Here is John Martin's letter replying to Mr. Brown's complaint about the damaged desks.

June 13, 2005

Dear Mr. Brown,

We regret to hear that the twelve desks you ordered from us have been badly scratched.

We have checked our records here and find that the components left our factory in good condition and were, as usual, carefully packed. We then asked our representative to try and find out whether the desks had been damaged in transit or on arrival. He subsequently discovered that the goods had been unloaded by using hooks, although the packages were clearly marked with a warning against using hooks. We therefore do not feel in any way responsible for the damage.

We appreciate, however, that you do not want to use these damaged desks as they are. If you will return them to us we will have them resprayed at our expense. We can assure you that the scratches will not show and that the desks will, in fact, appear just as good as new.

Yours sincerely,

John Martin
Sales Manager
HARPER & GRANT LTD.