Complaints and annoyances are a part of everyday life. ], and. One gives prompts and the other is a full script. Other times, the listener can solve the problem themselves. Matching exercises. It is to practise making complaints. — Hello, Mighty Maids. Using step 2 might depend on the manager’s response. Well, we don’t know how this dispute ends. You'll also learn phrases to use when arriving at a … Name of Caller with Problem: Sumida Jobes. To do it effectively, you must use polite, respectful language. Here’s another useful phrase: “I’m sorry to bother you, but…”. Before they start the activit y, ask each student to … Making and responding to complaints politely requires some diplomacy. 1. In English, polite language is usually indirect. Problem: Ordered 20 DVD Recorders, got only 10. Responding serious customer complaints It’s been explained in previous lessons that responding to customer complaints, or specific issues voiced by clients with regard to a transaction, is far from easy, and is widely believed to be one of the most exhausting parts of the business process. Customer request listening quiz for English learners focusing on a returned gift and exchange with drop down answers to check. Hi. “ I’m afraid I have to make a complaint. Say that you will take action [and take it! Ridiculous Complaints by Holidaymakers. We use cookies to enhance your experience. Always begin with step 1 – politely explaining the problem. This was a continuing issue, so the speaker used step 2. In these cases, you may need to express how you feel. That’s not good for business. But sometimes we must do it to get a solution. Look at the situations below and choose one or two to practice making a complaint. Listen to the mp3 file and choose the best answer for each question. I’m sorry to have to say this but there is still a mouse problem in my apartment. These are some ways to make a complaint in a hotel. It has vocabulary exercises, grammar revision and speaking exercises (situations). Making complaints is never easy but knowing how to do it right can it a lot easier! Ss order paragraphs from an example complaint letter and match them against labels describing the paragraphs. Here you can improve your vocabulary of COMPLAINT LETTERS.Follow the instructions on the web-page and go through the preparation part, text about complaint letters and the task. If the latter, make them the right length and level of formality for your business life. Now, you try it! “ Sorry to bother you, but I think there’s something wrong with the toilet in my room. In this second of two online exercises on complaining/problems in a restaurant, we continue to look at English vocabulary and phrases that are used for both common problems that customers have in restaurants and for complaining. Congrats, you're now a member here, too. This worksheet provides a list of common reasons for people to complain. This step is often not necessary. Targets: enhancing arg... Role-play to make a complaint at a restaurant. (Shopping-related picture descriptions, role plays, questions). Complaint letters - … 9. By Kisdobos. Especially useful when you plan to travel. Various conversation activities focusing on complaining and blaming language. ______________________________________________________________, dry cleaner – n. a shop where clothes and other cloth items are cleaned using special chemicals, complain – v. to say or write that you are unhappy, sick, or uncomfortable, or that you do not like something, polite – adj. Then listen again to check. I just noticed some damage to my clothing. Politeness is universally appreciated, even when making complaints, no matter what language a person speaks, but in learning English as a Second Language (ESL), some students may struggle with formulas and functions of certain English phrases meant to politely start a conversation involving a complaint. “ Excuse me, but there’s a problem with the air conditioning in my room”. But you are. For example, politely telling people that they forgot something or overcharged you usually leads to a speedy solution. You need to have a few pieces of clothing professionally cleaned for a party. having or showing good manners or respect for other people, bother – v. to cause someone to feel annoyed, phrase – n. a group of two or more words that express a single idea but do not usually form a complete sentence, mouse – n. a very small animal that has a pointed nose and a long, thin tail, manager – n. someone who runs a business or department, reimburse – v. to pay someone an amount of money equal to an amount that person has spent, data – n. information that is produced or stored by a computer. Explain that the students are going to make complaints and requests using the words and pictures on their cards as prompts. George Grow was the editor. Complaint letters - organization 2. You finally reach a representative by phone. Activity 1. Key included. Conclude by sharing information from Teacher Resource Sheet: Making a complaint. I cleaned those myself. Restaurant vocabulary for problems and complaints, Role play to encourage speaking English in a working enviroment, A role play to encourage speaking in a working enviroment. The second step is to say how you feel about the problem. There seems to be a mistake on my billing statement. Here is how you can do that in person: Could you please redirect my call to the manager? Depending on who the listener is, you or they may need to ask someone else to take action. Now, you try it! ESL exercises (with pictures) for describing houses using language for household objects, adjectives, problems, pests & complaints (PDF) & Find more worksheets from the same site here Some problems have easy, quick solutions. But these pieces are new and I’ve only worn them once. You can read more about indirect questions in a past Everyday Grammar program. 