📝 Workbook · Business B1 · Unit 7

When customers complain — Workbook

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Exercise 1

1. Vocabulary gap-fill

Complete each sentence with ONE word or phrase from the box.

Word bank — drag or tap, then tap a gap
  1. I'd like to  drop  the delay — that shouldn't have happened.
  2. Before I resolve this, can I  drop  the order number?
  3. I've processed the  drop  — €89 back to your card in three working days.
  4. As a  drop  gesture, I've added €20 credit to your account.
  5. If you'd prefer, I can  drop  this to my manager today.
  6. I'll  drop  on Friday to make sure everything's now sorted.
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Exercise 2

2. Quantifiers — some / any / much / many / few / little / most / no

Complete each customer-service sentence with the best quantifier.

  1. We received ___ complaints this week — all handled.
  2. We haven't had ___ chargebacks this quarter.
  3. There isn't ___ time before the client calls back.
  4. How ___ negative reviews did we get last month?
  5. Very ___ customers experienced the outage — under 200 in total. (reassuring)
  6. We had ___ ___ complaints — nothing serious. (small number, no drama)
  7. Give the case manager ___ ___ time — she'll come back with a proper answer.
  8. ___ customers renew after year one — retention is our strongest number.
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Exercise 3

3. Choose the version that will land better

In each pair, which reply will a real customer accept?

  1. Opening a complaint reply:

  2. After a double charge:

  3. Reply to a 2-star Google review:

  4. Reassuring during an outage:

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Exercise 4

4. Find and fix the mistake

Each sentence has ONE quantifier mistake.

  1. We didn't receive some complaints today.
  2. I don't have many information about your case yet.
  3. Very a few customers reported this issue.
  4. Most of customers renew after year one.
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Exercise 5

5. Listening — the 1-star review that changed the restaurant

A restaurant owner talks about the ONE 1-star review that made her rewrite her whole complaint policy. Decide what she got WRONG the first time and what she now does INSTEAD.

  1. What did the owner write in her FIRST reply that made things worse?
  2. What is her NEW opening line for every reply under 4 stars?
  3. Where is the make-good ('dinner for two, on me') now offered — public reply or private DM?
Show transcript

Flora:The ONE 1-star review that changed everything — tell me.

Fabio:45-minute wait, Friday night. Food was fine when it arrived. She paid, left, and posted a 2-star review the next day. My first reply — I'm embarrassed now — was defensive: 'we were unusually busy that night, all our staff were doing their best'. Within an hour she edited the review down to 1 star and wrote: 'the reply was worse than the wait'. That sentence has been in my head for two years.

Flora:So what did you change?

Fabio:Three things. One: I reply personally to every review under 4 stars within 24 hours. Two: I acknowledge, name the specific thing, no excuses. 'Thank you for writing this — I'm sorry we let you down on Friday.' Three: the make-good is offered privately, in a DM. 'Come back — dinner for two, on me.' Never in public. The public reply is for the twenty future customers reading it. The DM is for the one customer in front of you.

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Exercise 6

6. Writing — turn a bad review into a public reply

You're the owner of a small business. A customer has posted this 2-star review: 'Ordered a birthday cake for Saturday. Arrived on Sunday. Ruined the party. Very disappointed.' Write a 3-sentence PUBLIC reply that acknowledges, does not defend, and invites them to DM for a make-good. Then write the 2-sentence DM. Use AT LEAST two different quantifiers.

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Exercise 7

7. Case study reflection

Look ahead to Case Study 7 (Florista Alma). Answer briefly.

  1. The bakery has lost 52 subscribers in 6 months — silently. Nobody complained. What is your first question to Sofia?
  2. Sofia refuses to compete on price. Name ONE non-price advantage you'd protect first.
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