Be gracious and accept an apology

A policyholder sent two cheques to us. One is for a payment of home insurance. Another is for a payment to NTUC (another organisation) for some membership service.

We cleared the cheque for Income. But our staff must have sent the second cheque to NTUC. It must have been lost in transit.

The policyholder complained about the missing cheque. Our staff tried to find it, but could not locate it.

The policyholder brought the complaint to me.

Here is my reply:

Dear

I am sorry that the cheque was displaced. As this payment is for another organisation (ie NTUC), our staff could not bank it in. It must have been sent to NTUC.

It will be impossible for us to trace the cheque. I hope that you understand our dilemma. I suggest that you treat it as cancelled and send another cheque directly to NTUC.

LESSON: Our internal process for handling this type of situation will be strengthened.