Complaining is an art! We are very concerned with being polite and not offending anybody. I know it sounds silly, but it’s true, even when complaining we want to be as polite as possible and not make people angry!
抱怨是一门艺术！我们非常注重礼貌而不冒犯的进行抱怨。我知道这听起来有一些傻，但是这确实是真的。即使在抱怨的时候，我们也要尽可能的礼貌从而不激怒别人。
So, here we are going to examine a few different situations when complaints would be necessary and also the vocabulary that would be needed to complain correctly.
因此，在这里我们将列出一些在不同场合进行抱怨的例子，一些抱怨的词汇也会被列出来以便正确使用。
Before we start…
在开始抱怨之前…
Vocabulary for complaining
用来抱怨的词汇
Getting Attention
引起注意…
Excuse me…
打扰一下…
Pardon me…
请再说一遍…
I have a complaint…
我要投诉…
Sorry to bother you but…
很抱歉打扰你，但是…
I’m sorry to say…
很遗憾地通知你…
Expressing opinion
表达意见
I’m afraid there’s a problem…
恐怕我有一个问题…
I’m angry about…
我对…生气
I’m really not happy…
我对…不是很开心
There’s a slight problem with…
这有一个小问题…
Making the complaint
进行抱怨
I would like/I want…
我想…
to lodge a complaint
对…提出控告
to make a complaint
抱怨
to report an issue
报告问题
to give you some feedback
给你一些反馈
to inform you
通知你
Let’s start!
现在我们开始吧！
1.Complaining in a Restaurant
在餐馆里抱怨
In a restaurant there can be a lot of things to complain about.
在餐馆中可能会有许多事情引起你的不满和抱怨。
Let’s look at a practice dialogue:
让我们来看一个练习对话：
Customer: Excuse me!
顾客：打扰一下！
It’s important to be polite and say excuse me rather than saying come here! or clicking your fingers.
举止礼貌很重要，要说excuse me而不是come here!也不要用打响指！
Even saying Excuse me, waiter is seen as impolite because you are implying that because he/she is a waiter/waitress, they are not as important as you. It’s better to just say excuse me when the waiter/waitress is near the table.
即使是说了excuse me, 服务生也会认为这不礼貌，因为他们会认为你这是在暗示他们是服务生，他们的地位并不是和你一样重要。当服务生离你的餐桌较近时说excuse me才是明智之举。
Waiter: Yes sir, how can I help you?
服务生：您好先生，我能为您做些什么嘛？
Customer: I don’t want to make a scene but there’s a fly in my soup.
顾客：我并不想声张，但是我的汤里有一只苍蝇。
When you say I don’t want to make a scene it means that you don’t want to attract the attention of people around you and make them look at the table. We do this because the fly in the soup is probably not the fault of the waiter, but if you start shouting at him then he will be embarrassed in front of all the other customers.
当你说I don’t want to make a scene的时候，这意味着你并不想引起周围人的注意，也不想让他们看到你的餐桌。我们这样做是因为汤里有苍蝇这件事或许并不是服务生的错，如果你当着其他顾客的面跟他们大喊大叫，他们会感到很尴尬。
You can also say I hate to make a fuss as it means the same thing.
你也可以说I hate to make a fuss，因为这与I don’t want to make a scene的意思是一样的。
Waiter: I am terribly sorry! I will take the soup back to the kitchen and get you another one.
服务生：我很抱歉！我会把汤拿回去并且为您准备一份新的。
Customer: Thank you very much.
顾客：非常感谢。
Now usually it is as simple as this, but if the waiter/waitress is rude and doesn’t respond to your polite complaint, don’t worry! Stay calm!
通常在餐馆里抱怨的对话就是这样简单，但是如果服务生如果态度粗鲁或者对你礼貌的抱怨没有回应，不要着急！保持冷静！
Here are some phrases for more extreme situations:
这里有一些应对极端情景的短语：
I’d like to speak to a manager, please.
我要和你们经理谈一下。
This means that the waiter/waitress will have to go and get their manager to speak to you and deal with your complaint. It is the manager’s job to make sure that everything goes smoothly, so he/she may well be more receptive to your complaint.
这意味着服务生不得不去找他们的经理，让他们的经理来跟你谈从而解决这个问题。经理的工作就是确保一切平稳有序的进行，因此他/她更加容易接受你的抱怨和问题。
I’m sorry, but this is unacceptable!
对不起，我无法接受!
A bit more extreme, this is something you can say if nobody is listening to your complaint or if they don’t believe your complaint! This is extremely rare but possible!
