📘 Part 3: Complaints and Customer Service

This episode's vocabulary

• Frontline (adj.) - used to describe an employee who deals directly with customers, or who is directly involved in making a product.
• In-person (phrase) - if you do something or go somewhere in person, you do it or go there yourself.
• To get ahold of someone - to find or communicate with someone.
• To resolve (verb) - to solve or end a problem or difficulty.
• Chilled-out (adj.) - relaxed.
• Inconsolable (adj.) - so sad or disappointed that it is impossible for anyone to make you feel better.
• Matter (noun) - a situation or subject that is being dealt with or considered.
• Maître d' (noun) - the person in charge of a restaurant or of the people who bring food to your table in a restaurant.
• To put something down to something (phrasal verb) - to think that a problem or situation is caused by a particular thing.
• All manner of something (idiom) - a lot of different types.
• Neurotic (adj.) - behaving strangely or in an anxious (= worried and nervous) way, often because you have a mental illness.

Questions and Answers

M: How do companies train their staff to deal with complaints?

R: I suppose that depends on the department. Some corporations have huge complaints departments which just deal with complaints all day long, so they are trained to have that as part of their entire job. Other, perhaps, smaller businesses might have basic training, or they might give basic training to frontline workers to refer complaints to particular places since it saves time and money if they're busy trying to restock shelves.

M: What do people usually complain about?

R: Well, all kinds of things. Usually, it's connected to the poor quality of something, like a product or a product not working as it should. It could also be about a service if someone hasn't done their job properly, or doesn't appear to have done their job properly.

M: How do most people complain, in writing or by other methods?

R: Oh, God, I have no idea. I mean, letters take a lot of time and effort. So I imagine most people usually do it in person or over the phone since that's the easiest way to get ahold of someone or get something resolved.

M: Who are more likely to make complaints, older people or younger people?

R: Well, surely this is a personality thing more than an age thing. No? You get extremely chilled-out people of all ages who are fine with everything, and others who are absolutely inconsolable if something goes wrong, if I have to choose, though, I say older people, but only because they have more free time with which they can complain.

M: When are people more likely to make complaints?

R: Well, when something goes wrong seems to be the obvious answer, but in more detail, probably after it has gone wrong, and they have been unable to resolve the matter themselves. So a complaint is actually a search for a solution when you think about it that way.

M: How do people usually react if they receive poor service at a restaurant?

R: Most just don't pay the service charge and make a point of not doing it or bringing the matter to the attention of the staff. Others complain about it directly to the manager. I think it's the maître d'.

M: How do people often respond to poor customer service?

R: I mean, that could be in any number of ways, really. Some people just ignore it and put it down to a bad day. Others are less forgiving and raise all manner of complaints against people and establishments. It just depends on how neurotic you are, probably.

Discussion

M: So we make complaints, dear listener. We complain about something or moan about something. This is informal, or make complaints. Also about something we complain to somebody, to people. Companies have complaints departments, which deal with complaints. And they train their workers to do that. Who are front-line workers?

R: They would be the people in the stores that the customers come into direct contact with.

M: And what do you call people who are complaining?

R: You could call them people who complain. I think the technical term is a complainant.

M: Complainant. Complainant. A person who makes a formal complaint in a law court. So you see? If you go to court and you complain formally in court, you are a complainant.

R: Fancy.

M: People usually complain about all kinds of things connected to poor quality of something.

R: It's poor quality, It's always poor quality or failure of something.

M: Poor quality of service, poor quality of a product, something is wrong, is not delivered, or it takes a lot of time. So people complain when someone hasn't done their job properly. People can complain in writing or orally. Orally? Like they just say, say it out loud. They don't write it down.

R: Yeah, they do it in person.

M: Complain in person. They can also file a formal complaint.

R: Oh, yeah, you file a complaint too. Can't you?

M: Or make a complaint. What are the methods? Well, by email. Rory told us about letters, like actual letters. You write a letter and you send it by post. Sometimes people do this.

R: But it's a lot of effort.

M: True. People usually do it in person, over the phone, or they complain on social media. Or they go to court. Older people are more likely to make complaints. So probably they make complaints more often. So are more likely.

R: I think so. I mean, what do you think?

M: Oh, I think it depends on the person. Yeah. Sometimes, younger people complain like crazy. And other times you see, like, older people who are kind of like, nah, no problem. But maybe more often older people complain. As you say, they have more free time.

R: Yeah. I don't think there's anything about being old that makes me more likely to complain. I mean, if anything, being young would make you more likely to complain, because younger people tend to be less tolerant of other people being horrible to them.

M: And they have more energy so they can do stuff.

R: Yes, that's true.

M: But older people usually have more free time in which they can complain. And like complain like in writing, or go to court.

R: How old is the average person who listens to us? We probably shouldn't be criticizing our audience. Let's imagine that there are very young people. Don't worry young people, you do nothing wrong.

M: No, but again, like I, for example, I complain if I have a poor level of service or product, I do complain and I file a formal complaint. Okay? I write to special departments, state departments, which deal with complaints on the state level. So I actually do that. Or I can file a formal complaint in the restaurant or I complain to the waiter. So actually, I do say things. So some people are chilled out about everything. But some people are absolutely... What did you say?

R: Oh, inconsolable. It means they cannot be stopped, consoled, or calmed down or comforted.

M: Inconsolable.

R: Inconsolable.

M: So sad or disappointed that it's impossible for anyone to make you feel better. They gave me a cold soup and undercooked pasta. I was inconsolable, right?

R: Yeah.

M: So kind of like I was really disappointed. And nothing, even a free dessert, even two free desserts couldn't make me happy, dear listener. Okay? Could you give us another example with this inconsolable?

R: When else could people be inconsolable?

M: Well, after someone dies.

R: Yeah. After someone dies, some people are so inconsolable, that they just cannot go to work.

M: People usually make complaints when something goes wrong. When they are unable to resolve the matter themselves or with the staff, they make a formal complaint, they go to court, and they write to different departments. So a complaint is usually a search for a solution. Okay? So to make the situation fair. We usually complain when we receive poor service at a restaurant. So we complain to the manager, to the person in charge. And we make a point. So we make a point of saying what is wrong.

R: Yes. And if you make a point of something, you draw attention to it or the fact that you're doing it.

M: And you complain directly to the manager.

R: You become a Karen.

M: What?

R: A Karen. Have you never heard that expression?

M: Ah, I think... It's a name. Yeah?

R: Karen. Karen is like a meme. It's of ladies who complain and want to see the manager, they are called Karens.

M: Ah. So we respond to poor customer service in different ways. Again, write a complaint, ignore it. And customer service, like what a company does to us to how they deal with our complaints, right? How they... What they do to help us. And Rory finished it off with it depends on how neurotic you are. Because some people are neurotic, they get nervous, they freak out.

R: Yeah. Not a good look.

M: And what does it mean, if I say, some people just put it down to a bad day?

R: Some people just explain it away. Or they just ignore it and say, oh, it's just a bad day. So you put it down to something, you just explain it as what thing is. For example, if I don't feel well, usually I put it down to having a cold, nothing serious.

M: Thank you very much for listening! Stay away from all the negative energy of complaints and shouting at people. Okay?

R: Stay away from Karens.

M: Yeah, stay away from Karens. And we'll get back to you in our next episode. Bye!

R: Bye!

M: Positive vibes, positive vibes.

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