Unit 5 complaining

Exercise 1. In some countries (especially the UK) people often complain.

Below is a list of common reasons for people to complain. Match the complaints below with the people you can complain to from the box below.

waiter cabin crew reception desk instructor local government official customer service department

Person to complain to	Reason for making a complaint
	Your hotel room is very noisy.
	There is a scratch on a new appliance you bought.
	Airplane food tastes bad.
	Restaurant food is cold.
	A factory near your house makes a lot of pollution.
	An order is one day late arriving.
	There is a dead mouse inside a new packet of chips.
	Your English class is boring one day.
	Your new camera takes bad pictures.
	A new shirt changed colour when you washed it.

Decide what problems you will complain about if this happens to you.

Then discuss your ideas with your partner.

If your ideas are different, ask...

A: Why do you complain when airplane food tastes bad?

B: Because I must pay a lot of money for the flight so I want good food.

A: Why don’t you complain when airplane food tastes bad?

B: Because the cabin crew have a difficult job and I don’t want to make problems.

Exercise 2. Below you can read the steps to be taken in order to handle a complaint. Read them carefully and then put them in the correct order.

1. come to an agreement

2. do further research, if necessary

3. propose a solution

4. find out what the complaint is

5. clarify the complaint

What phrases can be used at each stage? Use the Language Notes given below.

Complaints
Addressing the customer How may I help you? May I ask what seems to be the problem?	Handling complaints I'm very sorry. We apologize for the inconvenience. I will look into it immediately.
Complaining I wish to register a complaint. I'm not at all satisfied with ... There seems to be a misunderstanding about ... I'm having problems with ...	Solutions I’ll look into the problem immediately. I'll have it corrected right away. Would you like a replacement? We'll reimburse you for the damage to the machine. I'll look into the possibilities of a refund.

Exercise 3. Read the dialogue below and answer the questions which follow.

Situation: Reception of Sound and Vision. Marc Young is the receptionist. The telephone rings.

Marc: Good afternoon, Sound and Vision, Marc Young speaking. How may I help you?

John Westbrook Good afternoon, sir. This is John Westbrook. I wish to register a complaint.

Marc: May I ask what seems to be the problem?

John Westbrook Well, I'm not very happy about a CD I purchased recently at your shop. I noticed shortly after unwrapping the CD at home that the box was slightly damaged. And when the CD itself turned out to be defective as well, you can imagine that I was quite dissatisfied. Now, I hope that there is the possibility of a refund, otherwise I'll buy my CD's somewhere else in the future.

Marc: I see. We apologize for the inconvenience. I'll put you through to our Sales Department. They 'll be able to look into the possibility of a refund. Please hold the line.

John Westbrook Thank you.

Marc: You're welcome.

Questions:

1. What is wrong with the packaging of the CD?

2. What is wrong with the CD itself?

3. What kind of compensation does Mr. Westbrook want?

Exercise 4. In order to deal with complaints in the best possible way, a special computer programmes are used in companies.

Below you can see a screenshot of one of such programmes.

Study the screen and fill in the blanks using the dialogue in Exercise 3.

 

		Sound & Vision Complaint Registration
Call taken by
Department
Date
Time
			Client data
Client no.
Name
Address
City
County & code
Telephone
	Complaint data
Invoice no.
Invoice date
Date of complaint
Complaint no.
	Description of complaint
Cause
Product
	Action
To be taken by
Before (date)

Exercise 5. Here is a list of phrases to use that appear in the text of the previous tasks. Write the proper translations in the right-hand column.

Phrases to use	translation
How may I help you?
I wish to register a complaint
May I ask what seems to be the problem?
... otherwise I'll buy my CD's elsewhere in the future.
We apologize for the inconvenience.
I'll put you through to our Sales Department.
They'll be able to look into the possibility of a refund.
Please hold the line.
You're welcome.

Exercise 6. Study the list in the previous task. Then use some of those phrases to make pairs with the sentences in the table below. Some hints are given.

Question	Answer
(help)	I'm looking for a microwave.
Good afternoon, can I help you?	(complaint)
(problem)	Well, I think this television set is broken.
Can you tell me who can help me with this?	(put through)
Can they give me my money back?	(refund)

Exercise 7. Now conduct a conversation similar to the one in Exercise 3, together with a partner, and use the keywords below. Make use of the phrases from the previous exercise as well.

Assistant Sales Executive	Complainer
good afternoon – your name – help?	good afternoon – your name – complaint
ask – problem	videotape – tape broken – dissatisfied – refund – other shop
apologize – put through – Sales Manager – hold	Thank
welcome

Activity 1 Pair Practice – Complaints

PAIR PRACTICE 1 (Speaker A)

With a partner, practise responding to a complaint. Use your own words.

A: Hello?.

B:

A: Yes? ________?

B:

A: I'm sorry ________. All of our ________ because of ________.

