General General Questions

General General Questions

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Question

Assign 2 Bad News

You have two options to choose from in writing the Bad News Business Letter assignment. The options are described below.

Option #1:

You are the founder of SuperMicro, a computer store in your area. You sell all of the name-brand computers—Dell, Acer, Hewlett-Packard, etc.—for prices that are competitive with the large retail stores in your area. You also provide repair and troubleshooting services at a reasonable cost.

When you sell a new laptop computer, you provide a one-year warranty on it. If a customer would like to purchase a three-year warranty, he or she may do so for $40.00.

You received the following letter from one of your customers, Ms. Rachel Smith.

To Whom It May Concern:

I purchased a Dell 300 laptop computer from your store on May 16, 2015. I have been very satisfied with the computer.

However, last week, I saw message noting that my computer is experiencing a hard drive failure. I cannot use my computer anymore.

I am writing to request a new Dell 300 laptop or a similar laptop to replace my current Dell 300 laptop. I have been a regular customer of SuperMicro, having purchased a desktop four years ago and having made other purchases of accessories for my family members and me in the past several years.

I have the receipt from my purchase of the Dell 300. I look forward to hearing from you soon.

Sincerely,

Rachel Smith

You have to write a letter back to Ms. Smith informing her that her one-year warranty has expired. In addition, she did not purchase the three-year warranty. For this reason, you cannot repair the computer at no charge.

You might mention your repair services and their cost. You might also refer her to instructions on how she can repair the hard drive herself. Overall, you may take any approach you feel is best when responding to her. Any vendor encounters this typical bad-news situation. Your goal is to inform the customer of the situation but also keep her business.

You will write a letter in business format that provides a buffer statement, describes your reasons for not being able to replace the computer, and provides other options for Ms. Smith.

Option #2:

You are the Provost of Johnson College. You have decided not to renew your contract with LEO, Inc. in providing a learning management system (LMS) for your college. This option allows you to draw upon the situation discussed in the persuasive email message assignment. Please refer to that assignment for details.

You will write a letter in business format that provides a buffer statement, describes your reasons for not renewing your contract, and expresses good will. You have to write a letter to Mr. Robert Kurzwell informing him that you will not be renewing the contract.

Organizations often encounter this typical bad-news situation. Your goal is to inform the vendor of your decision but also to express good will and maintain a healthy business relationship.

You will write a letter in business format that provides a buffer statement, describes your reasons for not renewing the contract, and expresses good will.

Strategies to Consider for this Assignment:

Consider your audience. Your primary audience is the recipient of your letter.

The following websites offer excellent guidance in writing a bad-news letter:

The University of California-Santa Barbara offers a helpful guide in .pdf form for writing bad news messages.

The Online Writing Lab (OWL) at Purdue University offers examples of bad news memos

Businesswriting.com — Writing Tasks: Convey Good News and Bad News provides instruction and samples of bad news letters.Please use the block format in writing your letter. For information on the block format, access the University of Wisconsin's Business Letters: Block Form site.

For general information on formatting and organizing a business letter, you might explore a Wikibooks Professional and Technical Writing/Business Communications/Letters site.

Your letter should be 200-400 words in length.