QUESTION  

1. 1. Answering a Complaint letter    

       

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       ASSIGNMENT: ANSWERING A CUSTOMER COMPLAINT LETTER

      As an environmentally conscious business, “Ben & Jerry’s” redesigned its pint containers to use unbleached paper. This may seem like a small matter, but it involved developing an entirely new packaging material for its ice cream. That packaging material had to please its marketing people, who wanted to show off their great label graphics. It also had to use paper that had not been bleached with chlorine.

      What’s wrong with chlorine? Although it makes paper white, chlorine contains dioxin, which is known to cause cancer, genetic and reproductive defects, and learning disabilities. In producing paper, pulp mills using chlorine are also adding to dioxin contamination of waterways.

      Eventually, Ben & Jerry’s found a new chlorine-free, unbleached paper board for its packages. That was the good news. The bad news is that the inside of the package is no longer white; the interior of the new packaging is now brown.

      Your Task

      Assume you’ve been hired at Ben & Jerry’s to help answer incoming letters. Although you’re fairly new, your boss gives you a letter from an unhappy customer.

      Here’s a summary of the letter’s content:

      This customer opened a pint of Ben & Jerry’s “World’s Best Vanilla” and then threw it out.

      He saw the brown inner lid and sides of the package, and he decided that his pint must have been used for chocolate before it was used for vanilla.

      Or, he said, “the entire pint has gone bad and somehow turned the sides brown.” Whatever the reason, he wasn’t taking any chances.

      Although he had been a long-time customer, he now wants his money back.

      His last comment was, “I like your stand on environmental and social issues, but I don’t like my ice cream in used containers.” 2

       

      Assignment details:

      1. Write a letter that
      2. explains the brown carton,
      3. justifies the reason for using it, and
      4. retains the customer’s business.

       

      2. The letter should be addressed to Mr. Adam W. Johnson, 4030 West Griswold Road, Phoenix, AZ 85051.

       

      3. For the purposes of this assignment your title is “Customer Relations Associate”.

       

      4. Although you will write this letter together, only one of you should “sign” it. You must copy (Cc:) your partner following your signature panel.

       

      5. When you have written your final draft, copy the entire contents and paste it onto the Ben & Jerry’s stationery template found in the learning module.

       

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