Dealing with A Complaint （上）

Useful tips

 When dealing with a complaint,keep the following points in mind:

Let the caller express their complaint. Don’t interrupt, but try to getall the details. Take notes.

Once they have finished complaining, summarize the complaint, clarifyany unclear details and show empathy.

 Apologize. Do not try to make excuses but provide an explanation if thecustomer requests one.

·State what you are going to do to resolve the situation.

· Tell the customer when they can expect results/feedback.

· Stay calm with the customer at all times. Separate the problem from theperson.

Conversation

Tony Hopps is phoning Kelly Masterman at Argonaut Mediterranean Cruisesto make a complaint.

Kelly M: Argonaut Mediterranean Cruises Ltd.

Tony H: Ah, this is Tony Hopps here. Is that KellyMasterman, the general manager?

Kelly M: Speaking.

Tony H: Ah, right. Well, you listen here, Ms Masterman. I’vejust arrived home from one of your eastern Mediterranean cruise ships – Queenof the Waves – and I’m not at all happy. I’ve got a whole list of complaints

Tony H: Well, first of all, we booked an expensive cabin onthe outside of the ship. But there was a problem with that cabin and there wereno others available on the outside. So we had to have one in the middle of theship and my wife spent three days feeling really seasick. Then, for the buffetlunch, it was supposed to be an all-you-can-eat buffet, but when we got thereat 2 p.m. we found that there were only a few bits of cheese and salad left forus. And then, in the programme for Saturday evening, it said there was afancy-dress party. So we dressed up, but we found that everybody else was justin jeans and T-shirts. It was so embarrassing!

Kelly M: Oh, youmust have felt terrible!

Tony H: Yes, we did. And finally, I sent my costume to theship’s laundry to be cleaned and it got lost. That really was the last straw!

Kelly M: So, let mejust recap. In a nutshell, you didn’t get the cabin you ordered, the buffetlunch was finished by the time you got there, the fancy-dress party listed inthe programme didn’t take place, and your costume was lost.

Tony H: That’s right.

Kelly M:

Well, first of all, we’re not going to try to pass the buck here, so we would like to apologize to you forthese problems. This is what I propose: I’m going to call the ship andsee if I can find out what was going on. Can I call you back in 20 minutes?

Tony H: Um… yes, that’s fine. Do you have my number? It’s…

Tony H: Tony Hopps speaking.

Kelly M: Hello, Mr Hopps. It’s Kelly Masterman here. Ispoke to the ship’s first officer. It seems that the porthole in your cabin wasbroken by the previous passenger and water was coming in. but he apologized fornot explaining what the problem was to you. I’m afraid we can’t refund the whole cost of the trip, but we canrefund you the extra cost for the cabin that you didn’t have.

Hmm, that doesn’tseem much. And my fancy-dress costume?

Kelly M: On our website you can find a document for insuranceclaims. Send in the form and we’ll dealwith that within a week. But, as I said, we are really very sorry for these difficulties. So, we would like to offer you a 10 percent discount the next time you book an Argonaut holidays as compensation for the problems you had. Is that acceptable to youMr Hopps?

Tony H: Well, er, yes. I think that sounds reasonable.

Understanding

Kelly Masterman took some notes during her phone call with Tony Hopps.Complete her notes.  

Saying it accurately

 Match the two havles of thesentences following the example.

1.    Could youbear with me for 10 minutes …

2.    I’m terriblysorry for the …

3.    I canimagine …

4.    I proposethat …

5.    I’ll makesure that it …

6.    That must …

7.    Could youtell me …

8.    I doapologize …

A.   … getsdone by the end of the week.

B.   … for ourpart in this.

C.   … problemsthat you’re experiencing.

D.   … havebeen dreadful.

E.   … we offeryou some sort of compensation.

F.    … exactlywhat happened?

G.   … while Iget to the bottom of what went wrong here?

H.   … that wasterrible.

Put the highlighted sentences andthe sentences above in the correct category.

1.   To show regret/empathy

2.   To find out what the problem is

3.   To apologize

4.   To propose a solution/to promise action