A study on how to improve customercomplaint response writing skills for staff at Jet Delivery Logistics Vietnam Company Limited

THUONGMAI UNIVERSITY
ENGLISH FACULTY
------

GRADUATION PAPER
TOPIC:
A STUDY ON HOW TO IMPROVE CUSTOMER-COMPLAINT
RESPONSE WRITING SKILLS FOR STAFF AT JET DELIVERY
LOGISTICS VIETNAM COMPANY LIMITED

Supervisor
Student
Class
Student Code

: Nguyen Thi Bich Ngoc, M.A
: Le Thi Thuong
: K53N5
: 17D170277

HANOI - 2021


ABSTRACT
In 20 years of renovation, Vietnam's economic structure has shifted toward
industrialization and modernization, having a positive influence on the development
of related economic sectors and create jobs for employees in different regions and
areas throughout country. For many years, Vietnamese people have been engrossed
in labor, including intellectual labor or manual labor, to develop the country. Not
only working in the country, many people also choose to live and work abroad. The
deeper and comprehensive integration of the country's economy into the global

economy has brought Vietnam tremendous opportunities.
Over hundreds of years of development and integration, English has become a
popular language and it is internationally recognized, used as a common language.
Currently, if graduates want to have a well-paid job, they have to learn English. This
is an important factor in Viet Nam
In order to complete the graduation paper, the author had a chance to intern in
JDL Vietnam Limited Company, where the author found the current situation of
using business correspondence as well as errors of employees. Therefore, the author
decided to choose the study “A study on how to improve customer-complaint
response writing skills for staff at Jet Delivery Logistics Vietnam Company
Limited”.
Based on the results from the study, the author would like to analyze
problems, reasons and give some recommendations, suggestions, and work outright
solutions to deal with the difficulties in customer-complaint response writing skills.
The author hopes that students will have awareness of the customer-complaint
response writing skills and find new ways to overcome all the difficulties faced
during intern as well as work at the company in the future.

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
First and foremost, I would like to express my sincere thanks to my supervisor
– Mrs. Nguyen Thi Bich Ngoc - one of the enthusiastic lecturers for the valuable
guidance and encouragement. Mrs Ngoc, along with her sharing and feedbacks, has
been my inspiration as well as motivation to overcome all the obstacles and
difficulties during the process.. Without any help of her, I can hardly finish this
graduation thesis.
Secondly, I would like to express my gratitude and appreciation to the
teachers of English Faculty at Thuongmai University, who have imparted golden

knowledge to me. From these supports, I can improve my English skills and have
good background to achieve my dreams, finish my graduation paper successfully.
Moreover, I owe sincere and earnest thankfulness to all the employees in Sale
Department at JDL Vietnam Co., Ltd who helped me with valuable information by
completing interview questions and email.
Last but not least, millions of thanks go to my beloved family whose financial
support and spiritual encouragement contribute a significant part to the completion
of the research.
In short, I really thank to all people helping me to finish this graduation thesis.
Hanoi, April 16th, 2021
Student
Le Thi Thuong

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TABLE OF CONTENTS
ABSTRACT..............................................................................................................i
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS....................................................................................ii
TABLE OF CONTENTS.......................................................................................iii
LISTOF ABBREVIATIONS...................................................................................v
LIST OF TABLES AND CHARTS........................................................................vi
CHAPTER I: OVERVIEW OF THE STUDY.......................................................1
1.1. Rationale............................................................................................................1
1.2. Previous studies.................................................................................................2
1.3. Aims of the study...............................................................................................3
1.4. Research subjects..............................................................................................3
1.5. Scope of the study.............................................................................................4
1.6. Research methodology......................................................................................4
1.7. Organization of the study.................................................................................5

CHAPTER II: LITERATURE REVIEW..............................................................6
2.1. Business corespondence....................................................................................6
2.1.1 Definition of BC...............................................................................................6
2.1.2. The purposes of BC.........................................................................................7
2.1.3. Parts of the formal business correspondence.................................................8
2.2. Complaint letter..............................................................................................11
2.2.1 The definition of complaint letters.................................................................11
2.2.2 Some types of complaint letters......................................................................11
2.2.3 Replying to letters of complaints....................................................................12
2.2.4.Points to be kept in mind while writing reply letters to complaints...............13
2.3. Errors...............................................................................................................14
2.3.1 Errors in the Use of Punctuation..................................................................14
2.3.2.Sentence Structure Errors.............................................................................15
2.3.3. Preposition Errors.........................................................................................17
2.3.4. Conjunction errors........................................................................................17
2.3.5 Other errors...................................................................................................18
2.4. Essential techniques in writing English reply customer-complaint............19