B:

A: __________. I'll see if we can ________ today. Then you'll have the ________ by next week. Would that ________?

B:

Complaints. PAIR PRACTICE 1 (Speaker B)

With a partner, practise responding to a complaint. Use your own words.

A:

B: Hi, this is ________. I'm calling about ________.

A:

B: We asked for ________. It's really taking ________.

A:

B: Well, we're ________ here.

A:  

B: That would be great. ________ it.

Complaints. PAIR PRACTICE 2 (Speaker A)

With a partner, practise responding to a complaint. Use your own words.

A: Yes, sir, ________?

B:

A: I'm sorry, sir, but all of our ________ are ________. Please ________.

B:

A: I'm afraid that isn't possible. Would you mind ________?

B:

A: We usually ________, but today we've ________.

B:

Complaints. PAIR PRACTICE 2 (Speaker B)

With a partner, practise responding to a complaint. Use your own words.

A:

B: Well, I just ________. ________.

A:

B: I've ________ already—I want to ________ now!

A:

B: I think you ________. That's the problem.

A:

Activity 2. Complaining

Role-Play 1

Student A

You are Mr. Bush, Accounts Manager of SIMCO.

a. A client phones you. They have a problem with an invoice. Ask them for the invoice number and date. Say you’ll look into the problem and ask when you can call them back.

b. Call them back. Apologize, the invoice is for £5,000, not £6,000. Promise to send a new invoice today.

Student B

You are Hans Steffenberg, Chief Accountant of FKT. You received an invoice from SIMCO for £6,000. You are sure this is too high.

1. Phone SIMCO and ask to speak to Mr. Bush, Accounts Manager. Explain the problem and ask him to look into it. The invoice number is 6748, dated 23^rd February.

2. Mr. Bush phones you back.

Role-Play 2

Student A

You are Simon Richards. You ordered 150 plates from Valio Inc. three weeks ago, but you never received them.

a. Call Mr. Geraldo, Production Manager of Valio Inc. Explain the problem and ask him to look into it.

b. Mr. Geraldo phones you back. He will ask you for your address: it’s 2017 East River Drive, Huntsville, Alabama.

Student B

You are Mr. Geraldo, Production Manger of Valio Inc.

a. You receive a call from Simon Richards. He has a problem with an order of plates you sent him last week. Say you’ll look into the problem and that you’ll call him back.

b. Call him back. Say sorry – order went to wrong address – order returned to factory this morning. Ask for correct address. Promise to send plates today.

Role-Play 3

Student A

You are Gloria Powell, Accounts Manager of IBM.

a. A client phones you about an invoice. Ask for the invoice number and date. Promise to look into the problem and ask when you can call back.

b. Call them back. Apologize – the invoice is for $800, not $900. Promise to send a new invoice.

Student B

You are Pierre Cenn, Chief Accountant at EMN. You received an invoice from IBM for $900. You are sure this is too high.

1. Phone IBM and ask to speak to Mrs. Powell, the Accounts Manager of IBM. Explain the problem. The invoice number is 5397, and it’s dated 15^th March.

2. Mrs. Powell phones you back. When she has finished, offer to send back the original invoice.

Role-Play 4

Student A

You are John Miller-Jones. You are still waiting for an order of 250 champagne glasses from Funglass Inc.

a. Call Angelica Masters, Sales Manager of Funglass Inc. Explain the problem. Offer to send a copy of your order form.

b. Ms Masters phones you back. You address is 149 West Road, Trenton, New Jersey. Ask if it’s possible to deliver tomorrow.

Student B

You are Ms Masters, Sales Manager of Funglass Inc.

1. You receive a call from John Miller-Jones. He has a problem with an order of champagne glasses. Promise to look into the problem and call back.

b. Call back. Apologize – the order was sent to the wrong address and was returned to the factory this morning. Ask for the correct address. If he asks about delivery, tell him it will take 3 days.

Activity 3. Read this e-mail. What is the problem? What does Ms. Shining want Ms. Geraldo to do?

a) Look at the phrases on the left that can be used in a telephone conversation. Which phrases in the e-mail are used to say the same thing in more formal language?

Telephone dialogue E-mail

They arrived…

Can you send ...?

Can you look into the problem?

Speak to you soon.

b) Now change these sentences from letters into more informal telephone language.

1. Can you look into the problem?

Sorry __________________________.

2. I look forward to meeting you on 23 January.

See _________________________________.

3. I regret to inform you that your order will be three days late.

I'm ____________________________.

4. I will be pleased to send you some more information, if you require it.

Shall ______________________________?

5. I hope you will have a pleasant trip to the USA.

Have ______________________________.

c) Ms Shining isn't answering her phone, and it is impossible to speak to her. Write an e-mail in reply to hers. Use the formal letter phrases in the given e-mail to help you.