ghosted
Sign up free
Sign in

The offer letter says something different. What do you say?

Put what you heard beside what the letter says, then ask which one they intend before you answer the offer. Emails for pay, office days, the title, and several differences at once.

Ghosted editorialPublished 11 min read

On this page

The email

Ask which version they mean

SubjectQuestion about the [Role] offer letter

Hi [Name],

Thank you for sending the offer letter. On [day] we discussed [what you discussed]. The letter says [what the letter says]. Could you confirm which [term] applies to this role?

Thanks, [Your name]

Filled in, for a letter that asks for more office days than the call did:

SubjectQuestion about the Support Engineer offer letter

Hi Jo,

Thank you for sending the offer letter. On Tuesday we discussed two office days a week. The letter says four. Could you confirm which schedule applies to this role?

Thanks, Alex

Made-up details

Three sentences do the work: what you discussed and when, what the letter says, and a question that lets them answer in a word. It doesn’t say the letter is wrong. It doesn’t say what you’ll do if it isn’t changed. It asks them to pick, and most of the time they pick the version from the call and send a corrected letter.

Ask before you answer

Don’t accept the offer and raise the difference afterwards, and don’t sign a letter you think is wrong. Ask first, then answer the version they confirm.

Side by side

What you heard, and what the letter says

Before you write anything, lay the two versions out term by term. Your notes from the call on one side, the letter’s wording on the other. Here’s one made-up offer with three differences, the three that come up most: the pay, the office days and the title.

A made-up offer for a Support Engineer role at Rowan: three terms that don’t match

  • Pay

    What you heard
    “The salary is forty-eight thousand.”
    What the letter says
    A base salary of €44,000 a year, plus an annual bonus of up to €4,000.

    Ask: was €48,000 the base salary, or the total with the full bonus? And how is the bonus decided?

  • Office days

    What you heard
    “Two days a week in the office, usually Tuesday and Thursday.”
    What the letter says
    Your normal place of work is our city-centre office, four days a week.

    Ask: which schedule applies to this role, and can the letter say which days?

  • Title

    What you heard
    “The Support Engineer role.”
    What the letter says
    Job title: Customer Support Specialist.

    Ask: is this the title on the contract, and is it the same job and level you interviewed for?

Laid out like this, the differences stop being a vague sense that something’s off and become three questions you can ask. It also shows you which ones matter. A title that’s a template default might not bother you; €4,000 of pay you thought was fixed, and turns out to be a bonus, probably does.

Worked through

One difference, from your notes to the corrected letter

Take the office days. Alex had the call with Jo on Tuesday 5 May and wrote notes straight after. The letter arrived the following Monday.

Call notes, Tue 5 May
Office: two days a week, usually Tue and Thu. Rest from home.
The letter, clause 3
Your normal place of work is our city-centre office, four days a week.
The question
Which schedule applies to this role?
  1. Find your note. The day of the call and what was said, as close to their words as you have it. A dated note beats a memory.
  2. Find the clause. Quote the letter’s wording, or name the clause. Then nobody has to search for what you mean.
  3. Ask one question. “Could you confirm which schedule applies?” A question gets an answer. A complaint gets a defence.
  4. Get the corrected wording in writing. If they agree with your version, ask for an updated letter, not just a reassuring reply.

That last step is the one people skip. A reply saying “yes, it’s two days, don’t worry about the letter” is kind, but the letter is what you sign. Acas gives the same order: if you think something is different in the written offer, talk to the employer about it as soon as possible, and if they agree with you, ask them for an updated written offer.

Jo’s reply, Wed 13 May
“You’re right, it’s two days. The letter used our standard wording. I’ll have it reissued.”
The updated letter, clause 3
Your normal place of work is our city-centre office two days a week, usually Tuesday and Thursday, and your home on other working days.

No notes from the call?

Say what you understood rather than what was said: “I understood the role as two office days a week.” It’s honest, and it asks the same question without claiming a record you don’t have.

Other differences

Four more emails you can copy

Same shape each time: what you discussed, what the letter says, one question. Each is a reply in the thread the letter came in, so none needs a subject.

SubjectRe: their thread

Hi [Name],

Thanks for the offer letter. On our call I understood the salary as [amount]. The letter gives a base salary of [amount] plus a bonus of up to [amount]. Could you confirm whether [amount] was the base salary or the total with the bonus, and how the bonus is decided?

Thanks, [Your name]

SubjectRe: their thread

Hi [Name],

Thanks for the offer letter. We discussed the role as [title we discussed], and the letter says [title in the letter]. Is that the title that will be on my contract, and is the role the same one we talked about?

Thanks, [Your name]

SubjectRe: their thread

Hi [Name],

Thanks for the offer letter. Before I reply, could you confirm three points where it differs from what we discussed? - Salary: we discussed [amount]; the letter says [amount]. - Office days: we discussed [number]; the letter says [number]. - Title: we discussed [title]; the letter says [title].

Thanks, [Your name]

SubjectRe: their thread

Hi [Name],

Thanks for confirming. Could you send an updated offer letter with [the corrected term], so I can sign the right version? I’ll reply as soon as I have it.

