STEP 1

In this first step, you will read carefully the presentation of this unit (phrasal verbs have been highlighted in yellow). A full glossary below will help you understand it better. To get information in Spanish, just place the arrow of your mouse on any highlighted word without clicking.

John Martin, head of the Sales Department, has an angry customer with a complaint to deal with. The head office of a large group of companies ordered twelve desks, and, according to their buyer, Mr. Brown, most of them arrived in a damaged condition. Mr. Brown knows John Martin and insists on speaking to him personally. He says that most of the desks have got deep scratches on the sides. He implies that they were not inspected properly before being despatched. He hints that future orders will be placed with another manufacturer. John immediately gets on the internal phone to the Works Manager to ask him to check the inspection records.
All goods leaving the factory are inspected to make sure that the right standard of quality is maintained, and that no faulty, damaged or incomplete items go out of the factory. Most firms keep inspection records of their products. The inspector signs an inspection sheet with the details of the goods he has seen and passed as being fit for sale. The goods then go to the packing and despatch department. Here the components of desks, filing cabinets and cupboards are packed. They are then either packed in crates or loaded into containers. Home deliveries or deliveries sent by container normally require much less packing than goods which have to be sent overseas. The goods are then despatched to the buyer. Boxes and crates carrying goods usually show printed warnings such as: “Use no hooks”, “Handle with care” or “This side up”. Sometimes the firm's salesman, for the area where the buyer is situated, calls when the goods are delivered to supervise assembly.
When John Martin has checked that the goods left the factory properly inspected and correctly packed he asks Mr. Shuttleworth, his sales representative in the area, to pay Mr. Brown a visit and see if he can solve the mystery of the scratched desks. Mr. Shuttleworth subsequently discovers that the goods have been handled badly by the men who unloaded the goods from the containers. Even though the parts were wrapped in strong cardboard, it was not strong enough to protect them, as hooks were used for unloading.
In the end, even though Harper & Grant are not in the wrong, they agree to respray the desks. They consider that the time and money involved is small in comparison with the importance of keeping a customer satisfied.

GLOSSARY:
to deal with: to occupy with, to manage a problem (en este contexto, ocuparse de un problema);
complaint: a statement you make to show that you are annoyed, not satisfied, or unhappy about something or someone (queja, reclamo);
orders: a firm places an order when it wants to buy something (pedidos);
Works Manager: factory or plant manager (gerente de planta);
inspection records: before a firm sends out a product, this product is checked and inspected, looked at critically to make sure it is satisfactory; a note of the inspection, with the signature of the person responsible, is kept for reference (antecedentes de control o inspección);
inspected: examined carefully (revisado, controlado, inspeccionado);
packing and despatch department: where the finished products, or the components, are packed, wrapped up, in protective material ready for despatch, sending to the buyer (sección empaque y despacho);
components: parts of a product (partes, componentes);
crates: framework of light, narrow pieces of wood or metal for protecting goods (esqueletos de embalajes);
to load (cargar): to put goods into a container, or into a vehicle for transfer from one place to another. To unload (descargar): to take them out. Loaders and unloaders (empleados de carga y descarga) are the men who do the putting in and taking out;
containers: large metal box in which goods are transported by road, rail and ship. Containers are gradually replacing the wooden crates in which goods used to be shipped. It's a large framework or structure which completely encloses the goods to be transported. It can be loaded on to an articulated lorry, a railway truck or on board ship (contenedores);
hooks: a steel hook with a wooden handle which dock workers, etc., often use in handling heavy packages (ganchos, garfios);
supervise assembly: see that the components are put together correctly (supervisar el ensamble o montaje);
representative = rep.: salesman or traveller. One who represents (or acts for) his firm. His main job is to promote sales, but he may also be responsible for dealing with complaints, servicing new machines, assisting with the assembly of machinery, gathering market information, collecting payments, etc. (representante o agente);
cardboard = board: a material used for packing which is much thicker than paper but can fairly easily be cut or torn (cartón);
to respray: to spray is to disperse liquid in small drops. It refers to paint applied by means of a spraying-machine. To respray means to paint again (repintar, barnizar nuevamente).