[Grammar] Had or Have?

[Joe333]

Sentence: "In your email on 13th October, which can be read at the end of this email, you had told me that my unsuccessful recharge of xyz amount will be credited back to my bank account in 7 working days."

***"zyz amount" can be filled/replaced with any amount with any currency like $50 etc. I have omitted it for some reasons.

Question: So what is confusing me here? I am confused between "had told" (highlighted in black in the sentence) and "have told". Earlier when I was writing in flow I used "have told" but during proof read I found that "had told" looks more correct but it also appears a bit awkward type in reading. I am also not sure "had told" would be a right choice there. So I decided to land up here and seek the help from/of(?) native English speakers or those who have command over English language

. Please help me.


On Googling I found this link but I did not get what they are saying and it confused me further with its "least used" remark Using "had done" in English

Thanks


Regards

 

[emsr2d2]

Sentence: "In your email on 13th October, which can be read at the end of this email, you had told me that my unsuccessful recharge of xyz amount will be credited back to my bank account in 7 working days."

***"zyz amount" can be filled/replaced with any amount with any currency like $50 etc. I have omitted it for some reasons.

Question: So what is confusing me here? I am confused between "had told" (highlighted in black in the sentence) and "have told". Earlier when I was writing in flow I used "have told" but during proof read I found that "had told" looks more correct but it also appears a bit awkward type in reading. I am also not sure "had told" would be a right choice there. So I decided to land up here and seek the help from/of(?) native English speakers or those who have command over English language

. Please help me.


On Googling I found this link but I did not get what they are saying and it confused me further with its "least used" remark Using "had done" in English

Thanks


Regards

My personal feeling is that it should simply say "you told me" - there is no need for anything other than the simple past.

If another email was referred to, between October 13th and today, then it might have been "had told". For example:

In your email of October 17th, you told me that my account had been credited with $20. However, in your email of October 13th, you had told me that it would be credited with $40. Please explain this discrepancy.

The October 13th email predates the October 17th email which predates today's date, so "had told" would have been appropriate.

 

[JohnParis]

Hello Razer,

I'd write your sentence as follows:

In your email of 13th October below, you told me that my unsuccessful recharge of $75 would be credited to my account within 7 working days. As of today, this has not occurred and ...

Hope this helps.

John

 

[Joe333]

.....If another email was referred to, between October 13th and today, then it might have been "had told". For example:

In your email of October 17th, you told me that my account had been credited with $20. However, in your email of October 13th, you had told me that it would be credited with $40. Please explain this discrepancy.

The October 13th email predates the October 17th email which predates today's date, so "had told" would have been appropriate.

Thanks Emsr2d2 and JohnParis for helping me. Emsr2d2 your example, quoted above, regarding "had told" was very helpful. Thanks for that. It clear my doubt/confusion to a large extend .

John sire thanks for your suggestion. I liked it and will amend my email, which is draft folder right now, before sending it. Your "As of today" line is more polite than the line I was going to use: "Till now". So in a way I have also learned a good way to write a mail/letter. Thanks
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