BBC Learning English - Real Easy English: Talking about complaining

Episode 260904 / 04 Sep 2026

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核心介绍

中文简介

本期节目探讨投诉话题。Georgie 和 Neil 用简单英语聊聊如何投诉、是否该投诉、投诉的心理障碍、礼貌投诉技巧、酒店评价的可信度等。学习核心词汇：complain、complaint、discount、entitled、reviews。

重点词汇表

课文重点解析

1. 核心动词/名词：complain / complaint

“Complain is when you say something is wrong, or you have a problem and you want to tell someone about it.”

投诉就是你指出某事不对劲，或者有问题想告诉别人。

“You make a complaint, don’t you?”

你提出投诉，对吧？

关键点：

• ✅ complain (动词) — I complained to the manager.
• ✅ complaint (名词) — I made a complaint.
• ✅ 固定搭配：make a complaint, file a complaint, lodge a complaint

2. 消费者权利：entitled to / discount

“If you’ve paid for something, I think you can expect it to be what you paid for. So, if it isn’t, I think you’re allowed to… you’re entitled to complain.”

如果你付了钱，理应得到相应服务。如果没做到，你有权投诉。

“I asked for money – a discount on the next order.”

我要求退钱——下单打折/优惠。

关键点：

• ✅ entitled to = 有权利做某事，be entitled to a refund/discount/compensation
• ✅ discount = 折扣，get a discount, ask for a discount, 10% discount
• ✅ 投诉成功常见补偿：退款、折扣、赔偿、免费升级

3. 投诉心理：不敢/不好意思 vs 必要性

关键洞察：

• ✅ Georgie：I’m getting better with age… getting braver. (随年龄增长更敢投诉)
• ✅ Neil：If it works out well, afterwards you feel really good. (投诉成功后很有成就感)

4. 礼貌投诉技巧

Neil: “Be polite. Don’t be personal. The person you are complaining to is often not the person responsible for the mistake.”

尼尔：礼貌、不针对个人。你投诉的对象通常不是犯错的人。

Georgie: “If they’re polite and they have a reason to complain, of course I’ll try to fix their problems.”

Georgie（前服务员）：如果礼貌且有理，当然会想办法解决。

黄金法则：

1. 礼貌 — polite, respectful
2. 不针对个人 — not personal
3. 明确诉求 — know what you want
4. 有理有据 — have a reason

5. 评价/评论的可信度

Neil: “The reviews were all really good. And then when I checked again, the reviews were all really bad.”

尼尔：评价先全好、后全坏，令人困惑。

讨论点：

• ✅ 评价可能被刷/操纵
• ✅ 时间维度重要：近期评价更可信
• ✅ 细节丰富的评价更可信
• ✅ 交叉验证多平台评价

6. 过度投诉者 vs 从不投诉者

批判性思考题

1. 投诉的文化差异：英美文化鼓励 speak up，东亚文化常视投诉为 lose face / 麻烦。跨文化服务场景如何调整投诉风格？

2. 评价系统的博弈论：商家刷好评、竞争对手刷差评、消费者勒索好评。如何用英语表达"评价造假"？(fake reviews, review manipulation, astroturfing, incentivized reviews)

3. 投诉信/邮件结构：标准投诉邮件包含：What happened? When? Evidence? Desired resolution? Deadline? 设计一个万能投诉邮件模板。

4. 服务恢复悖论：妥善处理投诉的顾客，忠诚度反超从未出问题的顾客。(service recovery paradox) 企业如何设计"投诉即机会"流程？

5. 数字时代投诉新渠道：社媒公开投诉、App 内投诉、聊天机器人、ODR (Online Dispute Resolution)。各渠道优劣势对比。

完整对话记录

Transcript

Georgie: Hi Neil. How are you doing?

Neil: I’m very well, thank you Georgie. How are you?

Georgie: I’m very well too. Neil, in this episode of Real Easy English we’re talking about complaining – that is when you say something is wrong, or you have a problem and you want to tell someone about it.

Neil: Yes. And people should remember that they can get a free worksheet for this podcast at bbclearningenglish.com.

Georgie: I know that you have a recent experience with this, don’t you?

