How to handle a complaint - Business English

12,023 views ・ 2021-07-02

Simple English Videos


Please double-click on the English subtitles below to play the video.

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Today we’re going to show you how  you can handle complaints in English. 
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And how you shouldn’t handle them. This is going to be a lesson  
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in American English politeness. And British English politeness. 
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OK Jay, I’ve got a saying for you: ‘The  customer is always right’. Do you agree? 
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Hmm. No, of course not. Customers  are human and they make mistakes. 
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In Germany they have a similar saying.  The customer is king. And in Japanese they 
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say the customer is God. Yeah, but customers may not have  
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understood the contract. And some customers might lie and cheat. 
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Well, let’s see what you think. Watch a  telephone call and see who you think was 
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in the wrong. 
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Yeah? At last, a human being. 
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What? I’ve spent half an hour trying to get through your  
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automated telephone system. Well, that’s nothing  
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to do with me. What do you want? I ordered a sun umbrella from you three weeks ago.  
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It hasn’t arrived, but you’ve charged my credit card $120! 
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Who are you? Vicki Hollett. 
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And you ordered what? A sun umbrella. 
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What date was that? 
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June 7th and you billed my credit  card on June the fourteenth. …  
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Hello? … Hello? Are you still there? 
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Yeah, I’m looking it up. OK, we  delivered it on the thirteenth. 
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That’s nonsense. Aha! And you signed for it. 
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What? No, I didn’t! We’ve got a signature, so you must be lying! 
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This is outrageous. I want  to speak to a supervisor! 
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We don’t have supervisors  here. We all work in a team. 
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Well, I’m telling American  Express not to pay this bill! 
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So who was in the wrong there? Well, obviously you!  
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You were so rude! I’ll never buy from you again. Well, you were pretty rude too. 
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What do you mean? You started complaining right from the start. 
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At last, a human being. Well, everyone gets frustrated  
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with those automated systems. But it wasn’t my fault. 
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And then you didn’t pay  attention and listen to me! 
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I ordered a sun umbrella from you three weeks ago. 
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Who are you? Vicki Hollett. 
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And you ordered what? You see, I’d just told you what the problem was! 
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But you were so impatient. I needed  to look it up on the computer. 
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Oh, I know. Hello? … Hello? Are you still there? 
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If you’d told me you were looking it up,  I wouldn’t have got impatient. I had no 
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idea what you were doing. But here’s the thing. We’d delivered that umbrella  
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3 weeks ago, so you were in the wrong. 
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But I didn’t receive it. Uh-uh. We know you did  
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because you signed for it so we have proof. Aha! And you signed for it. 
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What? No I didn’t! We’ve got a signature, so you must be lying! 
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This is outrageous. I want  to speak to a supervisor! 
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We don’t have supervisors  here. We all work in a team. 
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That must be a terrible team Or a very supportive one! 
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Well I’m not paying for that umbrella. We’ll see. OK, we’re going to look at a  
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different call now. This time the conversation goes differently. 
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You have to listen carefully  and spot all the differences. 
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Sunshine Incorporated. Good morning At last, a human being. 
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I’m sorry? 
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Well, I’ve just spent half an hour trying  to get through your automated telephone 
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system. Oh I’m really  
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sorry about that. How can I help you? Well, I ordered a sun umbrella from you  
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three weeks ago. It hasn’t arrived, but you’ve charged my credit card $120! 
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That’s awful. May I have your name? Vicki Hollett. 
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And you ordered a sun  umbrella. What date was that? 
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June 7th and you charged my  credit card on the fourteenth. 
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OK. Bear with me. I’m just calling it  up on my screen. OK, now this is odd. 
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According to our records it was  delivered on the thirteenth. 
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Well, I didn’t receive it. That’s strange. It looks like we have  
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a signature from, … it looks like Jay something. 
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Oh, that’s my husband. He must  have forgotten to tell me. 
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So you have received it? Oh, he’s probably put it in the garage!  
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I’m so sorry to have troubled you. It’s no problem. If you find it  
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hasn’t arrived, just call us back. OK, I will. Thanks for your help! 
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You’re very welcome. Is there  anything else I can help you with? 
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No that’s it. Thanks very much. Bye. Bye-bye. 
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See. The customer isn’t always right. Yeah, but you were a lot nicer to deal with there. 
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Did you spot the differences?  Here’s the first one. 
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Sunshine Incorporated. Good morning At last, a human being. 
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I’m sorry? Well, I’ve just spent half an hour trying  
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to get through your automated telephone system. 
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Oh I’m really sorry about  that. How can I help you? 
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I was more professional there. I  answered with the company name. 
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And you apologized for keeping me waiting. Even though it wasn’t my fault.  
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‘I’m sorry’ can mean different things. We can say it when we don’t  
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hear what someone’s said. Sorry? And we can say ‘sorry’ when we make a mistake,  
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but it can also just mean ‘I’m sorry to hear that’. 
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But you didn’t actually accept the blame  for me having to wait, but you were 
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sympathetic and made me feel  better. And you listened and  
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told me what you were doing. 
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OK. Bear with me. I’m just calling it up  on my screen. OK, this is odd. According to 
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our records it was delivered on the thirteenth. So I felt you were professional again there. 
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We started to develop a relationship. Well, yeah. You didn’t accuse me of lying. 
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But I didn’t receive it. That’s strange. It’s looks like we have  
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a signature from, … it looks like Jay something. 
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So you said ‘That’s strange’. And you  sounded a little unsure and tentative. 
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Yeah, even though I knew you were wrong.  The customer isn’t always right but 
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sometimes you have to pretend they might be. And that made it easier for me to admit  
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that I was wrong. I’d buy from you again. Well, thank you. By the way, I have a bridge  
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in Brooklyn I’d like to sell you. So to summarize, if you have to  
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handle a complaint, be professional. And apologize. Sometimes you can say you’re sorry  
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without accepting any blame. And tell people what you’re doing  
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if you have to keep them waiting. It’s all about being polite really.  
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When you have to tell someone they’re wrong, do it nicely. 
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You can say ‘That’s strange’ or ‘That’s  odd’ instead of ‘You’re a liar!’ 
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We should make some more videos about  how to be diplomatic in English. They 
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could be useful. They’re on my list. We’re going to so  
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if you’d like to see them, make sure you’ve subscribed to our channel. 
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And if you’ve enjoyed this video,  why not share it with a friend? 
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I bet they’d like to see it too. Thanks for watching everyone.  
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Bye-bye. Bye now.
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