Business English:
Dealing with Complaints - Lesson
Complaints are never a happy
occasion, particularly if
you are trying to keep a
client or customer happy AND
you are struggling with the
language.
It is important to remember
that responding to a
complaint always has FOUR
parts:
Apologize for the
problem - no matter if you
created it or not - no
matter whether the issue is
true or not. What you
are apologizing for is the
fact that a customer is
unhappy. That's not
good for business.
Ask
for the specifics of the
problem - what happened or
what went wrong.
Say that you will take
action [and take it!],
and
Check back with the
customer later to make sure
the problem was resolved to
their satisfaction.
***
Instructors: It is important
- especially with complaints
- that you ask your students
for examples of the
complaints they deal with.
You will be very surprised
about the wide variety and
the issues that come up and
it is helpful for the
students to use those
examples in practice in
class.***
Review the three parts of
responses below:
|
1. Apologizing:
I'm sorry . . .
I'm sorry to
hear that . . .
I apologize . .
.
I apologize for
the problem . .
.
I apologize for
the
inconvenience .
. .
My apologies . .
.
2. Ask for
Specifics
Please tell me
exactly what the
problem is
Please tell me
exactly what
happened
3. Take
Action
I will send
someone to take
care of it
We will send the
correct order
tomorrow
Let me check
with the
shippers and see
what happened
I don't know
what happened,
but I will get
back with you
later today
Let me
straighten this
out and I will
get back to you
today with the
solution.
4. Check
back - after the
situation has
been corrected
Ms. Chen, did
everything work
out to your
satisfaction?
Mr. Wozniak, I
wanted to see if
the problem has
been resolved to
your
satisfaction.
Did everything
work out okay?
Did you get what
you
needed/wanted? |
Practice the two dialogs
below with a partner.
Be sure to exchange roles so
that are both the person
with a complaint and the
person responding to the
complaint.
|
Dialog 1 - The
missing parts .
. . |
|
A:
Hello Mr. Chen,
may I help you? |
|
B:
Yes, I ordered
spare parts for
my generator,
but you sent the
wrong parts. |
|
A; Oh no!
Can you tell me
exactly what
parts you
ordered and what
you got? |
|
B: Yes, I
ordered two of
part number
B235C, but I got
two B235Ds
instead!
They won't fit
my generator. |
|
A: I'm very
sorry, let me
check and see if
we have the
correct parts
here right now
and if we do, I
can have someone
deliver them
this afternoon.
Would that be
okay?
|
|
B: Yes, please -
the sooner I
have the parts
the better. |
|
Later . . . . |
|
A: Hello Mr.
Chen, did you
get the correct
parts I sent
over ? Are
they exactly
what you needed? |
|
B: Yes, they
just arrived.
Thank you. |
|
A: My pleasure
Mr. Chen, again,
sorry for the
inconvenience. |
|
|
|
Dialog 2 -
Shoddy service .
. . |
|
A: Hello,
Anderson Pool
Service, may I
help you? |
|
B: Yes this
Dolly McBride,
someone was
supposed to
clean my
swimming pool
today. No
one came. |
|
A: I'm sorry Ms.
McBride, let me
check the
schedule and see
what went wrong.
Can I send
someone over
first thing
tomorrow
morning? |
|
B: Yes, that
would be okay. |
|
Tomorrow . . .
|
|
A: Hello Ms.
McBride? |
|
B: Yes? |
|
A: Did the pool
cleaner get over
there okay this
morning? |
|
B: Yes,
everything is
fine now.
Thank you. |
|
A: Thank you,
Ms. McBride -
and again - my
apologies for
the mix-up*
yesterday. |
|
|
|
* mix-up
means confusion
or problem |
When you are
finished with
this lesson go
to the
Complaints
Activities |
