The Missing Parcel Transcript
At an online shop, a customer named Priya has waited eight days for a parcel. The support agent, Leo, sends this chat message:
'We apologize for the inconvenience. We will look after your issue and revert back to you shortly. Please bear with us. The courier said the parcel was delivered, but it might have been stolen. You should of received a tracking link. We are trying to sort out the problem and get to the bottom of it.'
Priya replies that she does not want the agent to 'revert' anything and does not understand why the parcel 'might have been stolen' is mentioned without evidence. She also says the phrase 'should of' looks wrong. The shop's policy is to use plain, neutral English, avoid blaming the customer, and give a clear next step within one working day. Leo has 30 minutes to rewrite the message before his shift ends.
1. Identify two collocation or phrasal-verb errors in Leo's message and replace them with accurate alternatives. Explain the meaning difference.
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Two clear problems are 'look after' and 'revert back'. 'Look after' means to take care of someone or something, as in 'look after a child'; the agent means 'look into', which means investigate. 'Revert back' is redundant because 'revert' already contains 'back', and in British English 'revert' commonly means to return to a previous state, not to reply. A neutral alternative is 'get back to you'. A third error is 'should of', which is a mishearing of 'should have'. These are not just style preferences: 'look after your issue' suggests the agent will babysit the problem, and 'revert' can confuse a customer who expects a reply.
2. Explain the idiom 'get to the bottom of it' and rewrite the final sentence in plain English that does not use the idiom.
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'Get to the bottom of it' means to investigate fully until the cause or truth is found. It is informal but not rude. In this message, however, it sits beside an unevidenced suggestion that the parcel 'might have been stolen', so it can sound as if the shop is already building a theft story. A plain rewrite is: 'We are checking with the courier why the parcel was not delivered and will update you by 5 p.m. tomorrow.' This keeps the investigative meaning, removes the idiom, and gives a concrete next step instead of an open-ended promise.
3. Rewrite the whole message in no more than 70 words, keeping the policy requirements: neutral, no blame, clear next step.
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Rewrite: 'We are sorry that your parcel has not arrived. We are checking with the courier and will reply by 5 p.m. tomorrow with an update. We will also resend the tracking link so you can see the courier's last scan. If the parcel is not found, we will discuss a replacement or refund with you.' This is about 60 words. It removes 'look after', 'revert', 'should of', and 'get to the bottom of it'; it does not accuse Priya or repeat 'stolen' without evidence; and it names a deadline. 'We are sorry' acknowledges the problem without admitting liability, which fits the neutral policy.