Write a claim letter to Jay Brandt, Marketing Manager, Custom Wood, Inc., 401 Main Street, Vancouver, BC V1L 2E6

Submit your assignment in MS Word format on or before the due date specified in the Calendar using
your last name, first initial and assignment number as a title (e.g. SmithA A3).
Task:
Write a claim letter to Jay Brandt, Marketing Manager, Custom Wood, Inc., 401 Main Street, Vancouver,
BC V1L 2E6. You don’t need to actually include any enclosures such as the carpenter’s bill or the invoice.
Scenario:
5.9 Claim Letter: Undersized French Doors
As Julie Chen, owner of smart interiors, you recently completed a kitchen remodel that required doubleglazed, made-to-order oak French doors. You ordered them by telephone on July 2 from custom wood,
Inc. When they arrived on July 25, your carpenter gave you the bad news: the doors were cut too small.
Instead of measuring a total of 3.23 square metres, the doors measured 3.13 square metres. In your
carpenter’s words, “no way can I stretch those doors to fit these openings!” You waited three weeks for
these doors, and your clients wanted them installed immediately. Your carpenter said, “I can rebuild this
opening for you, but I’m going to have to charge you for my time.” His extra charge came to $455.50.
You feel that the people at Custom Wood should reimburse you for this amount, since it was their error.
In fact, you actually saved them money by not returning the doors. You decide to write to custom wood
and enclose a copy of your carpenter’s bill. You wonder whether you should also include a copy of
custom wood’s invoice, even though it does not show the exact door measurements. You are a good
customer of Custom Wood, having used their quality doors and windows on many other jobs. You’re
confident that it will grant this claim.
Guffey, Mary Ellen, Richard Almonte. Essentials of Business Communication, 7th Edition. Nelson, 2/9/2012. Page (159).
Evaluation:
▪ Mechanics 3% (1 mark deducted for each and every grammar or spelling mistake)
▪ Style 3% (1 mark deducted for each and every stylistic or format error such as the inclusion of a
cliché, the use of slang, redundancy, wordiness, etc. or omission of one of the standard parts of
a letter)
▪ Content 4% ( 1 mark deducted for each and every instance where the instructions were not
followed or for any other problem that may reduce the effectiveness of the message)