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CHAPTER 3: RESEARCH FINDINGS..............................................................21
3.1. Research methods...........................................................................................21
3.1.1. Participants...................................................................................................21
3.1.2. Instrument.....................................................................................................21
3.1.3. Data collection procedures...........................................................................22
3.1.4. Data analysis methods..................................................................................23
3.2. Findings...........................................................................................................23
3.2.1 Errors in the Use of Punctuation..................................................................23
3.2.2. Sentence Structure Errors............................................................................25

3.2.3. Preposition Errors.........................................................................................29
3.2.4. Conjunction Errors.......................................................................................31
3.2.5. Verb – form Errors........................................................................................32
3.2.6. Other Errors..................................................................................................34
3.3. Summary.........................................................................................................35
3.4. Suggested solutions given by staff in JDL Vietnam Co., Ltd.......................35
3.4.1 Apply more policies to motivate improve skill writing reply English
correspond business................................................................................................36
3.4.2 Hire English - major or English certificate owner employees......................36
3.4.3 Professional training courses........................................................................36
CHAPTER 4: RECOMMENDATIONS AND SUGGESTIONS........................37
4.1. Limitations of the study..................................................................................37
4.2 Recommendations and suggestions for staff..................................................37
4.1.1 . Suggestion on improving vocabulary..........................................................37
4.1.2. Suggestion on improving grammar structures.............................................38
4.1.3. Suggestion on improving writing skill..........................................................39
4.3. Suggestions for the company..........................................................................39
4.4. Suggestions for further studies......................................................................40
CONCLUSION......................................................................................................41
REFERENCES......................................................................................................41
APPENDIX............................................................................................................... I

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LISTOF ABBREVIATIONS

No.
1
2

Abbreviations

English name

Vietnamese name

JDL Vietnam

JDL Vietnam Limited

Co., Ltd

Company

BC

Business corespondence

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Công ty TNHH JDL Việt Nam
Thư Tín Thương Mại


LIST OF TABLES AND CHARTS
Table 2.1. Complementary close in business correspondence.......................................9
Table 2.2 Format of a business letter.........................................................................10
Table 3.1: Punctuation errors in collected customer complaint response letter............24
Table 3.2: Sentence structure errors in collected customer complaint response letter...26

Table 3.3: Preposition errors in collected customer complaint response letter.............29
Table 3.4: Conjunction errors in collected customer complaint response letter............31
Table 3.5: Verb - form errors in collected customer complaint response letter.............33
Table 3.6: Other errors in collected customer complaint response letter......................34
Chart 3.7. The percentage of common errors in customer complaint response letter. . .35

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CHAPTER I: OVERVIEW OF THE STUDY
1.1. Rationale
As the trend of integration is growing, human relations as well as work
cooperation are not only confined within Vietnam but also to the international
environment. English, one of the international languages, has been acting as a
means of communication between countries, between cultures, between companies,
international organizations and between communities. It can be said that, in the
current globalization trend, English has become a prerequisite for each country to
integrate into the world. In Vietnam, English plays an important role in all fields
such as science, technology, aviation, international sport, diplomacy and so on.
English is used in a majority of countries in the world as it is one of the most
important languages for international communication such as many schools,
colleges, universities, and companies. Being an international company, JDL
Vietnam Co., Ltd requires a high level of English especially speaking and writing
skills. In addition, employees are taught basic writing and communication skills in
their training. Of the skills, many employees consider writing the most difficult
because it requires not only specialized knowledge but also professional use of
grammar and lexis to write business correspondences as well as custom procedures.
To deal with customer, good writing skills of business correspondence is very
important, which contribute to the development of JDL Vietnam Co., Ltd.
Improving customer-complaint response writing skills will be the second

opportunity for individuals and businesses to regain sympathy for scoring points in
the eyes of customers as well as alleviating the stress of customer with enterprise. In
spite of the importance, it has not really been taken care of and has not really given
priority to improve skills of writing business correspondence. Whenever customers
take order or respond to product, the employees must reply immediately. However,
most of them have average expertise and only a few of them have both professional
and language skill to work well. Therefore, this is an urgent matter that needs to be
solved to overcome difficulties as well as improve writing skill to write business
correspondence more effectively.

