Describe a time you made a complaint about something

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Bài mẫu chủ đề “Describe a time you made a complaint about something”

You should say:

When it happened
Who you complained to
What you complained about

And explain why you made that complaint

Dàn ý

Situation - 4 or 5 years ago, complained to the waiter then the manager

Task - Out to dinner celebrating a friend’s birthday at a ritzy restaurant

Action - Orders were taken so long, some of the orders were wrong, some of our meals had started to go cold, asked to talk to the manager, didn’t have to pay for the food but still had to pay for the drinks

Result - Even though it was a bad experience, I would still try eating there again sometime

I’d like to tell you about the time when I made a complaint at a restaurant. This happened about 4 or 5 years ago now. Initially I complained to the waiter who was serving our table, but after the issue was not resolved, we decided to complain to the manager. That night, I was out to dinner with a few of my friends, and we were celebrating one of their birthdays. We went to my friend's favorite restaurant, which was a bit of a ritzy place with a very expensive menu. I had never been there before but my friend said it was the best restaurant in town, and when I saw the prices of the food in the menu I was quite shocked. So after the waiter seated us at our table, we all ordered some drinks and after chatting for a few minutes we started to browse the menu. Everything sounded amazing, except the prices. After about 5 minutes everyone had chosen what they wanted to order and we continued chatting while we waited for the waiter to come back and take our order. After another 10 minutes of waiting, one of my friends called out to the waiter to come take our order. He apologized for taking so long and said that they were extremely busy. He then took our orders and we continued chatting and catching up with each other. After about 45 minutes we were all feeling very hungry so we decided to call the waiter over again and ask about our food. He apologized again. and said that the chefs in the kitchen were snowed under because the restaurant was full. After about another 15 minutes the waiter started bringing out our food, but some of the orders were wrong, and some of our meals had started to go cold. We made some complaints with the waiter, but we decided to just eat the meals we had been given because we were all so hungry and didn’t want to wait any longer to eat.

So after we had all finished eating and it was time to pay the bill, we asked to talk to the manager. He was a very friendly guy and after hearing our complaints about the poor service and mistakes with our orders, he said that we didn’t have to pay our bill for the food, but we still had to pay for the drinks that we had. We were all quite happy about that result because this was a very expensive restaurant. The reason we made a complaint was because this restaurant is very expensive, and so we all expected the meals and service to be of a very high standard. Although we had a bad experience that night with the food and service, we were all quite impressed with the manager's actions in response to our complaints. And even though it was a bad experience, I would still give them a second chance and try eating there again sometime.

Từ vựng chủ đề “Describe a time you made a complaint about something”

The issue was not resolved: vấn đề vẫn chưa được giải quyết
Complain to the manager: phàn nàn với quản lí
Out to dinner: đi ăn tối ở ngoài
A ritzy place / ə ˈrɪtsi ˈpleɪs /: một nơi sang trọng
A very expensive menu: một thực đơn đắt đỏ
The best restaurant in town: nhà hàng tốt nhất trong thị trấn
Browse the menu / braʊz ðə ˈmenjuː /: đọc lướt qua menu
Snowed under / snəʊd ˈʌndə /: có quá nhiều việc cần làm (Ví dụ: I am totally snowed under at school.)
Poor service: dịch vụ kém
To be of a very high standard: có chất lượng rất cao
A bad experience: một trải nghiệm tệ
The food and service: đồ ăn và dịch vụ
Impressed with: ấn tượng với (Ví dụ: I remember when I was a child being very impressed with how many toys she had.)
In response to: đối với (Ví dụ: Tom nodded in response to my question.)
Give them a second chance: cho họ một cơ hội thứ hai

Tham khảo:

IELTS Speaking Part 3 Sample

What products or services do people in your country like to complain about?

I guess the kind of thing that people in my country mostly like to complain about is the quality of the food and service in a restaurant. When people go to a restaurant, they expect to get a good meal and good quality service from the waiter. I think that would be the most common type of complaint in my country, you know, things like “the food is too cold” or “the waiter was rude”, things like that. Other than that, I guess people might complain about a faulty product that breaks quickly after buying it, or about the time it takes for something to be delivered is a common complaint too.

Faulty product: Sản phẩm bị lỗi.

Ví dụ: We should not keep selling our faulty products.

Would you buy things in a shop where you have made complaints before?

Probably not. I think I would give a shop at least a second chance to prove to me that their products or service are good. I mean, we all make mistakes sometimes right, and sometimes products are faulty, but as long as the shop apologizes for any problems and offers to swap or refund any faulty product then I would happily return to the shop another time. But if I had a problem more than once, then I would think twice about going back there again. Unless I have no other choice of course.

To swap or refund: trao đổi hoặc hoàn trả lại tiền.

Ví dụ: I think, to solve this problem, we can swap or refund that faulty product.

I would think twice about: cân nhắc kỹ.

Ví dụ: I would think twice about my choices before going to university.

Which is better? To complain online in writing or in the shop by talking?

Well, I’m not sure if I could say that one was better than the other or not, I think it would just depend on the company and the specific situation. Complaining in the shop can be great because you can speak to the manager, and perhaps you can have the issue resolved immediately. And if there is any misunderstanding, you can discuss it with them then and there. Whereas, if you complain online, it might take a lot longer for your issue to be resolved, and you may not get to speak with anyone important in the company to voice your concern. However, some companies will have staff that specialize in sorting out customer complaints, and in those cases, the outcome might be better than speaking to someone in store, especially if you get angry easily, as you might lose your cool in the store and embarrass yourself.

To voice your concern: nói lên mối bận tâm của bạn.

Ví dụ: You should voice your concern.

staff that specialize in: nhân viên chuyên về.

Ví dụ: We need to hire staff that specialize in marketing.

Do you think customers’ complaints improve products or services?

Absolutely yes. I think customer feedback and complaints are an excellent way for a company to gain important information about how they can improve their products and services. In fact, I think it's essential for a company to listen to their customers in order to improve their sales in the future. By listening to customer feedback, whether it is good or bad, a company can make changes to their services, or adapt their products to suit the needs of the customers better.

to gain important information: tích lũy/ có được thông tin quan trọng.

Ví dụ: We can gain important information buy listening to customers’ feedback.

to suit the needs of: để phù hợp với nhu cầu của.

Ví dụ: I believe that this new product will suit the needs of our customers.

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Hy vọng thông qua bài viết, người học có thể áp dụng những cấu trúc và từ vựng được giới thiệu trong bài để giúp bố cục câu trả lời rõ ràng và mạch lạc hơn, cũng như là tối đa điểm thi cho bài thi IELTS Speaking chủ đề “Describe a time you made a complaint about something”.