Thanks, [Your name]

Start here

Most differences are mistakes, not tricks

Finding a letter that doesn’t match the call is unsettling. It’s rarely a bait and switch. Offer letters are usually built from a template, by someone who wasn’t on your call, from a form the hiring manager filled in. Every handover is a chance for a number or a word to change.

  1. A template’s default

    The standard letter says four office days, or uses the job family’s formal title. Nobody changed it for you. This is the most common cause, and the easiest to fix.

  2. Two ways of saying pay

    The recruiter quoted the total with bonus, or you heard a range as a single number. The letter splits base and bonus. Neither side lied; you were counting differently.

  3. A real change

    Something was approved differently from what the recruiter expected. Less common, and worth knowing about before you accept. Your question brings it into the open.

You can’t tell which from the letter. That’s why the email asks rather than tells. If it was a template, they fix it and thank you for spotting it. If it was a real change, you find out now, while you can still decide.

Worth knowing in the UK

The job title, pay, hours and place of work are among what gov.uk lists for the written statement employers give on the first day. If the letter is wrong, that statement may repeat it. Fix it now.

What to check

Read the letter against your notes, term by term

Go through the letter with your notes beside it. These are the terms most worth checking, and what a difference in each one usually means.

Made-up examples: terms to check, and what a difference usually means
  • Term: Pay

    What to check: Base or total, per year or per month, before or after any bonus

  • Term: Office days

    What to check: How many, which ones, and whether they’re a rule or an expectation

  • Term: Title

    What to check: Whether it’s the job you interviewed for, at the same level

  • Term: Start date

    What to check: The day you agreed, not the one they first hoped for

  • Term: Hours

    What to check: Weekly hours, shifts, weekends and on-call

  • Term: Holiday

    What to check: The number of days, and whether public holidays are included

  • Term: Probation and notice

    What to check: How long, and what notice applies during it

  • Term: Conditions

    What to check: References, checks or documents the offer depends on

Some of these you won’t have discussed at all. A term that’s new in the letter isn’t a difference, but it’s fair to ask about it in the same email if it matters to you. If you’re weighing this offer against another, put both side by side once the letter is right.

Before you write

Four things to settle first

Which version you’d accept

If they confirm the letter rather than the call, would you still take the job? Decide now, while it’s a question and not an answer you’re reacting to.

What you actually have

Notes from the day, an email, or a memory. Each is worth something; say which one you’re relying on, and don’t present a memory as a record.

Whether it’s a question or a negotiation

Asking which version they intend is a question. Asking for more than either version says is a negotiation. Both are fine, but keep them apart, or the question gets lost.

How long you have

If the letter has a deadline and the answer might take a while, ask for a little more time in the same email. Our guide to asking for more time has wording.

Their answer

Three answers, and what to do with each

They correct the letter

  • Thank them in a line
  • Wait for the updated letter before you sign
  • Check the new version against your notes once more

They say the letter is right

  • You now know the real terms
  • Decide whether you’d still accept them
  • If you want to ask for more, say so plainly, in a new message

Something in between

  • Three office days, or part of the bonus added to the base
  • Ask for it in an updated letter
  • Treat it as a new offer and take a day to think

If the answer means you won’t take the job, decline in a few lines and keep it friendly; here’s how to decline a job offer by email. The team was probably as surprised by the letter as you were.

What goes wrong

The mistakes that make it harder to fix

Signing and hoping

Accepting a letter you think is wrong, on the promise it’ll be sorted later. Later, the signed letter is the one people read.

Saying they changed it

“You’ve cut my salary” puts them on the defensive. “I understood it as” leaves room for a template, a misheard number or a real change, and gets the same answer faster.

Asking on the phone only

Calls are fine for talking it through. Follow up in writing, so the answer is something you both have.

Mixing in new requests

Asking which salary applies and for a higher one in the same sentence. The question becomes a negotiation, and the answer gets slower.

Letting it slide past the deadline

Waiting days to raise it, then running out of time to decide. Ask the day you notice.

Last look

A checklist before you send

Questions

Questions people ask when the offer letter doesn’t match

Will asking about the offer letter make them withdraw the offer?

A polite question about which version they intend is a normal part of reading an offer. Ask it as a question, not an accusation, and don’t mix it with new demands.

Should I call or email about it?

Either, as long as the answer ends up in writing. If you call, send a short email afterwards saying what you agreed, and ask for an updated letter.

What if I don’t have notes from the call?

Say what you understood: “I understood the salary as €48,000.” It asks the same question without claiming a record you don’t have.

What if they say the letter is correct?

Then you know the real terms. Decide whether you’d accept them. If you want to ask for more, do it as a separate, plain request, not as a dispute about the call.

Can I sign it and fix it later?

It’s safer not to. Ask for an updated letter first, then sign the version that says what you agreed.

Do I need to ask about every small difference?

Ask about anything that would change your answer or your day-to-day: pay, hours, office days, title, start date. A typo in the company’s address can wait.

Keep what they said next to what they wrote.

Keep your call notes, the letter and the questions you asked on the job, so the right version is easy to find.

Try Ghosted freeFree plan · no card needed

Related

Guide · 13 min readCompare two job offersPut both offers side by side and find what to ask.Template · Copy and editA phone offer, but no letter yetAsk when the written offer is coming, and what’s holding it up.Template · Copy and editAsk for more time on a job offerAsk for a specific new decision date before the deadline.