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Therefore, I choose the topic: “A study on how to improve customercomplaint response writing skills for staff at Jet Delivery Logistics Vietnam
Company Limited.”. The aim of this paper is to focus on writing reply to
complaint letter and the research object is employees in Sales Department at JDL
Vietnam Co., Ltd. The study is feasible and useful for employees in this department.
I hope that through the study will be a useful reference to help improve writing
skills for not only all employees at the company but also all students who interested
in the job related to commercial documents.
1.2. Previous studies
In the world, there are many business correspondence documents as well as
many studies related to business correspondence. I have consulted it and selected
some good ideas from the following studies:
In 2014, Shafa Firda Nila (Management and Accounting, Indonesia)
implemented the study “Problems in writing English business letter: Errors and
Factors”. In this study, “the data were collected from the English business letter
written by third semester of Bina Bangsa Economics students majoring in
Management and Accounting. The students were asked to respond a complaint letter
from a customer of the given situation. The error category is based on Ferris and

Hedgcock model (2005). The researcher identified the problems of error found in
the letters and explained the factors that caused the problems to draw the
conclusion”.
A study by Jerraselan Gnanaselan (English Teaching Unit, University of
Jaffna, Sri Lanka) stated that using a native language in business communication
limited the opportunities and investments throughout countries and abroad. He also
marked “making great business correspondence is a must in international trading
period”
Another study by Aliya Aimoldina, SholpanZharkynbekova and
DamiraAkynova (Philology Department, L.N. Guimilyov Eurasian National
University, Kazakhstan) on BC, which examined Pragmatic Failures, is also fairly
interesting to discuss here. In this study, the trio identified a number of reasons for
pragmatic failures in communication through BC, ‘a mixture of different genres in

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one business text with a combination of several communicative purposes, a lack of
language skill of the authors of business letters in English, etc”.
In addition to the research of famous scholars over the world, in Vietnam,
there were also many studies related to this issue“An analysis of some techniques to
improve writing English business letters” by Vu Thi Huong Giang (2010 - Foreign
Language Department of Hai Phong Private University).The study aimed to give
theoretical background of definition, importance, purpose, business letter format
and some types of business letter. Besides, it found out some common mistakes in
writing an English business letter. Then the author conducted an analysis of the
results and suggested some techniques in order to have good will in writing English
business letter.
In general, in my opinion, the mentioned studies could help people have a full
understanding of business correspondence and point out the way to write these

kinds of letters more effectively. I also hope that my study can allow employees,
especially employees at JDL Vietnam Co., Ltd to realize their popular errors in
writing reply letters to complaints and, therefore, they can find out the most suitable
solutions to improve their skill.
1.3. Aims of the study
The study aims at finding the errors of the staff at JDL Vietnam Co., Ltd in
writing English reply correspondence. Moreover, the study tries to find solutions to
this issue in order to limit the faults and tries to determine some ways that would
improve this essential skill.
This study aims to answer the following research questions:
- What are the common errors do staff at JDL Vietnam Co., Ltd when writing
customer complaint response letter ?
- What are the solutions to improve customer complaint response writing
skills for staff at JDL Vietnam Co., Ltd?
1.4. Research subjects
The subject of the study is thirty staffs at JDL Vietnam Co., Ltd.
Accompanying study subject is thirty staffs who had little previous English-writing
experience in their previous study in Sale Department at JDL Vietnam Co., Ltd.

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Working for the company, they were trained through two basics ( include
Write Professional Emails in English and Secret Sauce of Great Writing), writing
courses focused mainly on English customs procedures, business correspondences,
bills, so far and so on. They were involved in composing an email and tell the
author how customer-complaint response writing skills.
The author also collected data from the company’s stored documents. The
author read over fifty business correspondences made by JDL Vietnam Co., Ltd.
staff and summed up data for the study.

