REQUEST FOR PAYMENT

a. First request

Dear Mr. …

I am writing to ask why you have not settled our invoice No. H931 for £919.63, a copy of
which is enclosed.

I know that since we began trading you have cleared your accounts regularly on the due
dates. That is why I wondered if any problems have arisen which I might be able to help you
with. Please let me know if I can be of assistance.

Yours sincerely

Comprehension questions

1. What is enclosed with the letter?

2. Why is the writer so surprised when the buyer delayed in payment?

b. Reply to the first request

Dear Mr. ...

I was surprised to receive your letter of the 20th November in which you said you had not
received payment for invoice No. H931.

I instructed my bank, The Welsh Co-operative Bank, Swansea, to credit your account in
Barnley’s Bank, Cardiff, with the £919.63 some time ago.

As my bank statement showed the money had been debited to my account, I assumed that it
had been credited to your account as well. It is possible that your bank has not advised you
yet. Could you please check this with Barnley's, and if there are any problems let me know,
so that I can make enquiries here?

Yours sincerely

Comprehension questions

1. Why was the writer surprised to receive the supplier’s letter?

2. What may the problem be here?

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3. What does he suggest the supplier should do?

c. Second request

Dear Mr. ...

We wrote to you on 10 August and enclosed copy invoices which made up your June
statement, the balance of which still remains outstanding.

Having dealt with you for some time, we were disappointed in neither receiving your
remittance nor any explanation as to why the balance has not been cleared. Please would
you either send us a reply or cheque to clear the account within the next seven days? Thank
you.

Yours sincerely

Comprehension questions

1. How did the writer feel when writing this letter?

2. What does the writer ask the buyer to do?

d. Reply to the second request

Dear Mr. Costello

First let me apologize for not having cleared your June statement or replying to your letter
of 10 August. However, I am surprised that you did not receive our circular letter informing
all our suppliers that we were moving from Milano to Torino. I have checked our postbook,
and find that a letter was sent to you on June 30.

As you will see from the copy enclosed, we warned suppliers that during the move, there
might be some delay in clearing accounts and replying to correspondence, as the move
would involve replacing more than half our staff with new people who needed time to get
used to our accounts and filing systems.

You will be pleased to hear that we have now settled into our new offices and will have a
fully trained staff by the end of next month. Meanwhile, I am enclosing a cheque for
$300,000 on account, and will send a full settlement of your June statement within the next
few days.

Could you please note our new address, which is on the heading of this letter, for future

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reference?

Yours sincerely

(signed)

Accountant

Enc. Bank Draft No. 427322 for $300,000

Comprehension questions

1. Why hadn’t the writer’s company cleared their June statement?

2. What has the writer done about the outstanding account and what will he do in the near
future?

3. What is the value of the cheque enclosed?

4. What has he asked Mr. Costello to do to ensure that letters get to him?

e. Third request

Dear Mr. …
Account No. TY G 996 14

I wrote to you on two occasions, 21 October and 14 November, concerning the above
account which now has an outstanding balance of £1541.46 and is made up of the copy
invoices enclosed.

I have waited three months for either a reply to explain why the balance has not been
cleared, or a remittance, but have received neither.

Although I am reluctant to take legal action to recover the amount, you leave me no
alternative. Therefore, unless I receive your remittance within the next ten days, my
solicitors will be instructed to start proceedings to recover the debt.

Yours sincerely
(signed)

Accountant

Encl. invoice copies

Comprehension questions
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1. What is enclosed with the letter?

2. How long has the balance remained unpaid?

3. Does the writer plan to take legal action?

4. What phrase is used which has a similar meaning to “take legal action”?

PART II. Exercises

I. Fill in the blanks with the appropriate words in this letter requesting payment.

1.

Dear Sirs
payment at the end of this
Your invoice No. 527 dated 20 July for $1516 is due for (1)..................
month.

destroyed
Unfortunately a fire broke out in our Despatch Department last week and (2).....................
delivery to a cash customer. Our
a large part of a valuable consignment due for (3)....................
claim
(4)..................... is now with the insurance company but it is unlikely to be met for another
faced
3 or 4 weeks. Until then we are (5).................... financial problem.
with a difficult (6)...................

I am therefore writing for (7)......................

permission to defer payment of your invoice until the end
of September.
settle
As you are aware, my accounts with you have always been (8).................. promptly, and it
is with (9)...................
regret that I am now forced to make this (10)..................
request I hope that you
will find it possible to grant it.

Yours faithfully

2.

Dear Mr. Janssen

Account No. VS 3019

We wrote to you on 25 March concerning the above (1)................ for $2,700.00 which has
now been (2).................. for three months. When we agreed to offer you credit
(3)................... we pointed out that it was essential to (4)................... accounts
(5)................. the exact date, particularly as we generally do not (6)................... credit

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terms.

As you realized, delayed payment can create problems for us (7).................... our own
suppliers, therefore we would appreciate it if you could either let us know why the
(8).................. has not been paid, or let us have a remittance (9)................ the next ten
days.

We would be grateful if this could receive your immediate (10)............

Yours sincerely

3.

Dear Sir

We are writing (1).................. the February balance of $567 on your account, which is
(2)................ for three months. We have written to you twice and did not receive a
(3)....................., which surprised us as you have been our regular customer for years.

We would like to (4)............... you that the credit was given on the (5).............. that
balance would be cleared on due (6) ..........; failure to do so will create
(7)........................for us with our suppliers.

We are prepared to (8)................... you further ten days to clear the balance or explain
why you can not do so, (9)................... we will, reluctantly, have to take legal
(10)....................

