Learn how to use "may" instead of "can," from a conversation between a hotel staff member and a guest
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Brandon: Hi everybody! Brandon here! |
| Becky: And I’m Becky. Handling a Customer Complaint in English, Part 2. |
| Brandon: In this lesson you will learn more about how to handle an unhappy customer. This is the second of four lessons on the topic, and it deals with negotiating to resolve an issue with a guest. |
| Becky: This conversation takes place in the evening, at the front desk. |
| Brandon: It’s between a hotel staff member, an unhappy guest, and the manager. |
| Becky: The speakers are in a professional relationship, so they’ll be using formal English. Let’s listen to the conversation. |
| DIALOGUE |
| Customer: You guys can't put a six foot seven man in a full size bed. |
| Staff: I’m sorry sir, but all of our rooms with king-size beds are occupied. We do have a suite available but only the manager can make that change. Would you like me to get them? |
| Customer: Yes, please. |
| Staff: Here’s the manager, sir. |
| Manager: Hello sir. Stacey here has explained the situation to me and I apologize for the inconvenience. In your eyes, what do we need to do to make this up to you? |
| Customer: Moving me to a room with a king sized bed would be great. If not, can you upgrade me to a bigger room with a larger bed? |
| Manager: I see. It looks like all of our king sized bed rooms are booked, but we do have a business suite available with a king bed. Why don't we upgrade your reservation to this room, free of charge. Does this solution work for you? |
| Customer: Oh that would be great! Thank you for your help. |
| Manager: Thank you so much for your patience. We really value your patronage. Again, I am very sorry about all of the inconvenience. |
| Becky: Let’s hear the conversation one time slowly. |
| Customer: You guys can't put a six foot seven man in a full size bed. |
| Staff: I’m sorry sir but all of our rooms with king size beds are occupied. We do have a suite available but only the manager can make that change. Would you like me to get them? |
| Customer: Yes, please. |
| Staff: Here’s the manager, sir. |
| Manager: Hello sir. Stacey here has explained the situation to me and I apologize for the inconvenience. In your eyes, what do we need to do to make this up to you? |
| Customer: Moving me to a room with a king sized bed would be great. If not can you upgrade me to a bigger room with a larger bed? |
| Manager: I see. It looks like all of our king sized bed rooms are booked, but we do have a business suite available with a king bed. Why don't we upgrade your reservation to this room, free of charge. Does this solution work for you? |
| Customer: Oh that would be great! Thank you for your help. |
| Manager: Thank you so much for your patience. We really value your patronage. Again, I am very sorry about all of the inconvenience. |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Brandon: Something to note is that if you’re curious about whether or not you have swayed the customer from being dissatisfied to satisfied, you can ask them. |
| Becky: That’s right. Usually, a question like "Does this solution work for you?" is enough. If they don’t say yes, then they probably aren’t completely satisfied. |
| Brandon: In these cases, you can ask more questions to find out what would satisfy the customer. |
| Becky: However, most hotels will also require staff to avoid using the word "enough." For example, don’t say, "Does the solution seem enough to you?" |
| Brandon: Using the word "enough" like this can be bad for two reasons. First, because it allows the guest to continue asking for more and more things. |
| Becky: That is always bad because the hotel will feel obligated to do what the guest asks and it could get expensive. |
| Brandon: Second, it can seem as if you’re treating the guest like a demanding person. That can make the guest feel uncomfortable and they may become unhappy. |
| Becky: Those are some good tips. Okay, now let’s take a look at the vocabulary for this lesson. |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Becky: Let's take a look at the vocabulary for this lesson. |
| : The first word we shall see is: |
| Brandon: king size [natural native speed] |
| Becky: second largest bed size |
| Brandon: king size [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Brandon: king size [natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Brandon: inconvenience [natural native speed] |
| Becky: not convenient, troublesome |
| Brandon: inconvenience [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Brandon: inconvenience [natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Brandon: in your eyes [natural native speed] |
| Becky: in your opinion, to you |
| Brandon: in your eyes [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Brandon: in your eyes [natural native speed] |
| : And Last: |
| Brandon: them (non-gender singular) [natural native speed] |
| Becky: object form of they |
| Brandon: them (non-gender singular) [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Brandon: them (non-gender singular) [natural native speed] |
| KEY VOCABULARY AND PHRASES |
| Becky: Let’s take a closer look at the usage of some of the words and phrases from this lesson. The first topic we’ll look at here is what many consider a grammatical error. |
| Brandon: That’s right. In the dialogue, the staff member referred to the manager as "them." This is often considered grammatically incorrect, because the manager is only one person and “them” refers to more than one person. |
| Becky: That’s right. But the reality is that most English speakers talk this way and linguists believe that, even though some people don’t like it, this phrase is grammatically correct. |
| Brandon: For example in the dialog we had, "We do have a suite available but only the manager can make that change. Would you like me to get them? Here, the manager is referred to as "them." This is a completely normal phrase in English. |
| Becky: The next phrase we’ll look at is "in your eyes." |
| Brandon: This is another way of saying "in your opinion." and the idea is to imagine what the other individual is seeing or perceiving. |
| Becky: And, usually, this phrase is used in questions. For example, "In your eyes, what would be the best way to resolve this issue?" Okay, now onto the grammar. |
| GRAMMAR POINT |
| Becky: In this lesson, you’ll learn how to deal with an escalated complaint. |
| Brandon: In the dialogue we heard the phrase, "In your eyes, what do we need to do to make this up to you?" |
| Becky: Resolving a complaint is something that most staff members can do on their own. They don’t need the manager that often. But there are some situations where the manager must be called. |
| Brandon: When a staff member shifts the responsibility of a complaint from themselves to their manager, this is usually called “escalating a complaint”. |
| Becky: In this lesson, we're assuming that the complaint has been escalated to the manager. |
| Brandon: So the first step in resolving these escalated complaints is to apologize for the situation and emphasize that you’ll be working together to resolve the issue. |
| Becky: The “working together” is very important, as it reminds the guest that the hotel manager doesn’t have power to do anything and everything. |
| Brandon: That’s right. Step number 2 is to come to some kind of understanding with the guest about what they think the best solution for the problem would be. |
| Becky: In the dialogue, the manager asked "In your eyes, what do we need to do to make this up to you?" |
| Brandon: This is a way to make sure that both the manager and the guest are "on the same page." |
| Becky: The guest responded, in the dialogue, with "moving me to a new room with a king sized bed would be great." This gave the manager the reference point that she needed in order to resolve the situation. |
| Brandon: The manager could also have said something like "What can we do to make this right for you?" |
| Becky: That’s right. Any of these would work well. |
| Brandon: Okay so, step 3 is gratitude. Once the conflict has been resolved and everyone has agreed on the resolution, you should thank the guest. The typical approaches for this are to thank them for their patience, kindness, or their understanding. |
| Becky: Exactly. You could say something like "we apologize again for the inconvenience and thank you for your understanding." Or you could say something like "thank you so much for your patience. We really value your patronage." |
Outro |
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| Brandon: Well, that’s all for this lesson. Make sure to check the lesson notes, and leave us a comment if you have any questions. Thanks for listening! |
| Becky: And we’ll see you next time! Bye! |
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