An order has gone to another city. The customer does not want apologies, he wants a date.
The customer
我上个星期下的单，到现在还没送到。
Wǒ shàng gè xīngqī xià de dān, dào xiànzài hái méi sòng dào.
The order I placed last week still has not arrived.
Xiaoyu
实在对不起。请把订单给我看一下。
Shízài duìbuqǐ. Qǐng bǎ dìng dān gěi wǒ kàn yīxià.
I am truly sorry. Let me see the order, please.
The customer
在这儿。你们的电话我打了三次，没有人接。
Zài zhèr. Nǐmen de diànhuà wǒ dǎ le sān cì, méiyǒu rén jiē.
Here it is. I called you three times and nobody answered.
Xiaoyu
我查到了。货被送到了另外一个城市。
Wǒ chá dào le. Huò bèi sòng dào le lìngwài yī gè chéngshì.
I have found it. The goods were delivered to a different city.
The customer
那是你们的问题，还是快递的？
Nà shì nǐmen de wèntí, háishi kuàidì de ?
Is that your mistake, or the courier's?
Xiaoyu
是我们把地址写错了。这一点我先跟您道歉。
Shì wǒmen bǎ dìzhǐ xiě cuò le. Zhè yī diǎn wǒ xiān gēn nín dàoqiàn.
It was we who wrote the address wrongly. Let me apologise for that first.
The customer
我要的是东西，不是道歉。
Wǒ yào de shì dōngxi, bùshì dàoqiàn.
What I want is the goods, not an apology.
Xiaoyu
明白。今天下午我从本地的仓库再发一件。
Míngbai. Jīntiān xiàwǔ wǒ cóng běndì de cāng kù zài fā yī jiàn.
Understood. This afternoon I will send another one out from the local warehouse.
The customer
什么时候能到？
Shénme shíhou néng dào ?
When will it arrive?
Xiaoyu
明天中午以前。运费由我们出。
Míngtiān zhōngwǔ yǐqián. Yùn fèi yóu wǒmen chū.
Before midday tomorrow. The carriage is on us.
The customer
那送错的那一件呢？
Nà sòng cuò de nà yī jiàn ne ?
And the one that went to the wrong place?
Xiaoyu
您不用管。我们自己去取回来。
Nín bùyòng guǎn. Wǒmen zìjǐ qù qǔ huílai.
Do not concern yourself with that. We will go and retrieve it ourselves.
The customer
好。那我等到明天中午。
Hǎo. Nà wǒ děng dào míngtiān zhōngwǔ.
Good. Then I will wait until midday tomorrow.
我们把地址写错了: we wrote the address wrongly. The 把 puts forward what was got wrong, and 错 is the complement saying the result is false. The same frame gives 说错了, 拿错了, 发错了: the verb states the act, 错 says it missed its mark. It is the cleanest way of admitting a fault in Chinese, and it is shorter than any apology.
我要的是东西，不是道歉. The structure 我要的是 A，不是 B names what you expect and rules out what you refuse, in one sentence and without anger. The 的 turns everything before it into a noun, which allows it to be the subject of 是. It is firm and perfectly polite, useful whenever a conversation turns into set phrases.
运费由我们出: the carriage is at our expense. As in lesson 12, 由 introduces the party to whom the thing falls, here the cost. The verb 出 means "to put out money", and the pair 由…出 is the fixed formula for any sharing of costs, on a quote as in conversation.
