How to replay this assignment ?

You are a sales trainee working in the Danish branch of SMITH & SONS Plc, a British manufacturer of electronic equipment.

Your superior, the sales manager, Jan Overgaard, (a Dane) has asked you to deal with a complaint he recieved this morning over the phone from a long-standing customer, M. P. Gérard, the manager of Disc SA in poitiers, France. Order No. 234-07.

The equipment is normally sent in cartons delivered by British Cardboard Plc, and the French customer said that your latest consignment to them, which arrived yesterday, was damaged by water seeping into the cartons, and apparently some of the sensitive equipment had been destroyed.

Jan is really upset about the matter and has spent all morning checking up on the problem and taking to all the parties ivolved at your end. His conclusion is, "This isn't our problem; we can't be blamed; but we'd better put our foot down at once to avoid spending loads of time trying to calm down the Frenchmen. Remember the fuss they made a couple of months ago over some small detail!"

The product manager at British Cardboard Plc, Alex Anderson, (an American) almost lost his temper when Jan called him to say that the packing might have a weak spot. In Alex' own words they've "worked their butts off" at British Cardboard to make the cartons live up to your demands (plastic coating, waterproof, reinforced edges/corners), and these cartons are "damn well" the finest on the market, according to Alex.-
Also the price that SMITH & SONS pays for the cartons is so high that you should be on the safe side. As a matter of fact, Jan has just dug out a test report from the Danish Technological Institute that clearly proves Alex' point. He suggests that you enclose the results from that test.

Your contact person at your forwarding agents, Quicksped A/S said that the water cannot possibly have seeped into the cartons when the goods were loaded or unloaded. They're always very careful in those situations and why shoukd you not trust him? They've never messed things up before.

Jan suddenly remembers that at the end of their telephone conversation, Alex said that even though the cartons can withstand damp conditions, a heavy shower would be too much. Jan suspects that the customer forgot to get the goods inside the minute they arrived (there's been reports of heavy rain in the area these last few days), but they probably won't admit that thy're to blame for the dmage themselves. That's why Jan wants one of SMITH & SONS' local representatives to check the French customer's facilities. There might be some problems with the way they handle inbound materials.

Jan hasn't got any intention of doing anything else unless the French are able to prove that the damage was caused by problems in the packing or negligence on the part of the forwarding agent.

Finally, Jan asks you to add te usual expressions of regret and then to wait to see what happens.

Task: Write a reply to the complaint from the French customer based on the above description of the course of events and comments.