Ei A letter of complaint Aims To review and practise expressions and form appropriate for forma leter wing Time 15 minutes + extra time to write a letter Materials | handout for each student '* Tell students to imagine they have just returned from hokey and ate very disappointed and upset. Explain that their hotel was dreadful Brainstorm ideas wy the hotel was so bad. + Give each student a copy ofthe handout and askthem to read the eter very quickly and idently which problerns Peterhad 1 The room was drt and didnt have a sea view. 3. The food was the same every day and there wasn't enough. 4 The entertainment was very bad. ‘+ Now ask students to read the letter carefully and complete task A 1 Dear Sir or Madam 2 Lam writing to complain about 3 the booking reference for 4 although we paid extra for this 5 Another problem was the food, The food was another problem. 6 Your brochure stated that 7 Lam enclosing a copy of 8 I would be very grateful if 9 Took forward to hearing + Check the answers and review formal letter writing format, eg, by reminding students where to write the addresses and date, by eliciting what greetings to use if you know the person's name, by pointing out paragraphing and content In task B students plan and write their formal letter, ether inclass oras a homework task.A Read the leter of complaint and complete the gaps by putting the words in 1-9 into the correct order. 14 Meadow Crescent Manchester MII 2DE 6th August 2012 Customer Services Department Perfect Holidays Manchester M14 STN _ a holiday I recently went on with Perfect Holidays. My wife and I spent two weeks from 1éth July at the Buena Vista Resort in Marbella; * our holiday is PHS6342. Firstly, the room we had was very dirty and did not have a sea view, when ‘we booked the holiday. When we tried to explain this to the receptionist, he was extremely rude and refused to change our room. 5 They served the same dishes every mealtime and the portions were very small, so we never felt full. A further disappointment was the evening entertainment. 6 the hotel offered a wide range of entertainment, but in faet there was just ‘one singer with a terrible voice, who sang the same songs every night. 1 our bill forthe holiday for your reference. * you could either refund my money or offer us a free trip in the future, 9. eae from you. ‘Yours faithfully Peter Harrison Peter Harrison Madam / Sir / Dear / or complain / am / about / to / 1 / writing reference / the / for / booking for / we / although / this / extra / pai food / problem / the / another / was 6 brochure / that / your / stated 7 enclosing / of 1 / copy / a / am 8 very /1/if | grateful / be / would 9 to// hearing / look /1/ forward You have just come back rom a trtible holiday. Write a formal letter tothe holiday compa iti plan below. the holiday company, using the writing Introduction Say when and where you went. Give the booking reference. ‘Main body Explain in detail what the problems were. Conclusion Tell the company you are sending a copy of your bill. Tell them what you want them to do. Use the letter above to help you and remember to follow an appropriat format. Your letter should be 120-150 words.EXCUSE ME . Materials: One copy of the worksheet per pair of students ‘Arrange Ss into pairs and distribute the worksheets. Tell Ss toiidentiy the problems in each picture. Help Ss withany vocabulary they need, e.g. buglcockroach, delay. etc. Answers: A animal in food B faulty product C bad haircut D delayed fight E overcharged customer/incorrect bill F sold a holiday at a hotel not finished/nojsy construction ‘work next to the hotel Tel Ss to then discuss what the people complaining want from ‘each situation, eg. @ cefund, to replace the TV, etc. Again, help Sswith any vocabulary. Remind Ss of some of the language from unit 10.3 and to be polite, but firm when complaining, Tell Ss to role-play the situations and to take turns to be the person complaining and the person dealing with the complaint, You should encourage Ss to reach an agreement about what to do in each situation. TEACHER’S NOTES8 Can you complain successfully? Language practised: Phrases2know page 74 of the Students’ Book. Speaking: interaction Time: about 20 minutes Thisis a pairwork activity. You will need one photocopy for each student PLUS a customer and a shop assistant role card for each pati. ‘Review the Phrases2know on page 74 of the Students’ Book before doing the activity ‘¢ Make pairs. Hand out Resource 8 (page 91) to each student. Read the instructions with the class and check understanding. © Hand outa customer and a shop assistant role card to ‘each pair. Give them silent reading time but remind them not to look at each other's cards. ‘© Students do the roleplay. Monitor and support where necessary. ‘© Students swap role cards and repeat the activity.You are going to roleplay a conversation in the shop. One of you is the customer and the other the shopkeeper. Your teacher will give you your role card. The customer bought something last week. Now there is a problem. He / she goes back to the shop to complain. ‘© Use the phrases below to help you prepare your part of the dialogue. ‘© The customer starts the conversation. The customer: The shop assistant: It doesn’t work properly. Have you got the receipt? Could | speak to the manager, please? | What exactly is the problem? {'m really not happy about this. We can exchange it you like, Id like a refund, please, Im afraid we can't give refunds. I'm sorry, there's nothing | can do. Roleplay Cards: (for the teacher) Shop assistant manager will give you a > Ok. Ill come back tomorrow morning. Goodbye. > _! See you then. Goodbye "Customer : ' Hello. > Hello. + | [bought this here last week.Nowit | Have you got the I 5 doesn't work, = : "Not But you served me, + " | can't remember. Sorry. > | Could | speak to the please? I'm | The manager isn't here, sorry. We can * really not about this. > 4 it ifyou like. "No, thanks. lke a io ' can't do that today. Come back tomorrow and theCommunication describe problems and ask for solutions Where are they? Target language: describe problems and ask