Pronunciation ChallengeHow to complain politely - English In A Minute

Thanks, Ken.

Thanks, Ken.Have a good day, everyone.

【Transcript】

Hey folks, Ken here. Today we’re discussing a very simple topic, yet it’s something we have to remind ourselves once in a long while, which is “How to complain politely”. Yup, that’s right, people complain all the time, if not screaming out loud, we would complain silently in our thoughts. Well, why do we complain? That’s easy because something doesn’t fit our expectations which brings us stress and discomfort. And you know what? It’s important to complain, it’s a healthy thing to do for us to tell others how we truly feel. However, we must learn to separate our temper from our true complaints, and the quickest way to do that is to be polite.

First, we can begin by saying, “I would like to”. For example, as you’re just beginning to dig into your pasta in a restaurant, and you found a strand of hair in your food. Instead of screaming, “Ugh! There’s hair in my food, I’m gonna sue you!”, you can try saying, “Hi, I would like to speak to the manager. Yes, I'd like to complain, please”. See what just happened? You went from scaring people to having a well-educated conversation.

You can also try saying, “I’m unhappy, unsatisfied about...”. For example, when you ordered food delivery and nothing showed up at your door after 2 hours, you can call customer service and say, “Hello, I’m unhappy about my late delivery, I’d like to cancel the order and apply for a refund at this point. Thank you.” That’s right, whatever you do, don’t lose your temper, because that affects your judgment.

If you’ve ever been a waiter/waitress or a customer service personnel then you can definitely relate to how unfair it is to be yelled at in the face when you have absolutely no idea why the customer is furious, and on top of that, there really isn’t much you can do to address the issue. After all, you’re just here getting paid for the 8-hour duty, and things would really be easier if customers can simply be a little more polite and tolerant.

Alright, I’m sure there are a bunch of other ways you can show politeness in a conversation, I don’t wanna list them out because nobody wants to listen to the same old stuff all over again. Just remember, respect others as you would respect yourself.

And now, here’s our [sentence of the day]

Hi, I would like to speak to the manager. Yes, I'd like to complain.

【Vocabulary words】

1. speak (verb tenses: speak/spoke/spoken)
to say words, to use the voice, or to have a conversation with someone

Ex: She speaks very highly of (= says good things about) the new principal.

2. manager
the person who is responsible for managing an organization

Ex: I would like to speak to your manager.

3. complain (noun form: complaint)
to tell someone formally that something is wrong

Ex: If the service was so bad why didn't you complain to the manager?


【Epilogue】

Alright and that’s all the time we have for today.
In the U.S., someone who’s always complaining out of the tiniest matter,
and always looking for the manager, is called a “Karen”
These people would demand justice and right for themselves,
but seldom realize that they’re simply acting crazy and unreasonable.
Let me know if you’ve ever met a “Karen” before in the comment sections.

Folks, remember to be polite.
And I’ll see you guys again next week. Bye!

‘Hi I would like to speak to the manager. Yes, I’d like to complain.