还有一些更加极端的情况，比如没有人理睬你的抱怨或者是他们不相信你说的话！这很少见但是也不是不可能发生。
This food is not fit for a dog!
这食物狗都不会吃！
CAUTION: This is very extreme, but if you are angry with the food that you have been offered but the manager disagrees with you, you can say this to show just how disappointed you are.
注意：这种说法很极端，但是如果你因为这食物很生气并且经理跟你的看法也有所不同，你可以这样说来表达你有多生气。
The phrase means that it would be bad to give the food to dogs, let alone humans!
这句话意味着给狗吃这样的食物都说不过去，更何况是人！
Another variation is: I wouldn’t feed this to my dog.
另一种说法：这种食物，我都不会拿来喂狗！
2.Complaining on the Phone
通过电话抱怨
It’s important to speak clearly and with purpose on the phone, take a look at this practice dialogue:
有目的地把话讲清楚很重要，下面让我们来看一个对话：
Staff: Hello! and how may I help you today?
员工：你好，请问我能为你做点什么？
Customer: Hello, I would like to place a complaint please.
顾客，你好，我有一件事要跟你反映一下。
Stay calm! Remember that the staff could cut you off (put the phone down to stop the phone call) at any moment if you are impolite.
保持冷静！记得如果你不礼貌的话，员工可能会随时打断你（通过挂断电话）。
Saying I would like to place a complaint means that you say what you need to say without being aggressive or angry with the member of staff.
我想要投诉意味着你说你需要说的话，而不是对工作人员的挑衅或生气。
Staff: Okay, and can I ask what is the nature of the complaint (what is the complaint about)?
员工：好，请问您要投诉什么呢？
Customer: I want to report a faulty product, my computer won’t turn on and I have no idea as to why.
顾客：我要投诉一个劣质产品，我的电脑我无法启动，我也不清楚原因。
Staff: Okay, I’m sorry to hear that! I will do my best to help you with that.
员工：我们很抱歉，我会尽最大的努力帮你解决这件事。
Customer: Thank you.
顾客：谢谢。
Again, normally you will be able to achieve what you need by being polite and following the instructions from the staff member but for all those frustrating times that you need to be more forceful.
再一次，通常情况下，你会有礼貌地听从工作人员的指示来完成你所需要的事情。但在如果遇到服务态度让人不满意的时候，你的态度需要更加强硬。
Here are some helpful phrases:
这里是一些有助于表达的短语：
I am not happy at all with this service.
我对这项服务一点都不满意。
Please don’t put me on hold!
请不要一直让我等着！
This is the most annoying part of the phone complaints process!
这是电话投诉过程中最烦人的部分!
This is one of the worst things ever! It’s even worse if you don’t have much time or if the phone call is costing a lot of money!
这是有史以来最糟糕的事情之一!如果你没有太多的时间，或者打电话花了很多钱，那就更糟了!
Please, you’re not listening to me at all!
拜托，你根本就没在听我说话!
If the staff member doesn’t understand either you or your complaint, it can be very frustrating.
如果员工不理解你或你的抱怨，这经常令人沮丧。
You sound like a broken record!
你听起来像一个坏了的唱片，一直在重复同一件事情！
This is the most aggressive one and it’s something you can say to people in everyday speech as well. Now, picture a broken record or more specifically think about the sound that it makes.
这是最具攻击性的一种说法，你也可以在日常用语中这样对人们说。
When a record is broken, the needle will get stuck and the sound will keep playing over and over and over again. This is where the saying comes from! In this case, it means that someone keeps saying the same thing.
当唱片坏掉时，指针会被卡住，声音会不断反复的播放。这就是这句话的由来!在这种情况下，这意味着有人一直在说同样的事情。
Over the phone, maybe the dialogue would sound something like this:
在电话里，对话也许会这样进行：
Staff: I’m sorry sir, but my records show you are not the owner of this computer. I can’t help you.
员工：很抱歉，先生，但是我这的记录显示你并不是这台电脑的主人。我帮不了您。
Customer: I am the owner! I bought it yesterday and it’s brand new!
顾客：我就是这台电脑的主人！我昨天买的，商标还在这呢！
Staff: Well I’m sorry sir, but my computer says you are not the owner of this computer. There’s nothing I can do!
员工：很抱歉先生，我电脑上的记录显示你不是这台电脑的主人。我无能为力！
Customer: You sound like a broken record! You’re not helping me at all!
顾客：你听起来就像一个坏掉了的唱片一直在喋喋不休！你根本就不是在帮助我！
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