Functional Skills: Making Complaints
Making Complaints
Activity 1
Activity 5
Activity 9
Activity 2
Activity 6
Activity 10
Activity 3
Activity 7
Activity 11
Activity 4
Activity 8
Activity 12
Activity 1
Functional Skills: Making Complaints
Lesson 1: Verbal complaints
Discuss these examples of making complaints and what makes
them effective/ineffective? How could they be more effective?
“Oi, mate, this soup’s
stone cold. What do you
think you’re playing at?
You give us the coldshoulder when we came
in, took flaming ages
taking the order and now
the food’s minging!”
“Um, excuse me, um,
I’m not sure about this
soup. Is it meant to be
like this? I’m not sure
whether I like it. Sorry.”
“Waiter, this soup is
disgusting. I demand
you do something about
it now! I will not be
paying for this, you
know.”
Activity 1
Functional Skills: Making Complaints
Having listened to those complaints and discussed why they are
ineffective, list five points of advice for someone on how to make a
complaint effectively:
Activity 2
Functional Skills: Making Complaints
Listen to these responses from the waiter. Discuss with your partner
which are effective/ineffective and why.
“Oh, well it ain’t my fault,
it was like that when I
picked it up from the
kitchen. What do you
want me to do about it?”
“Yeah, well, I think it’s
meant to be like that.
Some soups are supposed
to be cold; I think it might
be one like that. I’m sure
it’s alright really.”
“I’ll get the chef from the
kitchen; he’s the one you
should be shouting at not
me. He’s always doing
things like this, he’s
useless.”
Activity 2
Functional Skills: Making Complaints
What should the waiter have said to the customer in this situation?
Could you use the same advice as for making complaints?
Select from the list below the points that should be made when
complaining about service/products and organise them into the order
you would state them:
Recommendations
First
Advantages
Opinions
Facts
Disadvantages
Feelings/emotions
Statistics
Last
Desired outcomes
Which
combination
and order of
points made
the
complaint
most
effectively?
Why do you
think that is?
Activity 2
Functional Skills: Making Complaints
Watch the clip below. Think about the service the customer
receives.
‘Prawns are off’
– Fawlty Towers (BBC)
(click here)
In pairs, role play making a complaint about poor service in a
restaurant using different combinations of the points you ordered
in the last side.
Activity 3
Functional Skills: Making Complaints
Using the five pieces of advice for you
have written, role play with your
complaining partner making a
complaint over the phone to your
internet provider about problems with
the service they provide.
Activity 4
Functional Skills: Making Complaints
In groups, plan an advice sheet about making complaints, giving
reasons why someone should complain, instances when it is/is not
appropriate to complain, how complaints should be made (or
should not be made), and how they should be dealt with (i.e. what
the provider should do in response to a complaint).
Reasons to complain
How to make a complaint
When it is/is not appropriate to complain
How to deal with a complaint
Who to complain to?
Activity 5
Functional Skills: Making Complaints
Identify who you would complain to about each of these problems:
A new shirt changed colour when
you washed it.
Your English class is boring one
day.
Your new camera takes fuzzy
pictures.
Your hotel room is very noisy.
Teacher
Manufacturer
Shop assistant
Manager
Receptionist
Pilot
A factory near your house makes a
lot of pollution.
There is a dead mouse inside a
packet of crisps you have bought
from a local shop.
There is a scratch on a new
appliance you have bought.
Your food on an aeroplane journey
tastes bad.
An on-line order is one day late
arriving.
Local councillor
Store manager
Stewardess
Customer services
Headteacher
Postal service
Activity 5
Functional Skills: Making Complaints
Discuss with your partner reasons why someone would
complain about each of these problems, and reasons why they
might not want to complain.
Reasons for complaining
Reasons for not complaining
A new shirt changed colour
when you washed it.
Your food on an aeroplane
journey tastes bad.
Your new camera takes fuzzy
pictures.
There is a dead mouse inside
a packet of crisps you have
bought from a local shop.
Your English class is boring
one day.
A factory near your house
makes a lot of pollution.
An on-line order is one day late
arriving.
There is a scratch on a new
appliance you have bought.
Your hotel room is very noisy.
Activity 6
Functional Skills: Making Complaints
Appropriate language
Complaining doesn’t mean getting nasty. Complete the following
sentence starters to make a complaint. Are some of these more suited
to verbal or written complaints?
I'm sorry to have to say this but...
I'm sorry to bother you, but...
Maybe you forgot to...
t
I think you might have forgotten to...
Excuse me if I'm out of line, but...
There may have been a misunderstanding about...
Don't get me wrong, but I think we should...
Using some of these appropriate starters, role play with your partner
one of the scenarios from Activity 5. Was your complaint dealt with
properly?
Activity 7
Functional Skills: Making Complaints
You are concerned about bullying of younger students in your
school.
Write to your Headteacher outlining your complaint. Remember to
include:
•
•
•
•
Facts
Feelings
Disadvantages
Desired outcomes
Plan your ideas
Activity 8
Functional Skills: Making Complaints
Making complaints
Organising paragraphs – sequence the following paragraphs into a
letter of complaint:
It is my belief that I should be refunded the additional ticket cost and be compensated
in some way for the inconvenience and stress caused by these delays.
