The water heater Chen Hao ordered arrived crushed. He asks for a refund and refuses to pay for the return.
Chen Hao
你好，我上星期买的热水器，收到的时候已经被压坏了。
Nǐhǎo, wǒ shàng xīngqī mǎi de rèshuǐqì, shōudào de shíhou yǐjīng bèi yā huài le.
Hello, the water heater I bought last week had already been crushed when it arrived.
Customer service
实在不好意思。请问您拍照片了吗？
Shízài bùhǎoyìsi. Qǐngwèn nín pāi zhàopiàn le ma ?
We are very sorry indeed. Did you take photographs?
Chen Hao
拍了。包装和机器都拍了，已经发给你们。
Pāi le. Bāozhuāng hé jīqì dōu pāi le, yǐjīng fā gěi nǐmen.
I did. The packaging and the appliance, and I have already sent them to you.
Customer service
我看到了。您是想换一台，还是退款？
Wǒ kàndào le. Nín shì xiǎng huàn yī tái, háishi tuì kuǎn ?
I can see them. Would you like a replacement, or a refund?
Chen Hao
退款。这个牌子我不敢再买了。
Tuì kuǎn. Zhè gè páizi wǒ bù gǎn zài mǎi le.
A refund. I dare not buy this brand again.
Customer service
可以。不过要先把东西寄回来，我们收到才能退。
Kěyǐ. Bùguò yào xiān bǎ dōngxi jì huílai, wǒmen shōudào cái néng tuì.
Very well. But you have to send the item back first, we can only refund once we receive it.
Chen Hao
运费谁出？不是我弄坏的。
Yùnfèi shéi chū ? Bùshì wǒ nònghuài de.
Who pays the carriage? I am not the one who broke it.
Customer service
我们出。快递明天上门来取，您不用跑一趟。
Wǒmen chū. Kuàidì míngtiān shàngmén lái qǔ, nín bùyòng pǎo yī tàng.
We do. The courier will come to your door tomorrow, you do not have to make a trip.
Chen Hao
东西还在原来的箱子里，要重新包吗？
Dōngxi hái zài yuánlái de xiāngzi lǐ, yào chóngxīn bāo ma ?
The item is still in its original box, does it need repacking?
Customer service
不用。箱子坏成什么样子，我们就要看什么样子。
Bùyòng. Xiāngzi huài chéng shénme yàngzi, wǒmen jiù yào kàn shénme yàngzi.
No. We want to see the box in exactly the state it is in.
Chen Hao
另外，下次请你们把包装做好一点儿。
Lìngwài, xià cì qǐng nǐmen bǎ bāozhuāng zuò hǎo yīdiǎnr.
One more thing: please do the packaging better next time.
Customer service
一定。您的意见我会写下来，交给仓库。
Yīdìng. Nín de yìjiàn wǒ huì xiě xiàlai, jiāo gěi cāng kù.
We certainly will. I will write your comment down and pass it to the warehouse.
被压坏了 does not say who crushed the parcel, and that is exactly right: the customer does not know and does not need to. When on the contrary someone has to be named, Chinese changes tool: 不是我弄坏的 uses the 是…的 mould, which puts in question not the fact but its author. Both sentences are about the same broken appliance and say quite different things.
我们收到才能退: only on receipt do we refund. 才 sets a hard condition and delays; 就 would do the opposite (我们收到就退, we refund as soon as we receive it). Customer service uses 才, the customer hopes for 就, and the choice of the little word is worth a whole negotiation.
快递上门来取: in China the courier comes to collect the parcel you are returning, and the seller pays when the fault is his. The word 上门 ("to come to the door") is used the same way of a repairman, a nurse or a hairdresser; it will come back in the lesson on staying at home in old age.
