APOLOGIZE FOR AN INVOICE OR BILLING ERROR

Financial matters are a big issue for many people. They will get upset when they find there is a billing error that they get. It is best to issue a letter of apology for an invoice or billing error.

Here is an example of a letter of apology for a billing error:

Example

December 20, 2010

From:
Scott Glean
Accounts Supervisor
ACME Company
987 Business Center Circle
Juneau, Alaska 99876

To:
William Told
876 Glacier Drive
Humet, CA 92353

Dear Mr. Told,

You might have received invoice number 1200 from our company during the past days. The said invoice states that you are to pay for $250 but the correct amount to be paid is only $25. We are very sorry for having sent the wrong amount to you. Our billing system erroneously exchanged the amounts due from our customers. The said amount is supposed to be billed to another customer but the billing department erroneously sent you the wrong amount. We have been experiencing some trouble with our billing system lately and we do apologize for the inconvenience such error might have caused you. You have been one of our top customers and we treasure your continued patronage.

We assure you that this will not happen again because we will soon be availing the services of telecommunications service providers. Our company will soon be undergoing a system upgrade. This step will surely minimize billing issues for two primary reasons: Reduce the impact on the customer and the customer care organization and reduce the negative revenue impact, by controlling both actual dollars lost and customer churn. Customer churn, also known as customer attrition, customer turnover or customer defection, is a business term used to describe loss of clients or customers.

We understand the need for all companies to have an invoice verification process to evaluate the sample output from every billing cycle. No company should believe that there is no need to do this. Things do change, and do go wrong, even if nothing has been modified in the actual billing software. As problems are discovered, ad hoc tools should be in place to immediately determine the impact on the customer and company finances. If the problems are found to be minor in both categories, the cycle can usually be approved, and customer inquiries and issues managed after the fact.

We value our customers and we always want them to be satisfied with the service that we deliver. Our customers are the lifeblood of our business. We assure you that your next billing statement will be updated and it will reflect the correct bill.

Thank you,

Scott Glean
Accounts Supervisor
ACME Company

A letter of complaint about a billing error must be sent at the soonest possible time, and must be written in a courteous, yet firm manner. Note that errors (like in the case of wrong amount or missing quantity of goods received as shown in the sales invoice) are usually not intentional. The facts must be double checked and only the relevant details must be included in the letter.

The main purpose of a letter of complaint about a billing error is to immediately bring to the Collection Officer that an error was made while processing the bill. A common example is double charging of a customer for a single credit card purchase, which is reflected in the billing statement. In this case, a customer service officer may be called, upon receipt and after reviewing the credit card billing statement with the error.

The transaction report and billing statement may then be faxed to the credit card company along with the letter of complaint. Once the error is acknowledged, the equivalent amount may be offset in the succeeding credit card statement. In other cases, like when a guest checks in at a hotel and is given a billing summary, any error may immediately be checked and brought to the attention of the front desk manager.

Here is a sample letter of complaint for a billing error:

Dec. 1, 2010

MS. JANET CELIA
Front Desk Manager
St. Regis, Shanghai
889 Dong Fang Road, Pudong
China

Dear Ms. Celia:

I am writing this letter to point out an error in my hotel bill summary that I requested from the front desk clerk. I would like to bring to your attention that I checked in on November 30, but the summary indicates that my check-in date is November 29.

The billing statement therefore shows that I am being billed an additional night at St. Regis, Shanghai.
Kindly investigate this matter and correct the billing error before I check out this evening.

Sincerely Yours,

Terry Carroll
Hotel Guest

BILL OF SALE

I,__________, of [name of firm] , in the County of_________________, State of________, in consideration of ________________Dollars, ($__________), to be paid by ____ _______________, of [name of firm], the receipt of which is hereby acknowledged, do hereby grant, sell, transfer and deliver unto ______________________ the following: _______________________________________________ _______________________________________________ [Description] To have and to hold the same to____________and his heirs, executors, administrators, successors and assign, to their use forever. And I hereby covenant with the grantee that I am the lawful owner of said goods; That they are free from all encumbrances; That I have good right to sell the same as aforesaid; And that I will warrant and defend the same against the lawful claims and demands of all persons. In witness, whereof, I__________________, hereunto set my hand, this ___ day of_______________19__.

BILL OF SALE
(WITH WARRANTY OF TITLE)

I,__________________, of ________________________
____________, County of_______________, State of _________,
in consideration of $_________________, to me paid by______
_________________, the receipt of which is hereby
acknowledged, do hereby grant, sell, transfer and deliver
unto ______________the following goods and chattels, namely,

___________________________________________
___________________________________________

To have and to hold the same to _________________
and his heirs, executors, administrators, successors and
assigns, to their use forever.

And I hereby convenant with the grantee that I
am the lawful owner of said goods; that they are free from
all encumbrances; that I have good right to sell the same
as aforesaid; and that I will warrant and defend the same
against the lawful claims and demands of all persons.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I ________________________ ,
hereunto set my hand, this _____ day of ___________, 19__.

/S/………………………