Formal letters

The structure of the complaint letter

A Letter of Apology

Сase
«Travelmart» is international business travel company is based in Moscow, Russia. It was founded in 1996. It is the leading tour operator in its sector with a full range of business travel services. We are highly experienced in handling the requirements of today’s business traveler. Among our many clients are multinational world’s companies.
One of its most important clients is the large multinational corporation Nike Ink, whose Headquarter is in Beaverton, Oregon, USA.
Recently, Nike’s Executive Chairman has had problems when he has been on business trip organised by «Travelmart».

Task
Stage1
Work in groups of 6. Travelmart company and Nike Inc.
One of you is Account Manager, the others are travel consultants who work with the Account Manager.
- Each member of the groups (Account Manager/travel consultants) reads one of the problems and makes notes about it.

Stage 2
The Head of Travel at Nike phones the Account Manager of Travelmart to set up a meeting, so that they can discuss the problems that Executive Chairman had while on business trip.
role-play the telephone conversation to set up the meeting.

Group Nike: One of you is the Head of Travel. You want to arrange a suitable time for a meeting with the Account Manager of Travelmart. Here is your diary for the week.

Group Travelmart: You agree to a meeting with Nike’s Head of Travel. Here is your dairy for next week

Stage 3
Following a request from Travelmart's Account Manager, Nike's Head of Travel sends summaries of problems which Executive Chairman at Nike Inc. had during recent business trips
Write a Letter of Complaint

Complaint
I was on a flight to Moscow, but the flight was diverted to Helsinki because of bad weather. There was a lot of confusion at Helsinki because the airline sent all the passengers to the same hotel for the night. Some passengers became very aggressive when they tried to get a room. I had to share a room with another passenger. The hotel made all passengers pay for their rooms. The next morning, we had to wait six hours in a cold terminal for the flight to Moscow.
The airline wouldn't pay for our hotel expenses. They said the circumstances were 'beyond their control'. I think we should be compensated for all the inconvenience. My luggage didn’t arrive, they promised to find my bags and send then to me. Some weeks later, they wrote they couldn’t find the bags and asked me to fill out a claim form. It's three week later, and still no news from the airline. What can you do about it for me?

«Organisation effectiveness depends on the quality of relationships»

Stage 4
Write a Letter of Apology
• What can Travelmart do to help to solve the problem?
• What is the best solution for the executive chairman?
What should he hope to get from the company concerned?