Place an order
You have chosen the product that invite; you wait its delivery with impatience. But what to do if your order seems to have misled?
Customer: Good morning, this is Mrs. Collins. I’m ringing about an ergonomic swivel chair I ordered from you on the 12th of September which still hasn’t arrived.
Sales advisor: Okay, let’s have a look for you. Do you have your customer reference number?
Customer: It’s M48 Z9741.
Sales advisor: Okay. And could you tell me how you ordered the item?
Sales advisor: Right. If you could bear with me one moment, I’m getting your account details up on screen... Ah, it’s telling me that the chair is out of stock.
Customer: But when I placed the order, your website said the chair was available.
Sales advisor: Yes, I’m really sorry about that. It seems that we had a problem with the product line. When the stock was delivered to our warehouse we found a fault and had to send the entire consignment back to the supplier. We’re expecting a replacement delivery in December.
Customer: December! But I’ve already waited three weeks. No, I’m sorry, you’ll just have to cancel the order. My account hasn’t been debited, has it?
Sales advisor: No. We don’t debit customers’ accounts until the goods have been dispatched. Perhaps you’d prefer to order, a different model - our Back Friendly Lumbar Support chair, for example. It’s just £399 plus VAT and delivery.
Customer: When can that be delivered?
Sales advisor: Well, I could put it on express next-day delivery for you. But there’s an additional charge of £17.50.
Customer: I’m not sure. I’d like to come into your showroom to try it out first.
Sales advisor: Don’t worry, Mrs Collins, the chair comes with our 28-day trial period money-back guarantee. If you’re not completely satisfied you can arrange for the goods to be picked up at no extra cost. And you’ll get a full refund credited to your account within six working days.
Customer: [hesitating] Well, I suppose...
Sales advisor: Our delivery staff will assemble it for you... after all, we don’t want you putting your back out now, do we?!
Vocabulary and idioms
if you could bear with me one moment = je vous demande un peu de patience un tout petit moment
account details = détails de compte
out of stock = épuisé
product line = ligne de produits
delivered to our warehouse = livré à notre entrepôt
entire consignment = lot complet
express next-day delivery = livraison dans les 24 heures (distribution express)
Again of useful sentences
I’d like to place/cancel an order = Je voudrais passer/annuler une commande
The balance must be paid on delivery = Le compte doit être payé à la livraison
The system is down = Le système est en panne
The TV I ordered is two weeks overdue = La livraison de la télé que j’ai commandée a deux semaines de retard
They haven’t met delivery deadlines = Ils n’ont pas respecté les délais de livraison
We’ll send you a copy of our latest brochure = Nous allons vous envoyer notre dernier catalogue
When ordering, please quote this number = Pour toute commande, merci de rappeler ce numéro
We’ll enclose a copy of the invoice with the goods = Nous enverrons la facture avec la marchandise
The goods are available for immediate delivery = Ces marchandises sont disponibles immédiatement