Unit 11 Complaints Disputes and Claims o Introduction

Unit 11 Complaints, Disputes and Claims o Introduction o Writing skills o Specimen letters o Words and expressions o Useful sentences o Exercise

11. 1 Introduction odisputes oclaims ocomplaints

o If one of the parties breaches the contract, the other may run into trouble, or suffer great losses. In this case, the affected party can either request the defaulter to make sure that such things will not happen again, which is known as a “complaint”, or request him to make up his losses according to the relevant provisions under the contract, which is called a “claim”. If the party who breaches the contract doesn’t take effective measures to fulfill his obligation, then a “dispute” may arise.

Answer the following questions: o What are the reasons for claims? o What are the two kinds of complaints made by a buyer? What are the reasons for a buyer to make a justified complaint? o What are the reasons for disputes in international trade?

Generallyspeaking, there are two kinds of complaints made by the buyer: o justified complaints o unjustified complaints

The justified complaints, which may arise from one of the following situations: o The wrong goods may have been sent; o The quality may not be satisfactory; o The goods may have been delivered, damaged or late; o The prices charged may be excessive, or not as agreed.

o The unjustified complaints made by the buyers who find fault with the goods as an excuse to escape from their contract obligations, either because they no longer want the goods or because they have found that they can get them cheaper elsewhere.

Reasons for disputes o the seller breaches the contract, that is, he has not fulfilled his obligations in accordance with the provisions of the contract; o The buyer breaches the contract, that is, he has not fulfilled his obligations in accordance with the provisions of the contract; o The two parties have different understanding or interpretation of the wording of the contract.

Reasons for claim o The goods are insufficently shipped; o The quality and specifications of the goods shipped are not in onformity with what the contract stipulateds; o The goods are damaged because of their poor or substandard packing.

11. 2 Writing skills o Basic Rules of writing a letter of complaint/claim o Rules of answering a letter of complaint/claim

11. 2. 1 Basic Rules of writing a letter of complaint/claim o Begin by regretting the need to complain o Make a clear reference to the subject of the complaint and briefly state what the problem is o Describe clearly what exactly has happened and what might happen if the problem isn’t solved o State what action you expect to be taken

o 1. Begin by regretting the need to complain o We feel regretful that the goods are not in accordance with your samples.

o 2. Make a clear reference to the subject of the complaint and briefly state what the problem is. o eg. We are writing to complain about the shipment of 2000 sets of bicycles under our contract No. 101 received yesterday. After examination, we found the goods are short-delivered by 50 sets.

3. Describe clearly what exactly has happened and what might happen if the problem isn’t solved. eg. The cargo delivered to us are not in good condition up to standard. We therefore request you to replace these goods immediately, otherwise any further delay will certainly reflect seriously on your credit.

o 4. State what action you expect to be taken. o eg. As this lot of goods is or no use at all to us, we require you refund the invoice amount and inspection fee of the goods amounting to US$ 10, 000.

Other things to notice o Direct your complaint to the right person o Be specific o Supply important details o Be concise

11. 2. 2 Rules of answering a letter of complaint/claim o The first thing that has to be decided is whether the complaint is justified. If so, then you have to admit it readily; express your regret and promise to put matters right. o If the complaint is not justified, point this out politely and in an agreeable manner. It would be a wrong policy to refuse the claim offhand. o If you cannot deal with a complaint promptly, acknowledge it at once. Explain that you are looking into it and that you will send a full reply later. o All complaints should be treated as serious matters and thoroughly investigated.

1. The first thing that has to be decided is whether the complaint is justified. If so, then you have to admit it readily; express your regret and promise to put matters right. Eg. With reference to your claim No. 11 for a short weight of 1120 kg chemical fertilizer, we wish to express our much regret over the unfortunate incident.

2. If the complaint is not justified, point this out politely and in an agreeable manner. It would be a wrong policy to refuse the claim offhand. eg. We can assure you that the goods in question were in perfect condition when they left here. We have the clean B/L to support what we say. Maybe the damage complained of must have occureed in transportation.

3. If you cannot deal with a complaint promptly, acknowledge it at once. Explain that you are looking into it and that you will send a full reply later. eg. So we have sent our representative to your end to investigated the matter in detail. We would not give any comment before our representative inspects the goods. We will soon let you know the date of this visit and hope you will give him your best cooperation.

o All complaints should be treated as serious matters and thoroughly investigated.

11. 3 specimen letters o. See textbook

Letter (1) Our Order No. 4312 We duly received the documents and took delivery of the goods on arrival of the s. s. “Isabella” at Hamburg. We are much obliged to you for the prompt execution of this order. Everything appears to be correct and in good condition except in case No. 71. Unfortunately, when we opened this case we found it contained completely different articles, and we can only presume that a mistake was made and the contents of this case were for another order.