1.5. Scope of the study
To deal with customers, good writing skills of business correspondence is very
important, which contribute to the development of the company. Moreover, because
of limited time and knowledge, the study only concentrates on finding out the most
common problems made by all employees of Sales Department at JDL Vietnam Co.,
Ltd. when they reply complaint response. The study is carried out within doing my
internship (lasting from February 24th to April 16th, 2021).
Sales Department takes responsibility of planning, developing, implementing
marketing strategy and creating the company’s brand to the customer, in charge of
PR activities. It can be seen that the employees usually work in international
environment and business documents. However, their abilities of writing business
correspondence are not absolutely good. Through the research, the author hopes that
they can improve their skill and connect effectively with customer.
1.6. Research methodology
This study is implemented in two steps: collect data and process data.
• Step 1: In this first step, the author will collect secondary data resources
collected from websites, textbooks, and social media channels. Besides, it also
includes useful information that the author consulted from other data resources as
well as from the instructor to complete this study. the author will read and
synthesize the related materials needed for the study. These materials provide
suggestions to help identify the problem and form the basis of the research. To
realize the errors in writing customer complaint response made by all staff in the
Sale Department at JDL Vietnam Co., Ltd. Fifty collected business emails from this
company. Thus, the author can find out the errors they often made while writing
customer complaint response. In addition, the author also interviewed five people at

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the company about solutions to improve the skills of writing complaints and

respond to complaints, everyone enthusiastically answered, the author collected the
results obtained. After this step, the author will have preliminary information on the
theoretical issues related to the study and sample emails written by staff in the Sale
Department at JDL Vietnam Co., Ltd, and then process the data in the next step.
• Step 2: In this step, the author will process the collected data. In this
Graduation Paper, the author method the author would like to use is the quantitative
method of collecting and analyzing data. The author will analyze and find out all the
errors staff in the Sale Department at JDL Vietnam Co., Ltd usually made in writing
customer-complaint response from the collected data in step 1. After processing the
data the author will make conclusions about the errors they often made while
writing English reply business email at the company mainly based on the plurality
that they made. In addition, the author also offers solutions to improve the skills of
writing complaints about complaints that collected from the interviewed staff. It
aims to help writers improve their writing and to able to check and correct errors
themselves during their work. The author would analyze the collected data by using
calculation and synthesis tools and then display the analysis results in the form of
tables and percentages.
1.7. Organization of the study
The graduation paper includes 4 parts as following:
Chapter 1: Overview of the study
The introduction of the study including rationale, aims of the study, scope of
the study method of study and organization of the study.
Chapter 2: Literature review
Theoretical background supplies the readers with the theoretical background
including the theory of academic writing, business correspondence, errors and
techniques.
Chapter 3: Research findings
The current situation of using business correspondence as well as the common
skills used, problems and causes of these frequently-made errors. errors of the
employees in the company. Besides, the main part of research findings is proposing

effective solutions as well as techniques to improve the skills.
Chapter 4: Recommendations and suggestions for further studies.

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CHAPTER II: LITERATURE REVIEW
In this chapter, the author focuses on presenting basic information as well as
analyzing all of the relevant aspects of errors and business corespondence. The
literature review is started with an overview ofbusiness corespondence, errors, types
of errors, some popular types. The literature review is considered an important
foundation to help people learn characteristics, qualities, and the importance of the
business email.
2.1. Business corespondence
2.1.1 Definition of BC
First of all, according to Johan (2014), Business English is different from
international English and it is typically related to international trade. It is a part of
English for specific purposes. It may focus on language and skills needed for typical
business communication, such as presentations, negotiations, meetings, small talks,
socializing correspondence and report writing.
Secondly, Frendo (2012) said that Writing is a key part of day-to-day activities
of business. We can simply understand that writing skills means the ability to
convert thoughts into words, with proper standards and punctuations, grammar and
other important aspects of writing. One of the subjects in the Business English
course is Writing Business Letters. Gilling (2013) said "All the business writing
must be clear and concise with simple straightforward language. It should be noted
that in writing business emails should be clear, concise, and avoid of slang and
jargon"
Lastly, communication aims to conveying feelings, thoughts, etc. through
exchange of letters is known as correspondence. A businessman also writes and

receives letters in his day-to-day transactions, which may be called business
correspondence. Business correspondence or business letter is a written
communication between two parties. Businessmen may write letters/emails to
suppliers of goods and also receive letters from the suppliers. Customers may write
letters/emails to businessmen seeking information about availability of goods, price,
quality, sample ete. or place order for purchase of goods. Thus, business

