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2.4 THE JARGON OF COMPLAINING; HOW TO COMPLAIN AND GET RESULTS

Every business, every trade, every science has its own technical language. While you may not be familiar with the words, they are often essential for effective communication. In order to get what you want, you may need to learn a few of the words that apply to your problem. If you use the correct technical words, people will understand you and help you more quickly. If you don't use the right words, they may never understand you.

Let's take a simple example with travel. You made a reservation at a hotel and asked for a low priced room directly on the ocean. They booked you with an "ocean-view" room for a reasonable price. When you arrive at your resort you find that you can barely see the ocean from your window. You complain and say that you were promised a room directly overlooking the ocean. The clerk at the desk says that you should have requested an "ocean-front" room.

At this point the hotel should give you a free up-grade to a "ocean-front" room. I suggest you say something like this: "At the time that I made my reservation, I requested a room directly overlooking the ocean and Pat, the clerk (give his or her name if you have it), assured me that an 'ocean-view' room was what I wanted. However, my room does not look directly over the ocean and is unacceptable. The clerk at your hotel should have told me to reserve an 'ocean-front' room and not an 'ocean-view' room. Because of the mistake made by the hotel's desk clerk, I believe that I am entitled to a free upgrade to an 'ocean-front' room."

When you complain about a problem, listen for new words. Ask the speaker to explain them to you and write down the spelling and the definition. Getting a refund can get very technical because the business must justify why it refunded your money.

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