How to Write Letters (Formerly The Book of Letters) Part 34

Williamsport, Pa., March 10, 1921.

Carroll Bros., 814 Chestnut St., Philadelphia, Pa.

Gentlemen:

Please send me the following articles by parcels post as soon as possible:

2 doz. paper napkins, apple blossom or nasturtium design 1 "Century" cook book 1 pair "Luxury" blue felt bedroom slippers, leather sole and heel 1 large bar imported Castile soap 1 pair elbow length white silk gloves, size 6-3/4

Enclosed is a money order for $15.00. Please refund any balance due me.

Yours truly, Janet M. Bent (Mrs. Elmer Bent)

_Formal acknowledgments_

It is still a formal custom to acknowledge some kinds of orders by a printed or an engraved form. Some of the older New York business houses use the engraved forms which arose in the days before typewriters and they are very effective.

_General acknowledgment forms_

THE GENERAL STORES CO.

CHICAGO, ILL.

April 18, 1923.

Mr. Walter Crump, 29 Adams Street, Maple Centre, Ill.

Dear Sir:

We acknowledge with thanks your order No. ______ which will be entered for immediate s.h.i.+pment and handled under our No.

______ to which you will please refer if you have occasion to write about it.

If we are unable to s.h.i.+p promptly we will write you fully under separate cover.

Very truly yours, The General Stores Co.

_S._

THE GENERAL STORES CO., CHICAGO, ILL.

June 13, 1922.

Mr. Joseph Ward, Wadsworth Hill, Ill.

Dear Sir:

We have received your order __________ requesting attention to __________ No. __________.

Unless special attention is demanded, the routine schedule is on a ten-day basis, and we therefore expect to ______ your instrument on or about __________.

In corresponding on this subject please refer to order No.

______.

Very truly yours, The General Stores Co.

_S._

_In answer to a letter without sufficient data_

THE GENERAL STORES CO.

CHICAGO, ILL.

September 8, 1922.

Mrs. Benjamin Brown, Carr City, Ill.

Dear Madam:

We thank you for your order recently received for one s.h.i.+rt waist and two pairs of stockings.

We were unable to proceed with the order, as the size of the waist was not given. If you would be kind enough to state what size you wish, we shall gladly make immediate s.h.i.+pment.

Very truly yours, The General Stores Co.

_S._

_Where the goods are not in hand_

L. &. L. YOUNG 600 FIFTH AVENUE NEW YORK, N. Y.

November 3, 1921.

Mrs. John Evans, 500 Park Avenue, New York, N. Y.

Dear Madam:

We are out of size 5 B at present in the white kid shoes you desire, but we should be pleased to order a pair for you, if you wish, which would take two weeks. If this is not satisfactory to you, perhaps you will call and select another pair.

Kindly let us know what you wish done in this matter.

Very truly yours, L. & L. Young.

LETTERS OF COMPLAINT AND ADJUSTMENT

The letter of complaint is purely a matter of stating exactly what the trouble is. The letter replying to the complaint is purely an affair of settling the trouble on a mutually satisfactory basis. The Marshall Field att.i.tude that "the customer is always right" is the one that it pays to a.s.sume. The customer is by no means always right, but in the long run the goodwill engendered by this course is worth far more than the inevitable losses through unfair customers. The big Chicago mail order houses have been built up on the principle of returning money without question. Legalistic quibbles have no place in the answer to a complaint. The customer is rightly or wrongly dissatisfied; business is built only on satisfied customers. Therefore the question is not to prove who is right but to satisfy the customer. This doctrine has its limitations, but it is safer to err in the way of doing too much than in doing too little.