When is it OK to complain? ☝️😠 | Practise your listening skills with Real Easy English — Transcript

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1. 0:00Hi Neil. How are you doing?
2. 0:01I'm very well, thank you Georgie. How are you?
3. 0:03I'm very well too.
4. 0:06Neil, in this episode of Real Easy English we're talking
5. 0:09about complaining – that is when you say something is wrong,
6. 0:14or you have a problem and you want to tell someone about it.
7. 0:17Yes. And people should remember that they can get a free worksheet
8. 0:22for this podcast at bbclearningenglish.com.
9. 0:31I know that you have a recent experience with this, don't you?
10. 0:36Ah yes.
11. 0:37Yeah, I booked somewhere to stay on a trip
12. 0:41and the reviews were all really good.
13. 0:43And then when I checked again, the reviews were all really bad.
14. 0:47Oh no! What were they about?
15. 0:49They said the place was dirty and things were broken.
16. 0:52Oh no. What did you do? Have you been yet?
17. 0:56Not yet. No.
18. 0:59So, what did you do?
19. 1:00I wrote to them.
20. 1:02I sent them an email to say I was worried.
21. 1:06And I asked them to assure me that the place would be clean
22. 1:11and working properly.
23. 1:13OK. And did you get a response?
24. 1:15I did, but I really hated the whole process.
25. 1:20Oh no! Why?
26. 1:22Because I don't like complaining.
27. 1:24No, neither do I.
28. 1:25I'm not very good at it.
29. 1:26I don't like to make people feel bad.
30. 1:29Even if there is a problem,
31. 1:30and I've paid for something and it should be a certain way,
32. 1:35but it's not and I'm entitled to complain, I still don't like it.
33. 1:41I just feel...
34. 1:43yeah, I feel embarrassed about it.
35. 1:45Yeah, it's not an easy thing to do, I think.
36. 1:48I think I'm getting better with age.
37. 1:51I think I'm getting braver.
38. 1:53I had an experience a couple of weeks ago.
39. 1:56Because I am subscribed to a food delivery service,
40. 2:02I get a box of food every week,
41. 2:05and the last two weeks the delivery has been very late and
42. 2:10I'm not happy about it.
43. 2:12And so, I found the courage – found the bravery
44. 2:17to call up the customer service and complain.
45. 2:21And I was very strong.
46. 2:23And I asked for money – a discount on the next order.
47. 2:27Wow, that sounds very well done.
48. 2:31I think when you do complain, sometimes you feel bad about it.
49. 2:37But if it works out well, like with you and hopefully with my accommodation...
50. 2:43Yes.
51. 2:44...afterwards you feel really good.
52. 2:46Yes.
53. 2:47Because you did what was right.
54. 2:51Yeah. If you've paid for something,
55. 2:53I think you can expect it to be what you paid for.
56. 2:56So, if it isn't, I think you're allowed to...
57. 3:00you're allowed to complain.
58. 3:01But there is a nice way to do it, isn't there?
59. 3:03There is, yeah. Be polite.
60. 3:05Don't be personal.
61. 3:07It's not often...
62. 3:08The person you are complaining to is often not the person responsible
63. 3:14for the mistake or whatever.
64. 3:16Yeah.
65. 3:16So, I think if you are respectful and polite but you know what you want.
66. 3:22So Neil, you and I find complaining quite stressful
67. 3:27so we don't do it very often.
68. 3:29But do you know anyone that complains all the time?
69. 3:32Oh yeah. Some people seem to love complaining
70. 3:36and they complain about things that I would not complain about.
71. 3:41Yeah, I've been in restaurants with groups of people where there's been
72. 3:45someone that has complained about something that is really embarrassing,
73. 3:50and you just think this is not a real, big issue.
74. 3:54Has that ever happened to you?
75. 3:55Yeah, the same thing.
76. 3:57I've been having a meal with some friends
77. 4:00and one of the people I was with – he used to be a waiter,
78. 4:04and he had a very clear idea about how waiters should behave.
79. 4:09And he didn't like something and he complained about it,
80. 4:14and nobody else really understood what he was talking about
81. 4:17or why he was complaining.
82. 4:19And it was embarrassing.
83. 4:21Did he complain to the waiter?
84. 4:23Yeah, but so everyone could hear.
85. 4:25Oh no. And how did the waiter respond?
86. 4:29I don't think he liked it very much.
87. 4:31Well, I used to work in restaurants.
88. 4:34I've also worked in customer service,
89. 4:36but in restaurants, if people have a reason to complain,
90. 4:41of course I'm going to try to fix it.
91. 4:44But it also depends how they say it.
92. 4:49If they're very rude, as a waitress you don't really want to help them.
93. 4:55But if they're polite and they have a reason to complain,
94. 4:57of course I'll try to fix their problems.
95. 5:08OK. Neil, it's time to recap the vocabulary we used in this conversation.
96. 5:12We used the verb 'complain', which is when you say something is wrong
97. 5:17or not good enough.
98. 5:18And we also heard the noun 'complaint'.
99. 5:21We did. And you 'make a complaint', don't you?
100. 5:23Yes. We also heard 'discount',
101. 5:25which is when you don't pay the full price of something.
102. 5:29You also said that people are 'entitled' to something,
103. 5:33and it means that that is something they should get if they paid for it.
104. 5:37And Neil, you said you were worried about the 'reviews' of the accommodation
105. 5:43for your trip, which is when people write what they think about the place.
106. 5:48That's it then, Georgie, isn't it?
107. 5:50But join us again, another time for more Real Easy English.
108. 5:53Don't forget, there's a free worksheet on the website.
109. 5:55Goodbye for now.
110. 5:56Goodbye.