(your street city) (date) (name street city) Dear Sir or Madam: With much regret, we cannot give you a satisfactory reference for the ______ (name of company). During the ____ (number of years) that we have been conducting business with this company, our experience has been very unsuitable. Our normal credit terms are ___ (number of days) net. But their account has been from ____ (number of days) to ____ (number of days) in arrears during much of the time that we have had a business relationship. Their present balance of ________ (amount) includes purchases made as long ago as ________ (time period). Of course, this information has been shared to you in confidence and we hope that it will prove helpful to you. Yours sincerely, (name) (title)