How to Complain Politely

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Hello, welcome to another class. I’m Robin and today our topic is how to complain politely. Okay, so complaining is something that we have to do from time to time. First of all, let me define what it means to complain. So to complain means to say that something is wrong or not satisfactory. So satisfactory means we are not happy about it.

Okay, so when might we need to complain in our lives? Well, about products, for example, if you buy a product, you’re not satisfied with the product. Food, if you’re in a restaurant and you don’t like or you’re not satisfied with what you ordered. And services. So this could be in a store or someone who comes to your house to repair something, for example, that’s a service. So these are the main things that we tend to complain about. But I’m going to show you how to do it in a polite way. Okay. It’s always good to be polite. Also, what are the different ways that we complain? We complain in person, speaking to someone face to face. We complain on the phone, which can be more complicated, especially if you’re speaking in English and it’s not your native language. And we can also complain by email or online. Many stores have a form that you can fill out, for example, and there you can put your complaint. Okay, so I’m going to give you some polite ways to do this. But my tips, in general, are to be polite, always, when you are complaining and don’t accuse. Now, what do I mean by accuse? So if you are speaking to someone to complain, do not accuse that person of the mistake, the error, whatever was wrong. Don’t yell at them, don’t point your finger, you did this, you did that. This is not a good idea and it’s not a good way to get what you want. So the nicer you are, the more polite you are, the better the situation is going to be for you. In general, always, this is just a rule. The nicer you are, the more likely you are to get what you want.

Okay, so let’s look at some different ways to complain in English. Alright, so again, imagine you’re in a store, you could say to an employee “Sorry to bother you but…” Alright, so the “Sorry to bother you…” is another way of saying like, excuse me, to get someone’s attention. “Sorry to bother you, but…” “I’m afraid there’s a problem with the shoes”, for example. “I’m afraid there’s a problem with something”. Okay, so if you’re talking about shoes, or clothes, for example, you could say “They don’t fit” or “It doesn’t fit”. If it’s a dress or something singular. It doesn’t fit, they don’t fit. Okay, so you can, when you’re talking about clothes, this is normally the problem, so they can offer to bring you something else. Or to offer you some different options, if they don’t have your size, for example.

Okay. Some other ways to complain, you can say “There’s been a misunderstanding”. Okay, maybe you asked for something and they didn’t bring the thing that you asked for, it wasn’t exactly what you thought. “There’s been a misunderstanding.” Another way to say that, “There seems to be a mistake”, okay. There seems to be a mistake. So again, when you say it like this, you’re not accusing the person, not you made a mistake. You’re saying there seems to be a mistake. Okay. So let’s try to find a solution. All right, another example. “I understood that…” So maybe there was, if there was a misunderstanding, you understood something, and the company or the person understood something different. So “I understood that the shipping was included in the price”. Okay, so maybe you were charged more. So you said “I understood this”. But then they say “No, no, actually the shipping is not included”, for example.

Okay. Some other ways that you can complain. You can say “I want to make a complaint” or “I want to file a complaint”. To file means to put something in writing. So “I want to file a complaint”. Okay, if you’re talking about something online, you can say “I want to complain about the chair I bought from your website.” Okay, then you explain. So normally you go through this form. So what was the item that you bought? What is the problem? Okay, so let’s say “I’m not satisfied with”. “I’m not satisfied with”, for example, “the quality of the fabric”. I’m not satisfied with the quality of the fabric in this chair. So what are the different options? When you buy something and you don’t like it? Or you’re not satisfied with it? You can ask, “Would it be possible to reimburse me?” This means that they give you your money back. To reimburse means that you are paid back the money that you spent on the item. Another option. “Can I exchange it for something else?” Okay, so maybe they have a similar product, a similar item that, that you might like better, or that might replace what, what you bought? And the other option, “Is there any chance that you could give me store credit?” Okay, so maybe they cannot give you a refund, maybe the time, too much time has passed or something like that. So you can get store credit, which means that however much money you spent, they apply that to the next, the next time you purchase something. So they just discount or they remove that from the price. Okay. So that’s the most common way to complain when you are buying online, which is something that we’re doing a lot of these days, with the pandemic, etc. More people are buying online, Amazon, instead of going to the store. So it’s important to know how to explain online whenever you need to complain about something.

And finally, let’s talk about food. So, restaurants, bars and service, alright. So imagine you are in a restaurant, and you order something and they bring it to you and you say “This isn’t what I ordered”. Okay, so this is like a complaint but it’s just saying there’s been a mistake and misunderstanding. This isn’t what I ordered. Okay? Or maybe you order something but you ask for something removed – maybe you’re vegetarian or vegan and you asked them to remove the meat for example, “I think you may have forgotten to remove the meat” from the salad or you can also say “I think the kitchen forgot” or “the cook” instead of accusing the waiter or the waitress. You can say “I think the kitchen, I think the cook forgot to remove the meat·. Okay, so what are your options? You say “Can I get another one?” “Can I order something different?” Or if there’s not a clear solution, you can say “Can I please speak to the manager?” Okay, so maybe the waiter or the waitress isn’t allowed to change something for you. So you have to ask or they have to ask their manager. So “can I please speak to the manager?”.

Okay, so I have given you some expressions, phrases to politely complain in English. And now I want you to tell me in the comments; when was the last time that you had to make a complaint about something? What was it? Was it in person? Was it online? Was it by email or over the phone, (which is the most difficult) and tell me about your experience. And if you want to practice, think of a situation and make a complaint in the comments. So pick an item, or imagine you’re at a restaurant or something like that and write your complaint in the comments. Okay, so I hope this class has been useful. So the next time you are traveling, or you are practicing your English that you know how to complain in a polite way. Remember, as I said, be polite and you will most likely get what you want in return. So thank you for joining and I will see you here next week. Take care, bye!