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letters/emails may be defined as a media or means through which views are
expressed and ideas or information is communicated in writing in the process of
business activities.
2.1.2. The purposes of BC
Each person will have different purposes when writing business emails. The
most basic and essential purpose is that business letters are written to gain an effect
that will promote the business interests of the writer (Harrison McJohnston, 1918).
Along with the development of the world, the business is also becoming more
modern and faster thanks to a series of support tools. Business email is one
according to a wealth of analysis, business letters are used for these following aims:
Firstly, for conveying information. Business emails are written to share
information regarding the business activities of a company. Information can be
transmitted through business emails to customers, suppliers, financial institutions,
banks, and insurance companies, and any other parties related to the business.
Through business email, business organizations collect and exchange businessrelated information. It is a handy tool if you need to inform all employees of a new
office policy or to inform the partner of the changes of the coming launching
program. No one can deny that a business letter is such a quick and effective means
of communication.
Secondly, for negotiations. Email is a useful method of communication for
sharing figures and negotiating with another party. It is a convenient method

because it is quicker than regular mail and provides an easy way to keep a record of
the proceedings. If you want to see exactly what is included in a quote, it's easy to
sort through your e-mail archives to find the information you need. And you know
that both parties have a copy of the same information. All these things can be done
without wasting any time moving from here to there.
Thirdly, for marketing and advertising. Business correspondence, especially,
commercial email often beats out print media marketing and advertising. You can
easily reach your audience, personalize the email message with the recipients'
names, and include a link to your organization's Web presence. These emails are
called sales emails and it is a form of new advertising. It's quick, convenient, and

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effective when a businessman wants to use a business email to introduce customers
to a new product. This new advertising form can create new markets for their
products
2.1.3. Parts of the formal BC
“The quality of a good business letter will be maintained if we give proper
attention to each and every part of the letter. There are some different parts of a
business letter. According to Ashley, (2007) The essential parts of a business letter
are as follows:
- Heading: The heading of a business letter usually contains the name and
postal address of the business, E-mail address, Web-site address, Telephone
Number, Fax Number, Trade Mark or logo of the business (if any)
- Date: The date is normally written on the right hand side corner after the
heading as the day, month and years. Some examples are 15th Feb., 2020 or Feb.
15, 2020.
- Reference: It indicates letter number and the department from where the
letter is being sent and the year. It helps in future reference. This reference number

is given on the left hand corner after the heading. For example, we can write
reference number as AB/FADept./2019/27.
- Inside address: It includes the name, full address of the person or the
company to whom the letter is to be sent. It is written on the left side, below
reference number. Letters should be addressed to the responsible head. e.g., the
Secretary, the Principal, the Chairman, the Manager etc.
M/S Bharat Fans

The Chief Manager,

Bharat Complex

State Bank of India

Hyderabad Industrial Complex

Utkal University Campus

Hyderabad

Bhubaneswar,

Andhra Pradesh - 500032

Orissa- 751007

- Subject: The subject is a brief statement and indicates the matter of the latter.

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It can help the reader know the main content of the letter and attract the
receiver’s attention immediately. For example:
Subject: Quotation of Homeware crafts lampshade
Subject: Inquiry about hot trend coconut bowls
- Salutation: This is placed below the inside address. It is usually followed by
a comma (,). Various forms of salutation are:
+ Sir/Madam: For official and formal correspondence
+ Dear Sir/Madam: For addressing an individual
+ Dear Sirs/Dear Madam: For addressing a firm or company
- Body of letter: This comes after salutation. This is the main part of the letter
and it contains the actual message of the sender. It is divided into three parts.
+ Opening part: It is the introductory part of the letter. In this part, attention of
the reader should be drawn to the previous correspondence, if any. For examplewith reference to your letter no. 326 dated. 12th March 2003, I would like to draw
your attention towards the new brand of television.
+ Main part : This part usually contains the subject matter of the letter. It
should be precise and written in clear words.
+Concluding Part : It contains a statement the of sender's intentions, hopes or
expectations concerning the next step to be taken. Further, the sender should always
look forward to getting a positive response. At the end, terms like Thanking you,
With regards, With warm regards may be used.
- Complementary close: It is merely a polite way of ending a letter. It must be
in accordance with the salutation
Salutation
Dear Sir/Dear Madam
Dear Mr. Raj
My Dear Akbar

Complementary close
Yours faithfully

Yours sincerely
Yours very sincerely (express very informal relations)

Table 2.1. Complementary close in business correspondence
- Signature: It is written in ink, immediately below the complimentary close.
As far as possible, the signature should be legible. The name of the writer should be
typed immediately below the signature. The designation is given below the typed

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name. Where no letterhead is in use, the name of the company too could be included
below the designation of the writer
- Enclosures: This is required when some documents like cheque, draft, bills,
receipts, lists, invoices etc. are attached with the letter. These enclosures are listed
one by one in serial numbers
- Copy circulation: This is required when copies of the letter are also sent to
persons apart of the addressee. It is denoted as C.C
- Post script: This is required when the writer wants to add something, which
is not included in the body of the letter. It is expressed as P.S.
Format of a business letter
Tel.
Fax.
Ref.
To