8. There are also some scenario picture c... Would you like to become a member of iSLCollective ? You have been planning a trip for months and are very excited. CLICK on: COMPLAINING CLlCK on: EXERCISES and find some more exercises and tasks about DEALING WITH COMPLAINTS. For example, if you are at a restaurant and the server forgets to bring your drink, saying, “You didn’t bring my drink” may be too direct. Match the complaints with the people you can complain t Hi! If you happen to need the language of complaints, let me give you a list of the most suitable and most common English phrases and expressions for this purpose: Very formal English expressions for making complaints I’d like to It may sound critical and cause the server to become defensive. People will be more willing to help you if you use manners and That means you will also miss a special event tomorrow at your destination. Write your answers in the comments area. The following are real complaints from research carried out by Thomas Cook and ABTA. Situation 1: Dealing with complaints phrases Politeness Are these phrases okay for you, or do they need to be shortened? The code has been copied to your clipboard. What you are apologizing for is the fact that a customer is unhappy. I think you may have overcharged me. I’m sorry to have to say this, but I noticed some damage to my clothing. I think you may have forgotten to bring my drink. :) Please wait until page is refreshed! Your first flight is delayed three times, which will cause you to miss your connecting flight. Conversation lesson on complaining and blaming. There is now a hole in your favorite shirt and your pants have changed color. Buy Training Materials on Handling Complaints. 6 Minute English: 8 August 2013 This page has been archived and is no longer updated. Take our quick complaint handling quiz to test your customer support expertise. Note that, in the last example, the speaker used two phrases: “There seems to be a mistake…” and “I think you may have…”. "English Listening Quiz - Talking to a Customer." Name of Caller with Problem: Richard Canalez. Now, let’s put the steps together. But the other texts people a lot and doesn’t do enough work. The first step is to explain the problem. Is there any chance you could reimburse me? Be polite! When you make a complaint, the goal is to do it well so you get the solution you want. Here are some tips for complaining politely: Making Complaints Before we make a complaint, we usually make a neutral statement that provides some context: Six exercises on the topic "Health Complaints": useful words and phrases, different dialogues with different tasks, your advice to your f... 9,533 Downloads. By registering to and using our site, you agree to our use of cookies. Look at the situations below and choose one or two to practice making a complaint. Find out more about page archiving. Talk to the airline worker about the problem. But imagine that you are receiving poor service at a hotel or restaurant or that a repair shop has damaged your belongings. Troubles, problems and complaints which happen everyday. And you already bought tickets to the event. The easiest and most common way to do this is to first of all give the topic of the call without saying that there is a problem associated with it yet, with phrases like: And today’s Confident English lesson will show you “Just like the lesson on Making Complaints Politely, responding to a complaint is a delicate situation that must be handled correctly. But you see a problem. You can use indirect questions to ask for action. But, again, use your best judgment to decide whether this step is needed. You have been trying to reach the billing department for a week but they keep putting you on hold for more than 20 minutes. I just noticed some damage to my clothing. Check back with the customer later to make sure the problem was resolved to their satisfaction. I’m sorry to bother you, but my hotel room is a little cold. Talk to them about the problem. The answers are not given in exactly the same order. But sometimes we HAVE to do it. A: Good morning, British Council It teaches them how to write a formal letter of complaint; it consists of ... Have a little fun in your classroom and work with all these ridiculous complaints made by holidaymakers. A faulty […] Students answer questions and practice generating common complaints. In this engaging complaining and apologizing exercises PDF, students learn how to make and deal with common complaints, make requests and apologies. Here is another opening line: “I’m sorry to have to say this but…”. Participants learn how to master the art of handling complaints in roles such as customer service personnel. Talk to the lazy student or the professor about the problem. It is unacceptable that the problem hasn’t been resolved. The project is 25% of your final grade. A customer leaves a message of complaint on an answering machine. Feifei and Neil learn how to deal with customer complaints. In this class students will learn some useful phrases for making complaints, discuss complaining and practice the language in a role-play. Some of the worksheets displayed are Is it ok to complain, Lesson 12 social skill making a complaint, Complaining and apologizing language, Lesson share, Teaching using the the topic work, Teachers notes complaint cards, Grievance work date of person making complaint, Letter writing. An effective complaint often has three steps: explaining the problem; stating your feelings; and asking for action. Here is an example of different restaurant complaints that we can have, with complaints vocabulary in relation to eating topic. Or, maybe there is a continuing issue at your apartment building. If they have given you the typical complaints as pre-course work then you will have time to prepare for