- Hi there, I'm your English coach, Christina
and welcome to Speak English with Christina
where you'll learn about American culture
and business know how to become confident in English.
Now, whether you are at a restaurant,
at the airport or checking into a hotel,
it's likely that there will be
a misunderstanding at some point.
Misunderstandings happen to everyone,
no matter the language.
However, if you're a visitor traveling to the United States
and practicing your American English,
a misunderstanding can be more frustrating than usual.
When something goes wrong or a situation
doesn't meet your expectations,
especially because someone else made a mistake,
it's natural to feel angry and to complain.
But if you want to turn the situation around
for a positive experience,
you need to know how to speak courteously and politely.
Why?
Because that's what our parents taught us,
you know, you can catch more flies with honey
and this goes for American flies as well
and in this episode, you'll learn
how to complain politely in American English.
Let's go.
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When complaining, it helps to use
polite non-threatening language.
When you're upset or frustrated and want to complain,
being able to express yourself in American English
in a calm and effective way is crucial.
The Faster Fluency Club meets three times per week.
The group session of motivated students is always small,
so you have plenty of opportunity
to practice your speaking skills.
Each session is guided by one of my fantastic
expert English teachers who will guide you on vocabulary,
correct your mistakes and much more,
so that you can gain fluency faster.
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When you express anger and complain,
people can become defensive.
They may not listen to you and insist that they are right.
So try this instead.
Take a deep breath
and prepare a polite complaint in American English.
I'll introduce a few phrases that you can use
for common mishaps at a restaurant or a hotel
but first, let's go over some key vocabulary
and phrases that you can use.
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The first step in your polite complaint is to get attention
and the best way to go about this is to start
with a gentle attention getter.
For example, you can start your complaint
with excuse me, or pardon me.
Excuse me, and pardon me are polite ways to start a sentence
when you need to get someone's attention.
You can also start with an apology such as sorry
and I know it sounds maybe a bit strange,
after all you are the person with the complaint,
so why should you apologize but apologizing
to get someone's attention is very common
and we use it all the time because it works.
For example, sorry to bother you, but
and I'm sorry to have to say this but.
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There's no turning back now,
you are ready to continue the sentence
and express your opinion that there's a problem.
For example, after you get the person's attention,
you can say, I'm afraid there's a problem,
I'm afraid there's a problem
or I'd like to make a complaint about
or perhaps there was a misunderstanding but
or more formally, I'd like to report an issue with.
You can also let the person know that
you are not blaming them for the issue.
For example, I know this isn't your fault, but,
I know this isn't your fault but
and this is a good one,
especially with servers in restaurants.
For example, when your food is cold,
your meat isn't cooked correctly,
or they forgot to add that extra cheese that you asked for
and paid for on top of your not so healthy salad.
Okay, so we've gotten attention,
we've prepared our listener that there is a disagreement,
next, let's finally make the complaint.
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At this point, you have your listener's attention
and they know that you have a complaint
and they are shaking in their boots because the U.S
is a service-based economy where the customer is king,
the customer is always right and probably most importantly,
the customer pays the tip.
So now, you state your complaint, it's that simple.
Well, you did already get their attention
and apologize for having to complain,
so now you just state the problem.
A complaint may sound like this,
excuse me, I know this isn't your fault,
but I ordered my steak well done and it's not cooked enough.
Another example, sorry to bother you,
but I'd like to make a complaint about a rude employee.
I asked three times for some help, he looked at me
and then he just walked away and one more just for fun,
I'm sorry, but I'd like to report an issue
with the software I bought the other day.
It doesn't seem to work on my computer.
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At the restaurant, you ordered
a cheeseburger and french fries.
However, the waiter brought you fish sticks.
That's not what you ordered.
So, how can you complain politely,
so that you get what you want?
Of course, your first reaction may be to say,
I didn't order that.
However, this approach will likely lead to
a battle with the waiter.
That's not what I ordered.
No, it's not.
No, it's, no, no, it's not.
Often, how you say something
is as important as what you say.
I didn't order that sounds very abrupt
and sure, almost aggressive.
If I said the same phrase but changed the intonation,
I can make this phrase sound less aggressive.
I didn't order that.
Still, there is a way to sound more polite,
both in what you say and how you say it.
In the next examples, pay attention to the words I say
but also to the way I say them
and try to mimic my intonation.
For example, a polite approach would be,
excuse me, sir, I'm sorry to bother you,
but this isn't what I ordered
or you could say, excuse me, sir,
there have been a misunderstanding.
I think they got the order wrong.
Let's imagine we are still at the restaurant
but the waiter hasn't brought us our food.
We've been waiting for a long time.
You're hungry and angry, which makes for a potentially
dangerous combination of frustration
and we even have a word in American English
for this phenomenon and that's hangry.
Hangry is a relatively new word
that simply combines angry and hungry.
So when you're hangry, you can be irritable
and difficult to deal with.
In this instance, if you've been waiting a long time,
you can say, excuse me waiter,
I'm sorry to bother you, but we have somewhere to be.
Could you check on our order please?
And they will understand that you have been waiting too long
and you are not happy about it.
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Let's imagine that you have arrived
at your destination after a long flight
and you can't wait to check into your hotel and take a nap.
But there's a problem.
You asked for a non-smoking room and you smell smoke
and the bed sheets are dirty
and the view outside is a parking lot,
not the beach view that you were promised
and paid for online.
At the front desk, you can say, hello,
I'm sorry to bother you,
but I have a complaint about my room.
I reserved a non-smoking room with a beach view
and the room smells like smoke
and looks over the parking lot.
Do you think you can maybe do something about that?
Notice here how, at the end of the complaint,
you specifically asked them to do something.
In a hotel, there are likely several options
for the staff to solve your problem.
Move you to another room, offer you a partial refund,
maybe even give you vouchers for free mojitos
at the hotel bar, woo-hoo!
Well, you didn't have to ask for a specific solution,
but just ask, do you think maybe
you can do something about it.
(upbeat music)
Before we finish, here are a few
more things to keep in mind.
When you're frustrated or angry,
before speaking with the customer service representative
or the business personnel that you're upset with,
try to stay calm, keep your voice relaxed
and pay special attention to the intonation of your words
and it may help to end your complaints with a question.
In this way, your complaint doesn't sound like a command.
For example, you can say, how can we fix this?
Or what do you recommend?
Or, like we saw earlier,
do you think you can maybe do something about that?
This lets the listener know that
you want to come to a solution
and finally, you can always ask to speak to the manager.
After all, it's the manager's job to make sure
that customers are satisfied with the service.
For example, you could just say,
I'd like to speak to your manager, please.
Uh-oh.
(upbeat music)
Now, what about you?
Do you have any tips or key phrases that you've used
when complaining politely in American English?
If so, please share them in the comments
and if you're a busy professional who needs to level up
your fluency, but you find it difficult to do it alone,
let me help you.
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Thank you for learning with Speak English with Christina
and I'll see you next time.