Business to business letter in response to quote for services or goods

The quote is a letter from a service or goods provider, which is a prima facie statement of costs for those products.

The quote should be itemized and cost specific. The provider is giving a current set of prices.

Note: prices may be qualified by caveats on time frames and availability of stock, etc. These details are extremely important, because the supplier isn't bound by their quote if those conditions don't apply.

Your letter in response can take several forms. You can acknowledge or question quotes, depending on circumstances.

You, as a purchaser, are not bound by a quote of you don't make any commitments to purchase. If you're not ready to make a decision, make it clear you're still shopping around.

The example below is a mixed bag of both acknowledgement and queries, covering both situations.

Example

Addressee

Your Reference
Our Reference
Contacts

Dear (use full title of the addressee)

Re: Quote for installation of air conditioning at 123 ABCD Street Wherever

We acknowledge receipt of your quote dated (insert date).

We would like to raise several points for clarification:

It's unclear if the installation is conditional on acceptance of the quote prior to 1 December 2009.
The quote includes two options, one of which (Option 1) is cheaper, but appears to have no provisions for servicing by your firm, unlike the other option.
The wattage for the two systems appears to be the same, but the quoted area of air conditioning is noticeably smaller in Option 2. Please clarify this apparent anomaly.

We are currently considering various suppliers for this contract. We would appreciate your response to these points prior to 30 April 2009. If no response is received it will be assumed you no longer wish to tender for this installation.

If you wish to discuss any of the matters raised, please contact me on the above phone number or email.

Yours sincerely

Signed
Title
Dated

Disclaimer

Please note:

This text is intended for advisory and guideline purposes only.

Any business letter can become a legal document, so check your content properly before issuing.

Any executable or statutorily defined document should be checked for compliance with legal requirements, and you should seek legal advice regarding its contents.