Neil: Ah yes. Yeah, I booked somewhere to stay on a trip and the reviews were all really good. And then when I checked again, the reviews were all really bad.

Georgie: Oh no! What were they about?

Neil: They said the place was dirty and things were broken.

Georgie: Oh no. What did you do? Have you been yet?

Neil: Not yet. No.

Georgie: So, what did you do?

Neil: I wrote to them. I sent them an email to say I was worried. And I asked them to assure me that the place would be clean and working properly.

Georgie: OK. And did you get a response?

Neil: I did, but I really hated the whole process.

Georgie: Oh no! Why?

Neil: Because I don’t like complaining.

Georgie: No, neither do I. I’m not very good at it. I don’t like to make people feel bad. Even if there is a problem, and I’ve paid for something and it should be a certain way, but it’s not and I’m entitled to complain, I still don’t like it. I just feel… yeah, I feel embarrassed about it.

Neil: Yeah, it’s not an easy thing to do, I think.

Georgie: I think I’m getting better with age. I think I’m getting braver. I had an experience a couple of weeks ago. Because I am subscribed to a food delivery service, I get a box of food every week, and the last two weeks the delivery has been very late and I’m not happy about it. And so, I found the courage – found the bravery to call up the customer service and complain. And I was very strong. And I asked for money – a discount on the next order.

Neil: Wow, that sounds very well done. I think when you do complain, sometimes you feel bad about it. But if it works out well, like with you and hopefully with my accommodation…

Georgie: Yes.

Neil: …afterwards you feel really good.

Georgie: Yes.

Neil: Because you did what was right.

Georgie: Yeah. If you’ve paid for something, I think you can expect it to be what you paid for. So, if it isn’t, I think you’re allowed to… you’re allowed to complain. But there is a nice way to do it, isn’t there?

Neil: There is, yeah. Be polite. Don’t be personal. It’s not often… The person you are complaining to is often not the person responsible for the mistake or whatever.

Georgie: Yeah.

Neil: So, I think if you are respectful and polite but you know what you want.

Georgie: So Neil, you and I find complaining quite stressful so we don’t do it very often. But do you know anyone that complains all the time?

Neil: Oh yeah. Some people seem to love complaining and they complain about things that I would not complain about.

Georgie: Yeah, I’ve been in restaurants with groups of people where there’s been someone that has complained about something that is really embarrassing, and you just think this is not a real, big issue. Has that ever happened to you?

Neil: Yeah, the same thing. I’ve been having a meal with some friends and one of the people I was with – he used to be a waiter, and he had a very clear idea about how waiters should behave. And he didn’t like something and he complained about it, and nobody else really understood what he was talking about or why he was complaining. And it was embarrassing.

Georgie: Did he complain to the waiter?

Neil: Yeah, but so everyone could hear.

Georgie: Oh no. And how did the waiter respond?

Neil: I don’t think he liked it very much.

Georgie: Well, I used to work in restaurants. I’ve also worked in customer service, but in restaurants, if people have a reason to complain, of course I’m going to try to fix it. But it also depends how they say it. If they’re very rude, as a waitress you don’t really want to help them. But if they’re polite and they have a reason to complain, of course I’ll try to fix their problems. OK. Neil, it’s time to recap the vocabulary we used in this conversation. We used the verb complain, which is when you say something is wrong or not good enough. And we also heard the noun complaint.

Neil: We did. And you make a complaint, don’t you?

Georgie: Yes. We also heard discount, which is when you don’t pay the full price of something.

Neil: You also said that people are entitled to something, and it means that that is something they should get if they paid for it.

Georgie: And Neil, you said you were worried about the reviews of the accommodation for your trip, which is when people write what they think about the place.

Neil: That’s it then, Georgie, isn’t it? But join us again, another time for more Real Easy English.

Georgie: Don’t forget, there’s a free worksheet on the website. Goodbye for now.

Neil: Goodbye.

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Source: BBC Learning English - Real Easy English
Published: 04 Sep 2026
Length: ~6 minutes
Presenters: Georgie, Neil
Series: Real Easy English
Episode Code: 260904