Role play scenarios for “Complaints”

Complaint 1

Student 1

Customer - you are in a restaurant having dinner, you ordered steak but when it arrives it is
under cooked.

You create a fuss and call the waiter to complain

Student 2

Waiter – You listen to the complaint and are not sympathetic, you dispute the complaint as
the meat is Carpaccio

Complaint 2

Student 1

Customer - you are in a restaurant having dinner, you ordered soup but when it arrives it is
cold.

You call the waiter over discretely to make your complaint

Student 2

Waiter – You listen to the complaint and are sympathetic but have to point out that the
soup is gazpacho which is always served cold

Complaint 3

Student 1

You buy a pair of expensive jeans in a large department store, you get a discount of 50% as
there is a sale on. The next day you notice a stain on one of the legs. Your little sister may
have spilt some make up on them but she denies it. You take them back to the shop to
exchange them or get your money back.

Student 2

You are the shop assistant. You sold the jeans to student 1 and you checked them carefully
before you wrapped them and they were perfect. You now have to deal with the complaint
that there is a stain on them.
Complaint 4

Student 1

You have been studying very hard for an exam at school. The night before the exam your
neighbours have a party. You are awakened at 1am by the noise. You are very annoyed. You
get out of bed and knock on their door to complain.

Student 2

You are having a party as you are emigrating in a few days and this is the only night that you
could bring all your friends together for this special party, it is very important to you.

Complaint 5

Student 1

You are a parent. You get a phone call from the head teacher of your child’s school
complaining that he/she has been seen smoking cigarettes behind the bicycle shed. This is
strictly against the rules. You must confront your child and find out the truth

Student 2

You are the child and you have recently taken up smoking. You recently fell out with your
closest friend and have started hanging out with a new group of friends who all smoke. You
only smoke as you want to be one of the gang.
Complaint 6

Student 1

You get on a very crowded train. The only available seat has a small dog sitting on it. The
owner looks very cross. You have a long journey ahead of you and you need a seat. You
decide to complain to the owner of the dog.

Student 2

You are the dog owner. You don’t like students as they are always noisy on the train and
often sit with their feet on seats. You have bought a ticket and you think it is quite
reasonable to have your dog sitting on the seat beside you.

Complaint 7

Student 1

You have been waiting for the bus to go into the city for an important appointment. You
were first at the bus stop but as the bus is late a lot of other people have arrived. When the
bus comes you are pushed out of the way and everyone gets on before you. When you
finally get on the bus, the bus driver tells you the bus is full and you must get off. You are
very annoyed and complain…..

Student 2

You are the bus driver. You are late because of very heavy traffic. The bus company have
very strict rules about exceeding the passenger numbers and you have been reprimanded in
the past for doing this. You are sympathetic but not sure what you can do and you need to
move off quickly as you are running late..