Kirti's reply: a 10% deduction threat, a WhatsApp promise and a manager's angry draft

Do not send it as dictated.

• It is a legal conclusion, not a fact. 'We accept no liability' is for the proprietor or manager to assert after taking advice, not for a junior assistant to send in her own name.
• It is written evidence. The email will be produced in a consumer forum, a civil suit or before the customer's CFO. Every sentence must be one the firm can defend under cross-examination.
• It invites the reply it fears. 'Entirely because your site refused' converts a service complaint into a fight about blame, and the customer's answer will be that the firm never gave written notice that stock was ready and that unloading needed booking.
• Wrong sender. Sending from her own id makes Kirti personally the correspondent on a ₹36,000 dispute the firm may need to escalate.

Channel decision

1. Telephone first, by the sales manager, within 24 hours, to the facility manager: relationship repair, to find out whether the 10% is a real intention or pressure, and to hear their version. A call leaves no record, which is useful here.
2. One written reply, next day, from a designated official email id (the manager's or the firm's sales id), with the subject line carrying the PO reference and the word 'Response'. A written reply is essential because there is a money claim and a reputational threat; a call alone leaves the firm's version unrecorded.
3. Not WhatsApp. The firm has already been damaged by an informal message. All further commitments go by email.

Must be stated

PO/208 dated 8 July and the delivery date of 25 July; that the desks were ready on 20 July; the dates on which unloading permission was sought, and that Tower B permitted it only from 5 August; delivery and signed acceptance on 12 August; the firm's willingness to complete the snag list; and the specific clause of the order or quotation on delay, if one exists.

Must be kept out

'We accept no liability'; any admission of compensation or of the 10% deduction; any repetition of the colleague's 'we will compensate you fully'; blaming language; any comment on the review threat; and any internal detail about staff or stocking.

Structure: acknowledge - facts - position - action - close.

Model opening paragraph

Subject: PO/208 - 40 workstation desks - our response of [date]

Dear Mr [Name],

Thank you for your email of [date] and for setting out your concern so clearly. We understand the difficulty a move-in date slipping causes, and we are sorry that your team had to work around it. We would like to place the facts on record and to propose how we take this forward.

Facts paragraph

Your order, PO/208 dated 8 July, required delivery by 25 July. The 40 desks were finished and packed at our works by 20 July. Tower B did not grant unloading permission until 5 August, and the consignment was unloaded and signed for by your representative on 12 August. Copies of our dispatch record and the signed delivery challan are enclosed.

Position paragraph (the WhatsApp)

We are aware of a WhatsApp message sent by a member of our team on [date] stating that we would compensate you fully. That message was written in good faith to reassure you while the unloading issue was being resolved; it was not, and could not be, an agreement on any amount or on the 10% deduction now mentioned. Any settlement will be recorded in writing and signed by the undersigned.

Why this works: it neither denies the message (which the customer can screenshot anyway) nor accepts it as a binding promise; it places the authority to settle where it belongs.

Action paragraph

Two of our technicians can attend on [date] to check levelling and finish on all 40 desks at no charge. We would also welcome a short call this week to agree the account.

Close

We value the relationship and would prefer to resolve this directly with you. Please treat this email as our formal response pending that discussion.

Yours sincerely, [Name], [Designation], for and on behalf of [Firm]

Note on 'without prejudice': it belongs only on a genuine settlement offer made to resolve a dispute, not on a factual reply like this. Using it on the whole letter can make the letter inadmissible when the firm actually needs it as evidence.

Records to preserve immediately

1. The customer's email with full headers, not a forwarded copy, and the reply sent, in the same mailbox.
2. The WhatsApp message: export the chat with the timestamp and the sender's number, save it to the firm's system, and screenshot it. Do not delete it from the phone - a deleted message, once the customer produces his screenshot, becomes evidence of concealment.
3. Proof that the desks were ready by 20 July: job card, packing list, dispatch register, photographs.
4. Proof of delivery: the signed delivery challan of 12 August, the transporter's lorry receipt, gate entry at Tower B.
5. Every attempt to obtain unloading permission: emails, call logs with dates and times, and the name of the person at Tower B who gave or refused permission. This is the firm's strongest fact and at present it is probably only in someone's memory.
6. The order and quotation, including the delivery and delay clause and the firm's standard terms.
7. An internal note recording what was said in the phone call and who authorised what - written the same day.

What caused the problem

• No policy on WhatsApp. Staff used a personal channel to make a comfort statement that reads like a promise of unlimited compensation. Rule: no staff member may discuss price, discount, compensation, delay or quality on WhatsApp or any messaging app; complaints go to a named person by email.
• No notification discipline. If the firm had emailed on 20 July saying 'goods ready, awaiting your unloading permission', the entire blame question would have been closed.
• No complaint escalation path. A junior was asked to answer a legal threat.
• Fixing it: a one-page communication policy - designated spokesperson, official email for all commitments, complaints acknowledged within 24 hours, all disputes routed to the manager, and mandatory retention of complaint correspondence for at least the limitation period. Train the staff once and record the training; it is the first thing a forum asks about.