Yours faithfully

II. Translation

A. English – Vietnamese Translation

1. A warehouse flood destroyed the majority of the components that were to be fitted into
Zenith 900. We are waiting for our insurance company to settle our claim so that we can
renew our stock and pay our suppliers.

2. When we allowed open account terms, we emphasized this was only on the condition that
balances were cleared promptly on due dates as credit facilities put a strain on out own
cash low situation. Because of this we cannot extend the credit by another two months.

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3. As you are usually prompt in settling your accounts, we wonder whether there is any
special reason why we have not received payment of this account, which is already a
month overdue.

4. To regular customers such as yourself our terms of payment are 3% one month, and we
hope you will not withhold payment any longer, otherwise it will be necessary for us to
revise these terms.

5. We were disappointed that you did not bother to reply to either of our letters asking you
to clear your account, and you have left us no alternative but to take legal action.

6. It is with the utmost regret that we have reached the stage when we must press for
immediate payment. Failing payment by 7 August you will leave us no choice but to put
the matter into the hand of our solicitor.

7. It was in consideration of the present economic climate that we allowed you a two-month
period to settle, and while we would like to offer you more time to clear the balance, our
own financial position makes this impossible. Therefore we must ask you to settle the
account within the next fortnight.

8. When we arranged payment terms we offered you payment against monthly statements,
yet it has been three months since you promised the account would be cleared.

9. As we have traded for some time, we have not pressed for payment. However, we must
now insist that either you settle the account or offer a reasonable explanation for not
doing so.

10. The failure either to clear your account or even to offer an explanation is all
disappointing because of our past satisfactory dealings over many years.
B. Vietnamese – English Translation

1. Chúng tôi muốn nhắc quý ngài rằng chúng tôi đã chào bán cho quý ngài giá thấp trên cơ
sở thanh toán tiền sớm.

2. Chúng tôi rất mong quý ngài không cho rằng việc chúng tôi không thanh toán nợ đúng
hạn là cố ý.

3. Chúng tôi rất thông cảm với vấn đề quý ngài gặp phải trong việc thanh toán số nợ còn lại
và sẵn sàng gia hạn nợ thêm 6 tuần nữa.

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4. Từ khi chúng tôi viết thư cho quý ngài ngày... về khoản nợ còn lại chưa được thanh toán
trị giá ..., chúng tôi vẫn chưa nhận được thư trả lời. Xét thấy quý ngài đã ủng hộ chúng tôi
trong thời gian qua, nên trước đây, chúng tôi đã không hối thúc quý ngài thanh toán.

5. Cảm ơn quý ngài đã viết thư và giải thích cho chúng tôi biết tại sao số nợ trong tháng 5
vẫn chưa được thanh toán. Tuy nhiên, chúng tôi không thể gia hạn nợ thêm nữa vì chúng
tôi cho hưởng mức chiết khấu cao đổi lại việc thanh toán đúng hạn.

6. Chúng tôi sẽ cho quý ngài thêm 7 ngày nữa để gửi tiền cho chúng tôi, sau thời gian này
vấn đề sẽ được chuyển cho luật sư chúng tôi giải quyết.

7. Chúng tôi cảm thấy đã đủ kiên nhẫn và đã xem xét rất kỹ lưỡng. Tuy nhiên, bây giờ
chúng tôi rất tiếc phải thực hiện các biện pháp để thu hồi nợ theo luật.

8. Xét thấy quý ngài đã ủng hộ chúng tôi trong thời gian qua, chúng tôi sẵn sàng cho phép
quý ngài thanh toán một nửa số nợ bằng cách gửi chúng tôi hối phiếu trả ngay và thanh
toán phần còn lại bằng cách chấp nhận hối phiếu đính kèm ký phát thời hạn 30 ngày.

9. Bởi vì chính sách của chúng tôi là kinh doanh dựa trên lợi nhuận thấp nên chúng tôi tiếc
là chúng tôi không thể cho quý ngài hưởng điều kiện tín dụng dài hạn được.

10. Chúng tôi rất ngạc nhiên và thất vọng vì không nhận được thư trả lời của quý ngài cho 2
lá thư của chúng tôi ngày... nhắc quý ngài về khoản nợ còn lại trị giá...

III. Letter-writing

1. Công ty anh/chị đã nhận được lô hàng từ công ty Glaston Potteries cùng với hóa đơn đề
ngày... Tuy nhiên, công ty không thể thanh toán như thời hạn ghi trong hóa đơn. Anh/ chị
hãy viết thư gửi ông John Merton, giám đốc kinh doanh của Glaston để xin lỗi và yêu cầu
cho thêm thời gian để thanh toán với những gợi ý sau:

- Kho hàng bị lụt, nhiều hàng hóa bị hư hỏng

- Chúng ta chỉ có thể thanh toán khi công ty bảo hiểm bồi thường cho chúng ta trong
vòng 4 tuần tới.

- Cam kết chúng ta sẽ thanh toán đầy đủ khi nhận được bồi thường và mong đối tác
thông cảm.

Anh/ chị có thể thêm bớt bất kỳ thông tin nào để thư được hoàn thiện.

Bắt đầu thư bằng “Dear Mr. …”

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2. Your company has received a letter dated 28 April from UK Cycles Ltd concerning your
outstanding account for $2,700.00 for three months, in which they asked you to pay within
the next ten days. Write a reply to this letter, using the following prompts:

- Thank them for their letter (please quote dates)

- Explain about the fire at Head Office. Say that it destroyed a lot of computer data
which has disrupted all correspondence with suppliers and customers, and we need
time to get back to our normal routine.

- Request a further 30 days to settle as politely as possible.

- Say your insurer will release compensation with the coming month, so we can pay the
outstanding account in full.

- Start with “Dear Mr. …”