Good Example of a Claim Denial

June 3, 2008

Ms. Dena Marcum

Accounting and Budget
SPL Industries
7821 South Third Street
Conway, AR 72032-7839

Dear Ms. Marcum:

• Begins with a PartyTime Limited was pleased to be part of your staff/alumni banquet and
statement with appreciated your staff’s compliments on the quality of the food, service, and
which the reader can decorations.
agree to get the
message off to a You are correct that the amount of the invoice is more than the price specified by
good start. the contract. The contract price was based on the 250-guest estimate provided by
your administrative assistant. The estimate considered the amount of food to be
• Presents a clear served and the number of servers required to serve 250 guests, as well as the
explanation for the
cost of decorating the banquet hall.
additional charge.
Your invoice includes an additional $200 for the cost of food served to the 25
• Continues the
explanation. unexpected guests of your alumni. Although we typically prepare extra food for
large, formal affairs such as yours, we did not anticipate the large number of
• Uses the subjunctive additional guests that arrived that evening. I was relieved our staff was able to
mood to de- obtain additional food from our warehouse to serve these guests.
emphasize the
refusal. Had these 25 guests been included in the original estimate, we would have
added $200 to the food cost estimate. We would also have included $80 for the
cost of two additional servers. Although we were short-handed, our staff provided

Format Pointer
• Illustrates block format—all lines begin at the left margin.

B u s i n e s s Co m m u n i c a t i o n , 1 5 t h E d i t i o n by Le h m a n a n d D u Fre n e Co py r i g h t 2 0 0 8 S o u t h -We s te r n
 (continued)

Ms. Deanna Marcum

Page 2
June 30, 2008

your guests with quality service. Your invoice does not include any additional
charges for service.

• Shifts emphasis Ms. Marcum, as you begin planning festivities for the upcoming holidays, keep
away from the our famous specialty desserts in mind for an extraordinary change from the tra-
refusal by presenting ditional catered turkey lunch.
sales promotion on
other services. Sincerely,

Jared Harrelson
Manager

Format Pointer
• A second-page heading including the recipient’s name, page number, and date clearly identifies
this page as a continuation of the first page of a letter.

B u s i n e s s Co m m u n i c a t i o n , 1 5 t h E d i t i o n by Le h m a n a n d D u Fre n e Co py r i g h t 2 0 0 8 S o u t h -We s te r n