arrived, so she wrote to the shop enquiring about the delay and suggesting that some kind of compensation should be made.

Here are two letters that the company's Customer Relations Department drafted.

• What are the main differences between them?
• Which is best, and why?

First Letter

Elegance
26, Western Road
Brighton

Ms Susan Sweet
7, Regency Square
Brighton

Dear Madam,

We are in receipt of your letter of 17 May regarding a dress which you claimed to have returned to our shop in March. On thorough investigation it appears that this is indeed the case. Your account is therefore in the process of being credited with the appropriate sum.

You must understand that we can only consider claims for compensation when actual financial loss has been incurred. It is quite clear that this in not the case here.

Yours faithfully
Peter S. Notty
Customs Relations Manager

Second Letter

Elegance
26 Western Road
Brighton

Ms Susan Sweet
7, Regency Square
Brighton

Dear Ms Sweet,

I was very sorry to see from your letter of 17 May that your account had not been credited as had been promised. I have investigated the matter and it is clear that we are guilty of an oversight in not reimbursing you earlier. I apologise for this unnecessary delay, and for any inconvenience it might have caused.

I am, however, afraid that it will not be possible to offer you any financial compensation. We would naturally consider a claim that was based on some financial loss as a result of our mistake, but as I understand it, you have not suffered such loss in this instance.

I am sorry you were forced to write to us about this problem, and hope that you can understand and accept our position with regard to compensation.

We look forward to serving you again in our shop.

Yours sincerely
Mary Nice
Assistant Customer Relations Manager

When you have spent some time thinking about the differences between these letters, you can compare your ideas with our suggested answer. Make your notes before you look at our suggestion, if you like: