How to Write Claim Letters

When doing foreign trade business you may need to write E-Mails Claiming for Compensation. The importers and exporters must make clear the claims settlement clauses in the foreign trade contracts, and take precautionary measures for all parts of foreign trade to reduce the risk of claims and eliminate reasonable claims or designed claims.  When writing complaints or claim letters, you may start with listing out the clauses that you both have agreed on and then write down the facts to show your discontent and reasons, and put forward the solutions at last. Your writhing should be concise, explicit, clear，and well-organized, and your tone should be resolute. You should not use furious and embarrassing wording unless the problems you complain about happen frequently and your many times of complaints drew no attention.  Following are some samples of complaint or claim letters under different circumstances for you reference(take importers for example): 

1) For Delay in Shipment.  Dear Sir/Madam,
The [product] we ordered from you should have reached us a week ago .Needless to say, the delay in delivery has put us to great inconvenience. It is therefore imperative that you dispatch them immediately. Otherwise we shall be obliged to cancel the order and obtain the goods elsewhere.
Please look into the matter as one of urgency and let us have your reply as early as possible.Yours faithfully.

2) For Poor-Packing. Dear Sir/Madam,
We are writing to inform you that the [product] covered by our order No.519arrived in such an unsatisfactory condition that we have to lodge a claim against you. It was found upon examination that 10% of them are broken and some are badly scratched, obviously due to the improper packing. Therefore, we cannot offer it for sale at the normal price and suggest that you make us an allowance of 20% on the invoiced cost. This is the amount by which we propose to reduce our selling price. If you cannot accept, I'm afraid we shall have to return them for replacement.
Sincerely yours.
3) For Damage of Goods. Dear Sir/Madam,
The [product] you supplied to our order of 3rd July was delivered by the shipping company this morning. The 160 cartons containing the goods appeared to be in perfect condition. But when I unpacked them with great care, I regret to report that 10 cartons of them are badly cracked.
We trust you can understand that we expect the compensation for our damaged goods.Yours faithfully.

4) For Unconformity.Dear Sir/Madam,
On March 12, we ordered [product]. But unfortunately, we received completely different [something] today. We can only presume that a mistake was made and the [something] were for another order.
As I have several customers waiting, please arrange for the replacements at once.Faithfully yours.

5) For Shortweight. Dear Sir/Madam,
We have just received the Survey Report from Shanghai Commodity Inspection Bureau evidencing that all [product] weigh short by from 1 to 5 kilogram, totaling 300 kilogram. As it were intact, it is obvious that [product] was short weight before shipment. Under such circumstances, we have to file a claim against you to the amount of RMB 850 plus inspection fee.
We are enclosing the Survey Report No. * and looking forward to your settlement at an early date.Yours faithfully.
It needs both trading parties to negotiate equally and straighten out the responsibilities to solve the problems and achieve settlement. The purpose of sending claim letters is to gain better service and solve the existing problems as soon and sound as possible. 
Of course the fewer the matters of complaints and claims are, the better it is. Therefore we need to take every part in trading business seriously and take precautions measures to prevent any problem.

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