Complaining Expressions
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sergito71Complaining Expressions
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sergito71You're not happy with your hotel room. You want to complain.
But how do you do it politely and effectively? Pick up some tips
and tricks with our special functional English programme
Making complaints
This activity looks at the functional language you need for
making complaints. Things don't always go our way, so being
able to make a complaint is a useful skill in any language. But
how do you do it effectively and politely in English?
The British are famed for their politeness, so let's listen to Finn
and the Learning English team as they do some roleplays in a
fictional hotel. Which phrases do native English speakers use
when they are complaining?
To do
Listen to the programme. What is missing from both Rob and
Catherine's hotel rooms?
Language tips
So what was missing from Rob and Catherine's rooms?
Slippers! Essential in any good hotel room.
Now let's remind ourselves of the language tips and tricks that
can help us to make better complaints:
1) Tell a story
Don't go straight into your problem or complaint. Give a little
background first, so the listener understands your situation
better. Don't make it too long though! Here are two good
examples from the programme:
• I checked into the room on the 4th floor just a few minutes
ago. It's a lovely room, but the problem is that I was really
desperate for a drink and the mini-bar's empty.
• Because I couldn't get a drink out of the mini-bar I was
trying to make a cup of tea, but
the kettle isn’t working.
2) Use softening language
Instead of directly saying that something is bad or not working,
you can soften it by using seem to or appear to.
The form is seem to + infinitive + the problem
Often, the infinitive is be. For example:
• Sorry, there seems to be a problem with the radio.
• Excuse me, there appears to be a problem with your
ticket.
And these sentences, in the negative, take auxiliaries
like can't and don't:
• I can't seem to switch on the TV.
• There don't appear to be any slippers in the room.
This was our second special programme teaching you
functional language. The first was how to haggle, in Unit 1 of
this course.
Next
So, those are our two top tips for making complaints. Would
you like to try your knowledge of this language? Test yourself in
our quiz, next.
Activity 2
Slippers...
... there don't seem to be any!
You've heard Rob and Catherine complaining about the lack of
slippers in their rooms. Poor things, we don't want their feet to
get cold! And if you're ever in the same position, we hope that
the tips you learned mean you won't get cold feet either.
Remember, if you want to be both polite and firm:
1) Give a bit of background before you talk about the problem
2) Use phrases like seem to and appear to to soften your
language
Read the text and complete the activity
To do
So, now it's your turn to put this new language to the test. We're
going to give you some possible problems with a hotel room,
and you have to choose the answer which is both polite and
firm, according to our programme! How many successful
complaints can you make?