this - and to provide a summary handout of the ideal responses. Students begin the lesson by looking at some common complaints made by parents and teenagers. Let’s hear an example of someone telling their building manager about a problem: Hi Vanessa. A tourist at a top African game lodge overlooking a waterhole, who spotted a visibly aroused elephant, complained that the sight of this rampant beast ruined his honeymoon by making him feel “inadequate”. In this Everyday Grammar program, we will tell you how to make a complaint in English. However, it is unlikely your English will improve much just by reading. A collection of downloadable worksheets, exercises and activities to teach Complaints, shared by English language teachers. Change the situations to match the ones you meet in your life. In such cases, ask for the store’s manager. Your payment is now late. Some people do steps 1 and 2, but forget step 3. This has been an issue for three months now. Have fun. If not, then you risk losing a … Or you can simplify it with the words: “I just noticed…”. One is a hard worker. All the role plays are based on real situation so if you are in favour of communicative approach you... An intermediate-level speaking lesson on shopping. The cost of your monthly bill is now double what is was. Or you might say: “There seems to be a mistake…”. Calling to: Panasonic. These are cards for drilling the expressions of making complaints and apologizing (saying sorry). How are you? The shirt has a hole and the pants have changed color. Making complaints is a difficult thing to do. It's a great way to get students to express their feelings and opinions. He hands you the clothes, smiles and says, “That will be $21.50 please.”. Further information and resources provided. The URL has been copied to your clipboard, Everyday Grammar: How to Make a Complaint in English. Work with a partner making and responding to the complaints in the table below. Making complaints by telephone When it comes to mentioning the topic of the complaint, it is again best to be indirect and take your time. It works well in my class. English Conversation Topics: Making a complaint October 12, 2015 by Dave Pearl Leave a Comment In this video of the English Conversation Topics series, I take you through an English conversation for calling a company and making a complaint. Ss order descriptions of the functions of paragraphs in a complaint letter. Then, you can use phrases like “This is…” or “It is…” followed by one or more descriptive words. Ask for the specifics of the problem – what happened or what went wrong. The third step is to ask for action to be taken on the problem. With complaints in English it’s important to: Keep your cool and stay calm Use a lot of vocabulary, particularly adjectives to fully describe your situation. This gives them the 'what' to do/say - ideally, you would also want to spend time looking at the 'how'. Hi. So you take them to a dry cleaner. Showing top 8 worksheets in the category - Making A Complaint. Explain that the steps for making a complaint need to be considered on a case-by-case basis but there are strategies which often work. I can’t find the jewelry I left on my hotel room. This worksheet helps students to develop their writing skills. You are very unhappy. Your Internet company recently changed your data plan without your permission. Complaint letters - organization 1. I don’t remember damaging anything. Use the dialogs from the bottom of the Dealing with Complaints Lesson Page. But it’s 12 hours of travel time, including two flights. Have a little fun in your classroom and work with all these ridiculous complaints made by … Hi, there. The Answering Machine Complaint. Oh, hi! It will depend on how bad the problem is. How’s it going? In some countries (especially the UK) people often complain. The hard working student is not bothered by the lazy student. Imagine that you are visiting friends or family in an English-speaking country. Beare, Kenneth. Theresa Blanding speaking.— Yes Ms. Blanding, My name is Tony Dodd, I have a complaint about your service. Your professor puts students into small groups for a big project. This great speaking topic but I find it generates interest, a lot of input and can be a lot of fun. So here are a few phrases you can use to politely explain your problem. Write your answers in the comments area. Most of us do not enjoy complaining. Talking about complaints and annoyances in the classroom is a great way to engage students. These free English dialogues give examples of English that you can use in real life situations. It also ... Six exercises on the topic "Health Complaints": useful words and phrases, different dialogues with different tasks, your advice to your f... Have a little fun in your classroom and work with all these ridiculous complaints made by holidaymakers. How’s it going? Take the quiz. But how do you express this effectively? But we know the complainer was polite and used steps 1 and 3. You will need: The handout with phrases for complaining: Complaining in English (language) Listen to a few examples: Is there any chance you could turn the heat up? Enojoy! When you go to get your clothing from the cleaners, the man working there is friendly. Hmm. Welcome to ESL Printables , the website where English Language teachers exchange resources: worksheets, lesson plans, activities, etc. You are in a group with two other people. In this first of two online exercises on complaining/problems in a restaurant, you'll learn vocabulary and phrases in English that are used for both common problems that customers have in restaurants and for complaining. _____________________________________________________________. Print them out and practise them with friends and fellow students. Alice Bryant wrote this story for Learning English. This is an important step.