I anticipate your swift response and a satisfactory outcome.
I caught the 07.22 from Bath to Swindon on the morning of 25th February which usually
gets me to Swindon by 07.56 to catch the 08.07 to London. However, on this day there
were severe delays which meant that the Bath train did not reach Swindon until 08.22,
meaning I missed my booked train to London.
I am writing to complain about the severely delayed train service from Bath to London
on 25th February.
Consequently, my delayed arrival in London meant I was late for an important meeting
and I looked very unprofessional. Unfortunately, my company lost business to a rival as
a result of this.
The guard on the London train made me buy another ticket as mine wasn’t valid on the
later train, which I feel was unnecessary given that it was the train company’s fault that
I was made late. I think this policy is unfair to customers who are reliant on connecting
trains to get them to work on time.
Activity 8
Functional Skills: Making Complaints
This is how the letter should be organised. Identify the topics of
each of the paragraphs:
I am writing to complain about the severely delayed train
service from Bath to London on 25th February.
I caught the 07.22 from Bath to Swindon on the morning of 25th
February which usually gets me to Swindon by 07.56 to catch
the 08.07 to London. However, on this day there were severe
delays which meant that the Bath train did not reach Swindon
until 08.22, meaning I missed my booked train to London.
The guard on the London train made me buy another ticket as
mine wasn’t valid on the later train, which I feel was
unnecessary given that it was the train company’s fault that I
was made late. I think this policy is unfair to customers who are
reliant on connecting trains to get them to work on time.
Consequently, my delayed arrival in London meant I was late for
an important meeting and I looked very unprofessional.
Unfortunately, my company lost business to a rival as a result of
this.
It is my belief that I should be refunded the additional ticket cost
and be compensated in some way for the inconvenience and
stress caused by these delays.
I anticipate your swift response and a satisfactory outcome.
Disadvantages
Desired
outcome
Purpose
Opinions
Facts
Appropriate language choices
Activity 9
Functional Skills: Making Complaints
Select the most appropriate word to fill each blank in the letter
below. Discuss why your choices are more suitable than the others.
Dear Sir/Madam,
I am writing to
evening.
about the
service I received whilst
at your restaurant last Tuesday
I was
at having to wait three quarters of an hour to be seated.
When we eventually tried to order the waitress was very
and ignored us.
Finally, we the food did arrive it was
and none of our party could eat it.
Therefore, I am
that you refund our
money for what was a disappointing evening.
Yours faithfully,
Laila Cole
Using the information you have on writing and organising paragraphs,
and using appropriate language, write a letter of complaint to shop
where you have received unsatisfactory service.
Functional Skills: Making Complaints
………………
………………
………………
…………………
…………………
…………………
Dear Sir/Madam,
Activity 10
………………………………………
………………………………………
………………………………………
………………………………………
………………………………………
………………………………………
………………………………………
………………………………………
Yours sincerely,
(Click here)
Activity 11
Functional Skills: Making Complaints
Dealing with complaints
Read the response here from the train company to the letter of complaint you
have previously read. Highlight in red any facts used; highlight in blue
attempts to appease the complainant; highlight in green where the train
company explains its actions.
Dear …
Thank you for your recent correspondence concerning your journey of 25 February from Bath to
London.
I can confirm that our Service Level Agreement requires that we provide a full response to all
correspondence within 10 working days has been fulfilled.
I was very sorry to learn that you were delayed on this service and I sincerely apologise for the
inconvenience we have caused you on this occasion. I confirm that the delay was as a result of a train
breaking down at Swindon station which affected inbound services on all routes into Swindon; however I
assure you that everyone concerned in operating this service did their best to ensure that the delay was
kept to a minimum.
Our Passenger Charter entitles you to compensation for this delay in the form of travel vouchers and I
have calculated this to be £11.00. I trust that you will be able to use these vouchers as a contribution
towards a future, and more pleasant, journey by rail.
Once again, please accept my apologies for not providing you with the service you expected on this
occasion. If I can be of any further assistance, please do not hesitate to contact me.
Yours sincerely,
Michael Prentice
Activity 12
Functional Skills: Making Complaints
Now read the email below complaining about a problem with a customer’s
mobile phone. Highlight: facts (red); feelings (blue); disadvantages (green);
desired outcomes (yellow).
Dear Sir/Madam,
On 17 March I bought a Nokia 3450 from my local Carphone Warehouse store in Bolton
as a present for my 10 year-old son.
I followed the manufacturer’s instructions for setting up and registering the phone and
initially it worked well.
However, on 21 March, four days after buying it, the phone would not charge up and the
phone would not take incoming calls.
As a result of not receiving one of my calls, my son did not know that I was unable to pick
him up from school and he was waiting on his own in the rain for forty-five minutes.
I bought this phone to have peace of mind knowing where my son is and the additional
safety it would offer. It is unacceptable for a phone to break so soon after purchase, and
to leave a worried parent anxious about their child as a result.
I would like Carphone Warehouse to replace this phone and to give reassurances that
this will not happen again.
Kind regards,
George Morgan
Write your
response to
this
customer’s
complaint as
if you were
working for
Carphone
Warehouse.
Remember to
respond to
each of the
customer’s
points.