LESSON 22: HOW TO COMPLAIN ABOUT THE POOR QUALITY OF A PRODUCT?
--怎样就产品品质提出诉怨？


CONTENTS

I. USEFUL EXPRESSIONS 常用语

II. SAMPLE 范文

III. TIPS 掌握写作要领

IV. EXERCISE: WORDS, PHRASES AND SENTENCE PATTERNS 精通常用词组和句型

V. WRITING WORKSHOP 写作小作坊

VI. GOODIES & GIFTS 实用小礼物

I. USEFUL EXPRESSIONS
常用语

1. How to start your letter?

I'm sorry to let you know that the DX200 system installed last month is malfunctioning.

We are having a problem with the GTD101 elevator manufactured by your company.

On March 10, my company purchased 4,000 gallons of house paint from you, but now we are having problems with the defective containers.

After examining the sweaters supplied to our order of September 5, we were very disappointed at their poor quality.

2. How to specify the problem?

When the fruit cans were uncrated, we discovered that about 20% of the labels were detached.

After a great deal of investigation, we find that the machine's lubricating system is defective.

3. How to request an adjustment of the problem?

Could you assign a representative to the task of checking and re-installing the whole system?

I would appreciate having someone from your company take an in-depth look at this problem.

It appears that a few steps could be taken to correct the problem: ...

I must insist on your immediate response to this problem, with specific action on the following matters: ...

Please call me today to make arrangements for the return and crediting of the defective monitors.

Please let us know when we can expect a replacement from you.

As we are preparing our orders for the second quarter, we want to make sure you have solved this quality problem before we consider your bid.

We also request to know the steps you are taking to make sure that this problem will not recur.

4. How to end your letter?

May I hear from you soon?

Thank you for responding quickly to this problem.

Thank you for your help and cooperation. I'll look forward to hearing from you shortly.



II. SAMPLE
范文


Dear _________:

After examining the ______[goods] supplied to our order #_______, we were very disappointed at their shoddy workmanship. They certainly do not match the samples you sent us and are unsuited to the needs of our customers. We have no choice but to return them to you and require a replacement of the quality ordered. If this is not possible, we have to cancel our order and ask for a refund.

If you can replace the ______[goods], we are prepared to extend the delivery date to _______[date]. We hope to have your reply no later than __________[date].

Sincerely yours,



_________[name]
_________[title]



III. TIPS
掌握写作要领

How to complain about quality?

1. Be specific: state clearly what is wrong, provide the necessary details (order or invoice numbers, delivery dates, etc.).

2. Be insistent but also reasonable and polite in requesting adjustments.

3. Be positive: if possible, offer suggestions and end your letter in a positive and friendly manner.



IV. EXERCISE: WORDS, PHRASES AND SENTENCE PATTERNS
精通常用词组和句型

1. Click on the word or phrase that fits the sentence:

  1. We have resorted _____ the defective goods in our central warehouse.
    (A) to stack
    (B) to stacking
    (C) stacking
    (D) at stacking

  2. We now have more than 400 unlabelled cans _____ storage.
    (A) on
    (B) for
    (C) within
    (D) in

  3. After examining the blankets supplied to our order No.23789, we must express surprise and disappointment _____ their quality.
    (A) at
    (B) to
    (C) of
    (D) for

  4. The truck broke _____ three days after your service department had installed a rebuilt engine.
    (A) up
    (B) in
    (C) out
    (D) down

  5. The chairs are quite unsuited to the needs of our customers and we have no choice _____ to ask you to take them back.
    (A) not
    (B) as
    (C) but
    (D) [none]

  6. The shirts do not match the samples you sent us. Some of them are of such shoddy workmanship that we _____ there must have been some mistakes in making up the order.
    (A) must feel
    (B) cannot feal
    (C) cannot help feeling
    (D) can help feeling




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


whether; for; meet; that; from; whether; bear; because; given; rather than; loses; from

Products that fail to (1) specifications cost both companies' money. The purchasing company (2) production time and has to do extra material handling, while the supplier has to (3) excess freight and replacement expense. (4) the importance of quality, more and more companies in recent years have embraced the concept of TQM, or "total quality management." In the past, companies assessed quality solely (5) their own perspective. TQM, however, emphasizes the need (6) manufacturers and suppliers to measure quality (7) the customer's perspective. More and more business firms are now aware (8) their assessment of quality must focus on customer satisfaction (9) their own. Firms are now paying more attention to customers' opinion about the quality of their products, (10) it can determine (11) customers will purchase the product again. Customers are more likely to purchase the product again from the same producer if they are satisfied with the quality, (12) the product is a jacket, a car, or a computer.



V. WRITING WORKSHOP
写作小作坊


1. "COMPLAIN" (动词) and "COMPLAINT" (名词) can be used in many ways. Here are some examples:

complain about something:

Users have complained about bugs in the newly-released communications software.

complain that ...:

Some customers complained that the new machine was too difficult to operate.

complain to somebody that ...:

A number of readers have complained to us that there are many printing errors in this book.

make a complaint about something:

We are going to make a complaint about the poor workmenship of these chairs.

make a complaint to somebody:

The angry customer made a complaint to the manager of the department store and demanded his money back.

make a complaint against something:

The trade union made a strong complaint against the company's decision to change its employee benefit policy.

file a complaint against somebody:

Our firm finally filed a complaint against the supplier who refused to replace the damaged machine.

2. In each of the following cases arrange the groups of words so that they form a sentence. Add capitalization and punctuation when necessary.

  1. "your firm should assume", "that", "all costs of repairs", "we believe"

  2. "was responsible", "not our driver's negligence", "for the truck's breakdown", "defective equipment"

  3. "the lenses of your company", "this report provides", "a comparison of", "similar products of our other vendors", "with"

  4. "to meet our production deadline", "properly functioning equipment", "by March 10", "we will need", "installed"

  5. "we shall have to", "to cancel our order", "replacement is not possible", "if", "ask you"

  6. "we can maintain", "We anticipate that", "so that", "our good relationship", "you can resolve this problem"

VI. SOMETHING FOR NOTHING
GOODIES & GIFTS （实惠小礼物）

New Words, New Meanings

electronic meeting: (电子网络会议)
Example:
With Lucent's OneMeeting Solution, you can place a six-site electronic meeting, complete with high quality voice on everyone's phone and crisp share documents on everyone's PC screen.

There are diffenent kinds of electronic meetings:

data conference
videoconference
audioconference (or voiceconference)
netconference

dataconference:
In 1998, there were more than ten million electronic meetings, including conference calls, videoconferences, and data conferences.

videoconference:
A meeting held via videoconferencing is as natural as a regular meeting and allows the participants to conduct their business the same way they would in a face-to-face meeting.

voiceconference (or, audioconference):
Phone companies use Compunetix equipment for voiceconferencing, dataconferencing, and videoconferencing.

netconference:
We can provide everything you need for your meeting -- audio, video, net conferencing or a combination of all three.