Listening N3–N2 · Lesson 24

Complaint calls: hear what the customer really wants

確認かくにんいたしまして、折おり返かえしお電話でんわいたします。

Complaint calls are all apologies and checks; the real request comes late. Know 「申もうし訳わけございません」「確認かくにんいたします」; find the complaint and final request.

Practise Paid

After this lesson you can

Separate three things in a complaint call: what happened, how the customer feels, and what the customer wants (an exchange, a refund, an explanation, faster delivery).
Understand the set phrases of the person taking the call, 「申もうし訳わけございません」, 「確認かくにんいたします」, 「折おり返かえしお電話でんわいたします」 and 「〜かねます」, and know they are signals: the answer is usually on the customer’s side.
Catch the signals when customers change or lower their requests: 「別べつに〜はいいんです」, 「〜わけじゃない」, 「それより」, 「せめて」.

4 sections · 6 practice sets · 32 questions

In this lesson

01What you listen for: what the customer really wants
02How speech sounds: the two ends of the phone
03Listen through once: a wobbly chair leg
04Scene tips: how a complaint call goes

Practice

Key-point comprehension: what the customer wants, what bothers them most
After a complaint: what happens next, what worries them most
Quick response: a line from a complaint call
What does the speaker mean?
Match the expressions with their meanings
Choose the natural expression on the phone

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Practice

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