How to Make a Complaint in English | 6 Simple Steps

Most of us tend to have a negative view of complaints or making

complaints,

but then the juicer you bought stops working after just

three uses or the flowers you ordered to celebrate a friend's

birthday, never got delivered, or the hotel you booked for your vacation.

Didn't tell you that they're under construction right now.

When you're disappointed in a product service or outcome,

let's talk about how to complain in English and get results.

If you don't already know, I'm Annemarie with Speak Confident English,

everything I do here is designed to help you get the confidence you want for

your life and work in English.

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where I highlight my confidence and fluency building strategies,

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and in depth communication training,

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Now let's get back to the art of making complaints in English and getting the

results that you want. In other words,

how do you set aside those negative feelings about making a complaint

and instead learn how to complain in a way that leads to a positive

outcome for everyone.

The truth is most companies and service providers want you to be happy

with their service or product. And if you complain effectively,

it helps them to improve their customer service. Going forward.

In this lesson today,

we're going to walk through six steps that allow you to make

a complaint in English effectively.

And along the way I'll share with you key phrases and vocabulary

you can use to help you do that. Step. Number one,

get your emotions out before you complain.

The most successful complaints are communicated in a confident

and calm manner. This is true.

Whether you're writing the complaint in an email or you're making the complaint

on the phone or face to face to do this effectively,

it's important to vent all your negative emotions in advance

to vent means to give free expression to strong emotions.

And you can do this by writing out all those angry,

frustrated,

irritated feelings that you have before you actually make the complaint,

get all those negative feelings out on paper, release them,

and then move on to step. Number two,

be clear about the result you want from making the complaint in English.

As you prepare to make your complaint or to go through the steps I'm going to

share with you next.

It's important to start with being clear about the result that you

want to get. For example, are you seeking a refund,

a discount, an apology,

or a replacement of something that you've bought a good question to ask

yourself is what will make you feel better about this situation?

It's important to identify what your goal is so that you can make that

goal or the result that you want clear in the complaint.

Now I'm sure I don't need to say this,

but I will just in case when you are identifying the result that you

want, it's important,

that result is proportional to the problem that you experienced.

For example,

a realistic result of complaining about a terrible experience at a

restaurant might be the request of a refund or a

credit for having another meal at the restaurant in the future.

For example,

if you've had a terrible night at a new restaurant in your neighborhood,

you might say my family and I were looking forward to visiting your restaurant

this evening. And of course I understand your restaurant has just opened.

You're still adjusting. However, we've had a number of negative responses,

including receiving the wrong food order,

then waiting an additional 60 minutes for the order to be corrected.

And then when our food finally arrived, it was cold.

We'd like to give your restaurant a second chance in the future, but to do that,

we'd like to request a refund on our dinner tonight.

I want you to keep this example. I've just shared with you in mind,

as we continue through the next steps of how to make it a complaint in English

and get the results you want.

Step number three is be prepared to back up your complaint

here. I'm using the phrasal verb to back up. And in this context,

it means to provide support,

to provide evidence to something as you prepare to make your complaint,

you'll want to be sure to have any purchase receipts or other

documents such as an invoice or clear examples of

poor service, a defective product,

or a disappointing outcome.

In the example I provided with the disappointing experience at a restaurant,

the evidence was referenced by reminding the server or the

restaurant manager of the wrong food order.

The 60 minute wait for the food order to be corrected and

the food arriving cold. Now,

I just mentioned the person I'm complaining to.

It might be the server or the restaurant manager.

And that leads me to step number four,

make sure you complain to the right person to ensure a quick

positive outcome.

You want to make your complaint to the person who has the authority

to solve the problem at a restaurant. For example,

a server may or may not be able to make the decision of whether

or not to charge you for a meal, even though you've had a bad experience.

So you may need to go to someone higher up or to someone with more authority.

Now, if you're not sure who is the right person to speak to,

here are some questions you can use in English to help you identify the right

person. Number one, who do I need to talk to,

to resolve this situation? Number two,

I'm not at all satisfied with this situation, who do I speak to,

to resolve this issue? Number three,

who is the right person for me to speak to about my dissatisfaction and number

four, who on your team has the authority to resolve this problem?

Once you're clear about the result you want, the evidence you need,

and you're sure that you're speaking to the right person,

it's time for step number five, be clear, succinct,

and polite in your complaint. In other words,

get to the heart of the issue quickly and focus on the most important details

while you do that, maintain polite language.

This doesn't mean that you have to apologize for making the complaint in

English.