for solutions Activity type: roleplay and guessing activity When to use: Use this activity after Unit 8 Communication, Time: 25 minutes Preparation: Photocopy and cut up worksheets A and B and a copy of the shop pictures for each group of students. Procedure Put students into groups of four. Give one pair a copy of worksheet A and the other pair a copy of worksheet B. They should not show each other their worksheets. Tell students that they bought the items on their worksheets yesterday, but that there is a problem with them. Give an example of a CD player and elicit possible problems, e.g. Itsn’t working. It's very quiet/The speaker is broken|The CD player doesn’t open. Give each pair time to think about what the problems are for each item on their worksheets. Then tell the pairs to work together. Give each group a copy of the shop pictures. One pair roleplays their first situation where one of them is a customer and one is the shop assistant. The customer wants to return the item he/she bought yesterday and tries to get a refund or exchange, but without saying what the object is or where he/she bought e.g. / bought this yesterday, but it isn’t working. The speaker is broken. Can | exchange it? Each roleplay should last about a minute. The other pair listens and decides where the customer/shop assistant is, choosing from the shops on worksheet. The fist pair tells them whether they are correct or incorrect. The second pair now roleplay their first situation and the first pair guesses where they are, This continues until all ofthe roleplays have been completed.Where are they? Worksheet A Worksheet B / toe i] Dressed to Thrill (D°/ Ae ey) Sco le eres ‘. ae Se ‘Superbuys Sparky's Electricals %ee eee 44| Td like my money back! a) ‘Two roleplays to practise complaining in a shop. Copy and cut one sheet per pair and cut into Aand B. LANGUAGE The ... doesn't work. The zip’ broken © TaIlSS that they're going to do two roleplays, one asa customer and one as a shop assistant. They should read their instructions for Roleplay I only. a is the customer first and B the shop assistant ‘© Check that SS understand their instructions. Elicit that the shop assistant starts the conversation with Cart help ‘you? Elicit other phrases the customer needs, e.g. The flash doesn't work. Could Ihave my money back, please? ce. Tell them that they must continue the conversation until the customer is satisfied. Tell them that this is a fluency activity and not to worry about their mistakes. ‘# Monitor and help as necessary. Feedback any common, mistakes before doing Roleplay 2. ‘# When SS have finished the first roleplay tell them to stop and read their instructions for Roleplay 2. Now a isthe assistant and B the customer. '* Do Roleplay 2. ‘¢ Feedback, Ask Were the customers satisfied? What did the shop assistants offer?Roleplay 1 You're a customer. You bought a camera last week because you wanted to take photos at your brother's wedding, But when you tried it, the flash didn’t work. You changed the batteries but it still didn’t work Take it back to the shop. You've got the receipt. You want your money back. B starts: Can I help you? You say: Yes, [ bought this camera last week ... Roleplay 1 You're a shop assistant. ‘A has a problem with a camera he/she bought at your shop. Find out: + what the problem is + when A bought it * if A has the receipt You're a bit nervous because it’s your first day at work. Be as friendly as possible. Offer to change it. You don’t want to give A the money back. You start: Can I help you? Roleplay 2 You're a shop assistant. B has a problem with a suit he/she bought at your shop. Find out: + what the problem is + when B bought it + if Bhas the receipt Offer to change it. You don’t want to give B the money back. You start: Can I help you? Roleplay 2 You're a customer. You bought a suit yesterday but when you got home, the zip broke on the trousers. It was very expensive. You wanted to wear it to an important interview this morning but you couldn't. Take it back to the shop. You've got the receipt and you're quite angry. You want your money back. A starts: Can I help you? You say: Yes, I bought this suit yesterdayProblems, problems, problems! Student A Read the following and act out the situation with a partner. + You work in an expensive clothes shop. You don’t often have problems with customers because the things you sell are excellent quality. If a customer does have a problem, you can exchange the item for something else if they have a receipt. You never give refunds. 2 You are in a restaurant with a friend. You ordered one salad to share, fish and chips and a lasagne. When the bill comes you realise there is a mistake because they have charged you for two salads when you only ardered one. Complain to the waiter and ask him to change the bill 3. You are a taxi driver. You have just taken a client somewhere and the clock says £7.50 but you are going to charge £12.50 because he/she had two suitcases (£1 each) and itis after midnight which means you charge an extra £2. 4 You have just bought a book which was £5.80 and you think you give the shop assistant a £20 note. He/she only gives you £4.20 change. Complain. Problems, problems, problems! Student B Read the following and act out the situation with a partner 1 Last week you bought a very expensive jacket and when you got home you found a hole in it. You go back to the shop to complain. What you really want is a refund as you have seen a nicer jacket in another shop. You also have a little problem — you have lost the receipt. 2~ You are a waiter in a restaurant. A customer is going to complain about the bill because you have charged for two salads not one. This Is not a mistake, however, because when two customers order one salad you always give them a big salad containing two portions. 3 Youare ina taxi. You have just arrived at your destination and on the clock the price says £7.50. Pay the taxi driver. You have only got £11.40. 4 You area shop assistant in a book shop. You charge a customer for a book which costs £5.80 and you think she gives you a £10 note. You give her £4.20 change.