In this activity, pretend that you are the manager of a large sporting goods store that has been trying to establish an internet business for the past nine months. A customer, Mr. James Moore, writes you that he purchased a camping refrigerator for $150. Before this purchase, Moore has made three smaller online purchases from your site totaling about $60. Mr. Moore tells you that a friend of his ordered the same refrigerator “a few days” after he bought his and was charged $48 less.
You investigate the situation and discover the following facts:
Mr. Moore ordered his camping refrigerator early in August during the camping season. However, the last of August, three weeks after Moore had bought his refrigerator, the store ran a special sale which reduced major camping equipment up to 40%. The refrigerator was reduced during that sale to $102.
You mailed circulars and sent emails announcing the sale, and Mr. Moore is on both mailing lists.
You decide that you cannot establish a precedent of giving sale prices to customers who purchase the item before special sales are announced, especially after 3 weeks and during a change of seasons. Write a letter to Moore denying his request but keeping his goodwill and future business. Be reasonable but don’t go overboard. Don’t give him a refund, and if you choose to give him any future incentives (coupon, special discount, etc.), be frugal.
You may make up the required details (create an address for your business and Mr. Moore; send the letter from YourLastName Sporting Goods, etc.). Don’t forget to use full block letter formatting (see page 370 in the textbook). You can be creative with the company name, letterhead, etc., as well as your solution to the problem.
Note: This is a “bad news” letter (see page 375 for an example).
The letter will be graded based on:
Tone
Clarity (including correct grammar, punctuation, and spelling)
Correct elements (paragraphs, tone, good will maintained, etc.) as outlined in the textbook
Correct letter formatting
After you drafted your bad news letter to Mr. Moore, you remember that your regional manager for marketing, Ms. Quarles, asked that you send her a copy of any bad news letters to her as an attachment to an email.
Draft an email using your MyTCC email address with the subject line that indicates the purpose and content of the email. The email should be 250 words or less and convey enough information about the context of the letter and your response that Ms. Quarles will understand the purpose of the attachment without opening it.
Sample Solution
