...... your Unless special attention is demanded, the routine schedule is on a ten-day basis, and we therefore expect to...... 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 shirt 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 shipment. Very truly yours, The General Stores Co. 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 attitude that "the customer is always right" is the one that it pays to assume. 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 dis satisfied; 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. Claims for damaged goods This letter is complete in that it states what the damage is. Messrs. Wells & Sons, 29 Summer Street, Boston, Mass. Gentlemen: 420 Commonwealth Avenue, Boston, Mass., February 8, 1922. The furniture that I bought on February 3rd came to-day in good condition with the exception of one piece, the green enamel tea-wagon. That has a crack in the glass tray and the lower shelf is scratched. Will you kindly call for it and, if one like it in stock, send it to me to replace the damaged one? Acme Dishwasher Co., Gentlemen: Very truly yours, you have Edna Joyce Link. (Mrs. George Link) 830 Main Street, Saltview, N. Y., I regret to inform you that the Acme dishwasher which I purchased from your local dealer, I. Jacobs, on December 4, 1920, has failed to live up to your one-year guarantee. In fact, the dishwasher is now in such bad condition that I have not used it for three weeks. I must therefore request that in accordance with the terms of your guarantee you refund the purchase price of ninety dollars ($90). On Tuesday last I bought at your store 2 boys' wash suits. This is Monday and the goods have not yet been delivered. The delay has caused me great inconvenience. If this were the first time that you had been careless in sending out orders I should feel less impatient, but three times within the last four weeks I have been similarly annoyed. On March 3rd I sent back my bill for correction, goods returned not having been credited to my account. On March 15th the bill was again sent in its original form with a "please remit." I again wrote, making explanation, but to date have received no reply. If I must be constantly annoyed in this manner, I shall have to close my account. Very truly yours, Helena Young Tremp. (Mrs. Kenneth Tremp) Replies to letters of complaint WELLS & SONS 29 SUMMER STREET BOSTON, MASS. August 12, 1922. Mrs. Samuel Sloane, Dear Madam: We have your letter of August 8th in regard to the damaged perambulator. We are very sorry indeed that it was damaged, evidently through improper crating, so that there does not seem to be any redress against the railway. We shall be glad to make a reasonable allowance to cover the cost of repairs, or if you do not think the perambulator can be repaired, you may return it to us at our expense and we will give your account credit for it. We will send you a new one in exchange if you desire. Very truly yours, Wells & Sons. WELLS & SONS 29 SUMMER STREET BOSTON, MASS. May 11, 1923. Mrs. Julia Furniss, 29 Oak Street, Somerville, Mass. Dear Madam: We have received your note of May 8th in regard to the bathroom scales on your bill of May 1st. We do not send these scales already assembled as there is considerable danger of breakage, but we shall send a man out to you |