Name of the firm
Postal Address

E-mail:

Website:
Dated:

Name and address of the person to whom letter is sent
Subject:
Salutation,
____________________________________________________________
Opening part
_____________________________________________________.
Main part
_________________________________________________________.
Concluding part
_________________________________________________.
Complementary close
Signature
(name)
Designation
Enclosures
CC
PS
Table 2.2 Format of a business letter
2.2. Complaint letter
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Based on Ashley (2007) Ford Handbook of Commercial Correspondence,
brings a vast knowledge about complaint letter, types of complaint letters, replying
to letters of complaints and points to be kept in mind while writing reply letters to
complaints.
2.2.1 Thedefinition of complaint letters

According to Ashley, (2007) A complaint letter is a type of business letters
written by purchasers when purchasers do not find the goods up to his satisfaction. It is
used to inform the seller and complain that he/she has receives wrong, detective,
damaged goods or receives incorrect quantity of goods. Complaint letters are used to
raise the supplier’s concern or any parties or announce of detective or damaged goods
and seek a productive outcome.
2.2.2 Some types of complaint letters

 Depending on the level of an organization or an individual, complaint
letters can be divided into two types (according to Ashley, 2007)
 Personal complaint letters: when a letter written at a personal level by an
individual it is called Personal complaint letters. These letters are written by
consumers to get a refund, replace a product etc.
 Professional complaint letters: when letters which are written on behalf of
an organization are called Professional complaint letters. These letters are mostly
related to professional items and services
 Depending on the content of complaint letters, complaint letters can be
divided into some following types:
 Complaint letters of wrong delivery
 Complaint letters of damage: when the goods are damaged, customers want
to know the main reason for this problem as well as want to receive a solution to
deal with this Complaint letters in this case are used frequently.
 Complaint letters of bad workmanship: When bad workmanship is involved
the customer can only complain as the fault occurs. But they still should complain
immediately.
 Complaint letters of non-delivery: Sometimes, the delivery is not on time as
two parties discussed. Therefore, when non-delivery happens, the customer can
write a letter to complain about this
2.2.3 Replying to letters of complaints
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+ Opening
In this part, you have to acknowledge that you have received the complaints of
customers. Therefore, at least, before mentioning other things, you should thank
your customers for informing you (according to Ashley, 2007)
“Thank you for your letter of 7 April informing us that…”
“We would like to thank you for informing us of damaged lampshades you
bought from us last month.”
+ Body part
+ Getting time to investigate the complaint
Customers can complain about many things such as damaged good, nondelivery, late delivery, etc. Meanwhile, there are some matters you cannot deal with
immediately, so do not leave your customer waiting, but tell him what you are doing
straight away.
“Due to the complicatedness of this matter, I have to check with logistics
company and promise to reply you immediately once having answer.”
“Would you please return damaged products you received yesterday, and I
will send them to our factory for tests?”
+ Explaining the mistake
After justifying the complaint, you should explain why and how the mistake
happened. It is important to remember that you should not blame your staff and take
responsibility for their actions.
“The mistake occurred during the process of delivery…”
“It is unusual for this kind of error to arise but we have dealt with that
problem.”
+ Solving the problem
Having acknowledged your responsibility and explained the reason of the
mistake, you must suggest solutions to tackle the problem.
“The bamboo bowls have been painted with the colors you want, and I will
send them to you within this week.”

“The material you complained about has now been withdrawn. We have
replaced by a new brand material which is popular in the market.”
+ Rejecting a complaint

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In case you think the complaint of customers is unjustified, you can be firm
and polite to informcustomers. Although the mistake is not your responsibility, you
should try to explain the reason customers to understand.
“After checking with our factory, we inform you that the mistake occurred due
to the wrong maintenance. If you look at instruction booklet on machine that we
sent you, you will see that it is vital to take care of….”
+ Closing part
When closing the letter, you should mention that the mistake or fault is an
exception and apologize for this inconvenience your customer experienced.
 “Eventually, may we say that it was an exceptional error and please accept
our apologies for this inconvenience.”
2.2.4.Points to be kept in mind while writing reply letters to complaints.
According to Ashley, (2007). If you have received a complaint letter from any
person who is complaining about the poor customer services in his/her letter then it
becomes your responsibility to reply to such a person. So in order to mitigate the
damage done and retain the loyalty of your customer, you must have points to be
kept in mind while writing reply letters to complaints.
Firstly, the main purpose of complaint letters is the request of correcting
mistakes or faults as well as knowing the reason why the problems happened.
Therefore, you should write calmly, clearly and present all the information related
to customers’ complaints and make some suggestions to put the matters right.
Secondly, when answering a complaint, it is necessary to apologize for the
mistake and thank customers for informing you. Besides, you must explain the

