Vocabulary

Words and expressions (or problem solving Communicallng at work

Telephoning 4: Solving problems by phon

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When was the last time you were unhappy about the service you received? Did you receive good customer service when you complained⁷

Read on

Problems In Pennsylvania

1 We interviewed Amy about her irip to an exhibition in Pennsylvania. Match the headings with her answers.

1. Can we otler you a discount?

2. How was the hotel?

3. Is it turned on?

4. Did you have a good trip?

.

I planned to fly to Pennsylvania last month for an exhibition bur the flight was cancelled 24 hours before I travelled. I was really stressed but I telephoned a travel agent friend who was really helpful and very quick. He solved the problem by finding another flight just one hour later.

1 had a terrible hotel. The room was cold and the lift was out of order. The food in the restaurant was always OYercooked and cold. And the staff were rude. I told the manager about all these problems and she said she would investigate - but she did nothing. I'll never stay there again.

1 had one really embarrassing moment. During the exhibition, 1 boughi a new mobile phone. When 1 tried it at the hotel it didn't work so I took it back. I complained but the assistant was very patient. In fact. he dealt with the problem very quickly - he switched it on! He was very polite but I felt really stupid.

1 ordered some products from a supplier at the exhibition. I waited for three weeks but nothing arrived. Finally. I telephoned and explained the problem to a customer care manager. She said my order was sent to the wrong address because of a computer problem. But she was very customer-friendly: she listened, apologised and then offered me a 25% discount. Great customer service.

86 Unit twenty-six

2 Read the text again and answer these questions.

1. How did Amy find a new flight?

2. What was wrong with the food in Amy's hotel?

3. Why did Amy's new mobile phone not work?

4. What did the customer care manager offer Amy?

I How customer-friendly is your organisation? Do you think the customer is always right?

The words you need ... to talk about work problems

1. Look back at the text about Amy. How many verbs can you find that go with the noun problem?

2. Here are some sentences about work problems. Are they lime or technical problems? Example: The train was one hour late. = Time

1. My compu ter crashes every 20 minutes.

2. It takes me two hours to get to work every day.

3. We don't have very long to finish the project.

4. The coffee machine is broken.

5. I can't open the email attachment

6. We can't deliver the order by the end of the month.

Do you have a time problem at work? What is it? Do you have a technical problem at work? What is it?

3 Look at these ways of solving problems with your computer.

. should restart your computettA %VY restarting ttfc

ytfo need to restart the computettA

N ow complete these sentences about different problems.

1. telephone the client immediately and apologise.

2. ask the office to resend the file in a different format.

3. turning it off and on. That sometimes helps! ^WM^

4. to arrange a meeting to discuss a new schedule. Wv&\ ,'^k

5. finding a house closer to the offic€, K^Jc^^^^SmU,^ (

6. to upgrade it with more memory.