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Adjustment Letter (assignment 4)
Assignment #4
Adjustment Letter Assignment
Write an letter response for the saggy painting case. The pattern you would follow for the case is
as follows:
1. Grant the adjustment: Open directly and give the reader whatever you feel they might
be seeking—in this case, it would be the offer to pay for re-stretching the canvas.
However, you’d also need to persuade the reader to accept your reasons for not replacing
it (see page 236-238—7th or 259-262—10th).
2. Regain customer confidence: tell the reader what the problem was or what went wrong
and why. While we don’t know for sure in this case, the assumption is something went
wrong in shipping—perhaps the painting was shipped flat and something was put on top
of it (236-238—7th or 259-262—10th).
3. State what you do or will do in the future to prevent the problem: Since you’re trying
to rebuild the customer’s confidence in your product, highlight the steps you take to
prevent these sort of occurrences, and use them to back up your assurance that this is very
rare.
4. Close positively: Do not refer the reader back to the original problem in the closing.
Thank them for bringing the problem to your attention and look forward to doing future
business with them (see page 238-239—7th or 263—10th) for some effective closings for
business letters.) You also would need to give them the address for mailing in the check
and invite feedback.
Before submitting the assignment, make certain to do the following:
5. Follow the letter format: Make certain your letter includes an effective subject line, an
opening salutation, and a complimentary closing. The format can be found in appendix B
in the back of the book, pages 3-4 for the 7th ed and Appendix A pages 4-4 in the 10th..
6. Proofread closely and evaluate: Make certain it has no typos, punctuation or grammar
mistakes. Consider whether it will win back the customer. Does it make a persuasive case
for why you should trust the business in the future?
7. Evaluate the tone: Is it sender focused or reader focused? Is it negative or positive? Be
sure it’s sender focused and free of negativity.
8. Answer reader questions: Did you explain your policy and why you have it? Did you
explain in detail what you think may have been the source of the problem and what you
do currently and will do in the future to prevent it?
9. Make it easy for them. Did you dump the responsibility for the repair on them or did
you do most of the work for them?
10. Make it professional. Does it use the letter format, single spacing, 12x Times Roman
font, center the text on the page?
Remember to maintain a personal and conversational tone. You want to sound like it’s you
writing and not a computer.
Adjustment Letter (assignment 4)
Adjustment Letter—Restretching a Sagging Canvas
Background: When a company received an expensive office paining with sags in the canvas, it
complained. The seller, Central Park Gallery, responded with the following poorly written
adjustment letter. It is against your policy to give refunds or replacements that the receiver found
acceptable when delivered, but you are willing to fix it. Your task is to rewrite it to make it more
effective in winning back the customer’s confidence.
Current date
Ms. Sharon Nickels
2459 Drew Street
Clearwater, FL 33765
Dear Ms. Nickels:
Your letter has been referred to me for reply. You claim that the painting recently sent by Central
Park Gallery arrived with sages in the canvas and that you are unwilling to hang it in your
company’s executive offices.
I have examined your complaint carefully, and frankly, I find it difficult to believe because we
are so careful about shipping, but if what you say is true, I suspect that the shipper may be the
source of your problem. We give explicit instructions to our shippers that large paintings must be
shipped standing up, not lying down. We also wrap every painting in two layers of convoluted
foam and one layer of Perf-Pack foam, which we think should be sufficient to withstand any
bumps and scrapes that negligent shipping may cause. We will certainly look into this.
Although it is against our policy, we will in this instance allow you to take this painting to a local
framing shop for restrecthing. We are proud that we can offer fine works of original art at
incredibly low prices and you can be sure that we do not send out sagging canvases.
Sincerely,
Adjustment Letter (assignment 4)
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