reason why the mistake occurred but do not blame for your staff.
In case you need more time to find out the reason and solutions, please let
your customers know. If the complaint is unjustified, you should inform them in a
polite way but sympathize with the inconvenience it has caused.
 More importantly, whether your customer’s complaints are right or wrong,
they are still your customer and their comments about you to other people when
working with you can either improve or damage your reputation.
2.3. Errors
According to Merriam Webster, error is the amount of deviation from a
standard or specification. Error is the state or condition of being wrong in conduct

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or judgment. Error analysis is a type of linguistic analysis that focuses on the errors
that learners make (Faisyal, 2015). Moreover, Saville-Troikke (cited in Faisyal,
2015) stated that error analysis is the first approach to the study of the second
language acquisition which includes an internal focus on the learner’s creative
ability to construct language. Ellis and Barkhuizen, (cited in Sychandone, 2016)
described error analysis as a set of procedures for identifying, describing, and
explaining learner’s errors; it is like the process of determining the incidence,
nature, cause, and consequences of unsuccessful in language.
2.3.1 Errors in the Use of Punctuation
According to Byrne (1988: 16), the fact that punctuation has never been
standard to the extent as spelling, makes it is problematic. Similarly, Carrol and
Wilson (1995: 191) state "students' writing encounter punctuation problems as there
are no universal rules of punctuation."
Punctuation is the set of marks used to regulate texts and clarify their
meanings, mainly by separating or linking words, phrases, and clauses. The word
comes from the Latin word punctuare meaning "making a point."

Marks of punctuation include ampersands, apostrophes, asterisks, brackets,
bullets, colons, commas, dots, dashes, diacritic marks, ellipsis, exclamation points,
hyphens, paragraph breaks, parentheses, periods, question marks, quotation marks,
semicolons, slashes, spacing, and strike-throughs.
- The comma is used to show a separation of ideas or elements within the
structure of a sentence. Additionally, it is used in numbers, dates, and letter writing
after the salutation and closing.
- The dots (.) is placed at the end of declarative sentences, statements thought
to be complete, and after many abbreviations.
As a sentence ender: Jane and Jack went to the market.
- The exclamation is a punctuation mark used at the end of a sentence to
indicate a lot of emotion, such as happiness or sadness.
An example of an exclamation point is the "!" at the end of the sentence: "I am
having a baby!

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The use (and misuse) of punctuation affects meaning—sometimes
dramatically—, as seen in this "Dear John" letter, where the change in punctuation
from one to the next drastically alters the meaning.
Dear John:
I want a man who knows what love is all about. You are generous, kind,
thoughtful. People who are not like you admit to being useless and inferior. You
have ruined me for other men. I yearn for you. I have no feelings whatsoever when
we're apart. I can be forever happy—will you let me be yours?
Jane
Dear John:
I want a man who knows what love is. All about you are generous, kind,
thoughtful people, who are not like you. Admit to being useless and inferior. You

have ruined me. For other men, I yearn. For you, I have no feelings whatsoever.
When we're apart, I can be forever happy. Will you let me be?
Yours,
Jane
2.3.2.Sentence Structure Errors
- Sentence fragments
According to the Shafa Firda Nila (2007), a sentence fragment is a group of
words that does not express a complete idea, and cannot make sense on its own. It is
usually an incomplete idea, consisting of a dependent clause. To complete it,
additional information needs to be added. they include: The sentence lacks the
subject, the sentence lacks the main verb, the sentence lacks the wording and main
verb
Examples:
Incorrect - Although the result of the study was inconclusive.
Correct - Although the result of the study was inconclusive, the committee
decided to implement the policy.
- Choppy Sentences

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Sentences are too short and have many repeated words. Choppy sentences are
sentences that are too short and often repeat the same words. They should be
combined to make longer sentences. (according to the Shafa Firda Nila,2007)
For example: I like dogs. Dogs make good pets. Dogs are friendly and loyal.
They sentences do not have good style.
- Run-on sentences
A run-on sentence occurs when two independent clauses (of two complete
thoughts) are blended into one without proper punctuation. (according to the Shafa
Firda Nila,2007)