And it doesn't mean that you have to feel badly about making the complaint,

but it does mean that you should continue using words such as please

thank you and modals in English,

which contribute to the overall level of politeness doing this

helps to create Goodwill or the desire to help you

solve the problem. Let's take a look at three real life,

examples of clear, succinct, polite complaints,

and some must have phrases you can use in English as well for situation.

Number one, let's imagine a mix up with your hotel reservation.

When you go to make your complaint,

you might say there's a problem with our room.

I reserved the junior suite. As you can see here from my reservation.

However, the room we were provided is a double room.

How can this be amended?

We'd like to have a junior suite as we reserved and paid for. Now,

let's talk about why this complaint works. First.

We're getting to the heart of the matter immediately,

rather than apologizing with I'm sorry for,

but we go directly to the issue. There's a problem with the room.

Following that a document is provided to show what the original reservation

was. The question,

how can this be amended maintains polite language

rather than making a demand. For example, saying, fix this,

we're asking a polite question with the modal can. And finally,

with this complaint, it's clear what the customer wants.

They want the suite that they originally reserved.

And now let's go onto our second example.

Imagine that a coworker or an employee has submitted something late.

When you're ready to complain about this, you could say,

I expected this to be submitted on time. What went wrong?

And how can we avoid this problem in the future in this complaint,

it's clear what result was expected and what

result is expected in the future.

And we're maintaining polite communication.

We're using a polite question to help identify what went wrong

and working toward a solution to avoid this problem in the future.

And now for our third example of a clear, succinct complaint,

let's imagine that you've just gone to the hair salon and you've gotten a bad

haircut. When it's time to complain. You might say,

I'm not satisfied with the haircut I've received.

Not only is it not flattering,

but I can also see that one side is longer than the other.

At the very least, I'd like to have this fixed for no extra charge,

just as we've outlined in all the steps. So far,

we focus immediately on the problem at hand,

we also provide clear evidence or support for our dissatisfaction,

and we indicate what we want from making the complaint in English

from start to finish. We're also using polite, assertive language.

For example, in making a request for the outcome.

At the very least, I'd like we're using the modal word.

Once again,

modals automatically increase the level of politeness in our language.

Now that we've gone through those first five steps of how to make a complaint

in English, let's finish with step number six.

And I actually consider this a bonus step because it isn't necessary,

but it will help you effectively make a complaint.

Use this sandwich method for goodwill.

Perhaps you've heard of using the sandwich method when giving critical feedback

in English, this same method can be used when making a complaint.

What this means is to start with something positive. For example,

how long you've been a customer of this company or something you like about the

company doing this shows that you're being measured in your

complaint. In other words, you're approaching it in a thoughtful, careful way.

Then after your positive statement,

you go directly to your complaint.

That includes the relevant details and your request for how to fix

it. What is it that you want?

And finally end on an encouraging note. For example,

I'm certain you can resolve this issue for me,

or I would like to continue being a customer.

And I'm hopeful that you can find a resolution following this method

helps to establish Goodwill. This is a word I've used a couple of times.

Now Goodwill means a friendly, helpful,

or cooperative attitude. And of course, when you're making a complaint,

you want the person you're complaining to, to want to help you.

You want them to be cooperative and to find the best solution for you

following this method helps you achieve that goal.

You saw this sandwich method demonstrated.

And the example I shared earlier of having a negative experience at a restaurant

and making a complaint about it,

let's revisit that to look at how the sandwich method was used. First,

I started with something positive,

my family and I were looking forward to visiting your restaurant this evening.

And of course I understand your restaurant just opened and you're still

adjusting.

Then I moved on to making the complaint in English with my examples.

Here's what I said. However,

we've had a number of negative experiences this evening,

including receiving the wrong food order,

then waiting 60 minutes for it to be corrected.

And then when we finally received our food, it was cold.

Then after I made that complaint,

I ended on an encouraging note with the result that I

wanted as well. We'd like to give your restaurant a second chance in the future,

but to do that, we'd like to request a refund for our dinner tonight.

Now that you have these six steps for how to make a complaint in English

successfully and get the results you want, let's practice.

Think for a moment about a situation you had recently that made you want to

complain. Perhaps it was a late delivery, a disappointing experience,

or an order mix up.

How would you use the strategies and phrases you've learned today to complain

in English and get the results that you want,

write it down and then share it with me.

You can share your example complaint in the comment section below,

and while you're there,

make sure to review examples from other students in the Speak Confident

Englishcommunity.

This will help you think about how you can adapt what you've learned and

use these phrases in the future to effectively make complaints in English.

No matter what you're complaining about.

If you found this lesson useful to you today,

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Thank you so much for joining me today.

And I look forward to seeing you next time.