Letter (1) As we need the articles we ordered to complete deliveries to our new customers, we must ask you to arrange for the dispatch of replacements at once. We attach a list of the contents of case No. 71, and shall be glad if you will check this with our order and the copy of your invoice. In the meantime we are holding the above -mentioned case at your disposal; please let us know what you wish us to do with it.

Letter (2) Your Order No 4312 per s. s. “Isabella” Thank you for your letter of February 10 informing us that the consignment was delivered promptly, we appreciate your straightforwardness in pointing out that case No. 71 did not contain the goods you ordered. On going into the matter we find that a mistake was indeed in the packing through a confusion of numbers, and we have arranged for the right goods to be dispatched to you at once. Relative documents will be mailed as soon as they are ready.

Letter (2) We have already cabled to inform you of this, and enclose a copy of the telegram. Please keep case No. 71 and its contents until called for by our Commercial Counsellor’s Office, whom we have informed of matter accordingly. We were sorry for the trouble caused you by the error and wish to assure you that care will be taken in the execution of your further orders.

go into o Def: 研究，商谈 n 在接到你方详细规格后，我方再进一步研究你 方定单。 o We shall go further into your order after receipt of your detailed specifications. o Go through 检查 n 我们查阅过档案，知道有关的信用证已寄送给 你方。 o We have gone through [over] our files and find that the relevant L/C has been sent to you.

Call for o Def: demand 要求，需要 o Example n Contract No. 101 calls for delivery of 15 tons of chemical fertilizer in July, 1985. o第 101号合同要求1985年 7月运 交化肥 15吨。

11. 4 Words

o Quantity claim o Quality claim o Settlement of claim o Reject a claim o Disputes o Discrepancy and claim clause o Force Majeure o Acts of God o Arbitration clause o Surveyor’s report o Arbitral award o Inferior/improper /faulty/defective packing o Short delivery o Non-delivery o Inferior quality o Different quality o Breakage

Claim 索赔，赔偿要求 o表示索赔的原因，一般接for, 如 claim for damage; o表示索赔的金额，一般接for, 如 claim for US$1000; o表示对某批货物索赔，一般接on, 如claim on the goods; o表示向某人索赔，一般接against， 如claim against the underwriters.

o claim against a person 向某人索赔 o claim arising from a breach of the contract 违约所引起的索赔 o to claim(a compensation of ) …from sb. for sth. 为某事向某人索赔若干金额 eg. We should claim US$ 1500 from you for the loss caused by improper packing. 我们必须为由于不良包装所造成的损失 向你方索赔 1500美元。

oto lodge a claim against (on, with)… oto make/file/raise a claim against(on, with)…向……提出索赔 eg 1. This guarantee shall be valid only for claims lodged with this bank on or before May 1, 2005. 本担保在 2005年 5月1日之前向 银行提出索赔有效。

eg 2. The goods are short-landed by 1000 kilos; therefore we raise a claim against you. 货物到达时短缺 1000公斤，因此我们 向你方提出索赔。 eg 3. We have raised a claim on ABC Trading Company on account of damage. 我方因货物破损向ABC贸易公司提出索 赔。

Disposal 处理，处置 at sb. ’s disposal 由某人做主，听某 人之便，由某人支配 put (or leave) sth. at sb. ’s disposal 把某事交某人自由处理 eg. We will leave the case No. 1 -19 at your disposal. 我们将把1 -19号箱的货交你方自行处 理。

refund v. 归还偿还 n. 归还额，偿还额 o refund the excess on a tax 归还多收 的税款 o refund the goods to the seller 把货 物归还卖方 o obtain a refund of a deposit 获得保 证金的退款 o refundable 可归还的，可偿还的。 eg. The bid bond is refundable to those bidders who are not the winner. 对于不中标者， 投标保证金予以退还。

11. 5 useful sentences o On checking the goods received, we find that several items on your invoice have not been included; we enclose a list of the missing articles for your inspection. o Although the quality of these goods is not up to that of our usual line, we are prepared to accept the goods if you will reduce the price, say by 20%.

o We were very sorry to receive your complaint that the material you received was not of the quality expected. o We are extremely sorry about this delay, which you will realize was due to circumstances beyond our control.

o What you complained about is now under investigation, which , however, will take time; we shall let you know the result at the conclusion of it. o Without actual sample in proof of the defect we cannot make a minute investigation; therefore, it is imperative that you furnish us with a sample without delay. o We think the best procedure will be to have the pieces examined by an expert, and we arranging for this to be done.