Examples:
The survey shows that more than 80% of the population agrees that racism is
rife however only 12% of the population admits that they are racist.
More than 80% of the population agrees that racism is rife, 12% of the
population admits that they are racist.
- Stringy Sentence
A stringy sentence is made up of several complete thoughts strung together
with words like 'and', 'so', or 'but'. Stringy sentences are so long that the reader
forgets the beginning of the sentence before reaching the end. (according to the
Shafa Firda Nila,2007)
To fix a stringy sentence, you can break the sentence into two or more
sentences turn some of the complete thoughts into phrases or subordinate clauses
Look at the examples below.
Stringy: My best friend's name is Vutha and he lives next door and so we do
many things together.
Revised: My best friend's name is Vutha. He lives next door . We do many
things together.
Revised: My best friend's name is Vutha, and he lives next door. We do many
things together.
- Non- parallelism
The condition of not being parallel. In grammar, parallelism, also known as
parallel structure or parallel construction, is a balance within one or more sentences

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of similar phrases or clauses that have the same grammatical structure.The
application of parallelism affects readability and may make texts easier to process.
2.3.3. Preposition Errors
Preposition: (according to the Shafa Firda Nila,2007) A preposition is a part of

speech that shows the relation of a noun or pronoun to another word. A preposition
connects nouns and pronouns and serves to provide necessary details that tell the
reader when, where, or how something occurred. For example, the most common
prepositions are: of, in, to, for, with, on.
Incorrect: I have not played cricket since a long time.
Correct: I have not played cricket for a long time.
When reckoning from a particular date we use ‘since’. Examples are since last
Friday, since May, since morning, since July 8th. But note that we always use ‘for’
for a period. Examples are: for a week, for a long time, for two hours etc.
Incorrect:

I cannot agree to you in this situation.

Correct:

I cannot agree with you in this situation.

2.3.4. Conjunction errors
A conjunction is the glue that holds words, phrases and clauses (both
dependent and independent) together. There are three different kinds of
conjunctions -- coordinating, subordinating, and correlative -- each serving its own,
distinct purpose, but all working to bring words together. (according to the Shafa
Firda Nila,2007)
A subordinating conjunction always introduces a dependent clause, tying it to
an independent clause. A dependent clause is a group of words that cannot stand
alone as a complete sentence. An independent clause, by contrast, can stand alone as
a complete sentence.
‘So …. As’ is used in negative sentences, whereas ‘as …. As’ is used in
affirmative sentences.
Example: He is not so tall as his brother.

‘Other’ is followed by ‘than’.
Example: He has no other claim than his wealth.
The word ‘reason’ is not followed by ‘because’, but by ‘that’.

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Example: The reason why he did not go to the party was that his mother was ill.
‘Because’ denote reason.
‘In order’ that denotes purpose.
Example: He went to the doctor because he was ill.
Another example: He went to Delhi in order that he might see Mr. Bose.
2.3.5Other errors
-Verb-form errors
Verb form errors occur when writers fail to use the finite (time-included)
and nonfinite (timeless) forms of verbs in correct combination. The nonfinite
forms are the verbals: the base form, the past participle, and the present
participle. According to the Shafa Firda Nila,(2007), Errors include incorrect
formation of simple present verbs (e.g., using an auxiliary where none is needed);
incorrect formation of negative verbs, question forms, and verb phrases with
modals; faulty formation of passive, conditional, and subjunctive forms; use of
incorrectly formed verbals; use of incorrect verbals after causative verbs and
verbs of perception; and incorrect choice of an infinitive or gerund.
While verb form errors are a separate category from verb tense errors, they
reflect limited mastery of the verb tense system and of the various uses of
verbals.
- Capital Letter
A capital letter is the bigger, taller version of a letter, as opposed to the
smaller version, which is called a lowercase letter(according to the Shafa Firda
Nila,2007)

Capital letters are also called uppercase letters or simply capitals.
In English, capital letters are used at the beginning of words for a few
different reasons. It is considered a standard rule of English to use a capital letter
to start proper nouns (which are nouns that refer to specific people, places, or
things—meaning one’s that have specific names), such as Jess, Mexico, and
Nintendo.
Using a capital letter at the start of a word can change the way the reader
interprets its meaning, as in the case of polish (a verb meaning to make something

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