As Andres McMillan, operations manager, Union Wood Products, you have a problem. Your firm manufactures quality precut and custom-built doors and frames. You have received a letter from Dominique Reese (described in Activity 6.14), an interior designer. Her letter explained that the custom mahogany door (“Nantucket”) she received was cut to the wrong dimensions. She ordered an oversized door measuring 12 feet 2 inches. The door that arrived was 11 feet 10 inches. Ms. Reese kept the door because her client, an NBA basketball player, insisted that the front of the house be closed up as soon as possible. Therefore, she had her carpenter resize the door opening. He charged $1,250 for this corrective work. She claims that you should reimburse her for this amount, since your company was responsible for the error. You check her April 19 order and find that the order was filled correctly. In a telephone order, Ms. Reese requested the Nantucket double-entry door measuring 11 feet 10 inches, and that is what you sent. Now she says that the door should have been 12 feet 2 inches. Your policy forbids refunds or returns on custom orders. Yet you remember that around April 15 you had two new people working the phones taking orders. It is possible that they did not hear or record the measurements correctly. You don’t know whether to grant this claim or refuse it. But you do know that you must look into the training of telephone order takers and be sure that they verify all custom order measurements. It might also be a good idea to confirm all phone orders by e-mail, IM, or text message. Ms. Reese is a successful interior designer who has provided Union Wood Products with a number of orders. You value her business but aren’t sure how to respond. You would like to remind her that Union Wood Products has earned a reputation as a premier manufacturer of wood doors and frames. Your doors feature prime woods, meticulous craftsmanship, and award-winning designs. What’s more, the engineering is ingenious. You also have a wide range of classic designs.

Your Task.

Decide how to treat this claim and then respond to Dominique Reese, Millennium Interiors, 518 Crestview Drive, Beverly Hills, CA 90210. You might mention that you have a new line of energy-efficient windows that are available in three sizes. Include a brochure describing these windows. Alternatively, at your instructor’s discretion, you could write an e-mail and refer Ms. Reese to your website (www.union-wood-products.com), which features the new line of windows.