Three facts, no blame
Read out your three factual sentences. Your partner listens for one thing only: whether the word you appears.
Every you in a complaint is an accusation, and an accusation gets defended against rather than fixed.
Six accusations. Match each to the factual version that gets it fixed instead.
Two complaints about the same thing
Complaint one
You cancelled my flight and you did not tell me. Then your staff at the airport were useless and nobody helped me. I had to sleep in the airport because of you. I want compensation and I want it this week.
Complaint two
I am writing about flight LX214 from Lisbon to Munich on 14 March, booking reference 8KP2QM.
The connecting flight was cancelled while the first leg was in the air. No notification was sent to the email address on the booking, and passengers who had checked in at a machine were not included in the rebooking that was carried out that afternoon. I was told this at the transfer desk at 21:40.
I have since submitted the online claim form twice, on 18 and 26 March, and have had no response beyond an automatic acknowledgement.
Under EU261 I would like to request the fixed compensation for a delay of over four hours, together with the cost of the replacement ticket, which came to €146. I have attached both receipts.
I would be grateful for a reply within fourteen days.
Five questions comparing the two. Both are angry. Only one is likely to work.
1. How many times does you appear in complaint two?
2. No notification was sent — why the passive?
3. Complaint two gives a flight number, a date, a reference and two dates of contact. What does that buy?
4. I would like to request rather than I want. Is complaint two less firm?
5. What does complaint one ask for, exactly?
The five moves, and the words for them
A complaint that gets answered
| Move | What goes in it | Words |
|---|---|---|
| 1 · Identify | What, when, which reference | I am writing about … on … , reference … |
| 2 · State the facts | What happened, in the passive, with no you | … was cancelled · no notification was sent · the item arrived damaged |
| 3 · What you have already done | Dates, attempts, responses | I have submitted … twice, on … and … · I have had no reply beyond … |
| 4 · What you want | Exact, with a basis if there is one | I would like to request … · I would be grateful if you could … |
| 5 · Hand over | A deadline, politely | I would be grateful for a reply within … |
Service and complaint vocabulary
Tap each. These are the words that make a complaint specific — and specificity is what firmness is made of.
Four sentences have been removed from this complaint. Put each back where the five-move shape puts it.
I am writing about order 44-2071, placed on 3 February and delivered on 11 February. [1]
The item arrived with the screen cracked and the box unsealed. [2] It was collected on 15 February by your courier.
[3] The reference on the returns portal still shows the item as "in transit", six weeks after collection.
Under the returns policy published on your site, a refund is due within thirty days of collection. [4] I have attached the collection receipt and both emails.
Firm, not rude
Eight sentences from real complaints. Rewrite each so it is firmer and contains no accusation.
1. You never sent me any information.
2. Your website is completely useless.
3. I want my money back now.
4. Nobody in your company knows anything.
5. You made me wait two hours.
6. This is completely unacceptable and I am furious.
7. You must give me compensation.
8. Your driver lied to me.
Two to six words per gap, one gap per move. Keep the word you out of it.
booking 8KP2QM, made on 3 January for the night of 14 March. On arrival the room the one booked: a single with no window rather than the twin that was confirmed. at reception on the night and again by email on 16 March, and have had no reply. the difference in rate, which is €62, refunded to the card used. a reply within fourteen days.
Five moves of a complaint. Put them in order.
The call you have to make
Task card · Speaking · Pairs · 4 minutes each
Your real complaint, made by phone. Your partner is the person answering, and they cannot solve it.
Four minutes, all five moves, and no accusation.
- Identify, state the facts, say what you have already done, say exactly what you want, ask for a date.
- You may not use the word you about anything that went wrong.
- At least three items from the vocabulary list.
- Your partner refuses in three parts and offers to escalate. Get a reference number before you hang up.
The listener taps the table on every you. No explanation, no interruption. Say the sentence again without it and carry on.
From the calls
Four sentences from the calls. Fix each.
1. You have to give me the reference number.
2. Your company sent the wrong item.
3. I want that you escalate this.
4. I am writing for complain about the delay.
Specificity is firmness
Three questions.
1. Why remove you from a complaint?
2. Which is firmer?
3. What are the five moves, in order?
Before next lesson. Choose one of the four settings — restaurant, hotel, shop, doctor — and write down five things you might have to ask for in it, and two things you might be refused.
Next lesson you play all four, twice, and the recording goes into your portfolio.