Jul
17
Protesto: How to complain, vent and gripe in Spanish
Traveling to a Spanish-speaking country or living in one is an exciting, thrilling experience. But there is one thing that can kill the good times almost immediately…being on the receiving end of poor or downright awful customer service. Yeah, sure you know how to order tapas and vino in a restaurant like a local or reserve a hotel room in Spanish without any problems, but do you know how to complain in Spanish?
A couple of summers ago in Toledo, Spain I was ripped off by a bus driver. I gave him money that more than covered my fare and when I got my change back, I realized immediately it was wrong. I told him that he made a mistake, but he said that I was the one who was mistaken. He told me to move away but I refused as the exchange between us grew more heated. I held my ground but he refused to give me back my change. In retrospect it was stupid but I was really pissed that someone would be so blatant about ripping off a customer.
When I got off the bus, another passenger who got off at the same stop, started telling me what a jerk the bus driver was and that he, the passenger, had seen how much money I had given the bus driver and knew that the driver had cheated me. Thanks for nothing, was all I could think. It would’ve been nice to have had backup in the moment when it would’ve made a difference. Anyway, this fellow bus passenger told me that what I needed to do was get an Hoja de Reclamación. I had heard about them before but had never actually seen one.
What’s an Hoja de Reclamación? Well, in Spain, it’s a way of officially complaining about service you’ve received. In my case, it turned out to be more trouble than it was worth tracking down the form on a weekend and then filling it out, but at least it’s an option.
In any case, below are a few all-purpose phrases to use if you’re ever on the receiving end of poor customer service in a Spanish-speaking country. Of course, you can use these phrases in any context, not just when registering a complaint, but it seemed to me that some of these phrases could be just the thing you need to better express yourself when you’re fed up and annoyed and wish to complain strongly but politely. Guest blogger Clarisa, over on the Spanish side of this blog, has also written an entry today with more general phrases, (different from the ones listed below), that you can use to reclamar in Spanish. Who knows? You might just need to use a few of them someday.
Quiero quejarme. (I’d like to complain.)
Quiero darle las quejas de… (I’d like to complain about…)
Este (….) no me deja… (This [blank] won’t let me [blank].)
He de decirle que (…) está en un estado lamentable. (I have to tell you that [....] is in sorry condition.)
No es cosa de risa. (It’s no laughing matter.)
(…..) como quien no quiere la cosa. (….as if it weren’t worth bothering about.)
No puedo aguantar por más tiempo…. (I can’t stand [blank] any longer.).
¿Ve usted por donde voy? (Do you follow what I’m saying?)
Perdóneme, pero ¿está usted completamente seguro? (Sorry, but are you absolutely sure about that?)
Me consta que…. (I know for a fact that…)
Me empeño en que usted lo haga. (I insist that you do it.)
Visit the Spanish side of this blog for more phrases. Do you have any Spanish phrases of your own that have work like a charm when you need to vent or complain about customer service? What are they? Leave them below and let’s educate one another!
The hojas de reclamación seemed like a pretty good idea when I first saw them advertised, but I’ve since grown cynical of the concept. Does anyone have an anecdote in which justice was served via filling out an hoja de reclamación?
While I have never filled out an hoja de reclamacion in Spain, I have done the equivalent here in the states with a taxi company, and I was probably better off talking to a wall. I tried to follow up on the formal complaint and no one ever answered or returned my calls. I finally got in touch with someone a couple weeks later and they said there was nothing they could do about my complaint. It’s OK though, because they lost a customer (I don’t use that company anymore).
Nonetheless, these phrases, as well as the ones on the Spanish side of the blog, are very helpful to take note of — I’m sure I’ll find myself in a situation like this during my next visit to Spain.
“Keep the customer happy” is not a popular concept in Spain, unless of course you’re a friend of the customer. A smiling “Buenos días” can sometimes nip a planned ripoff in the bud. Be especially careful about taxis from the airports - I’ve been had that way a couple of times. I shouldn’t imagine hojas de reclamación actually work, but they’re worth asking for, because it’s when they refuse to give you one that it becomes interesting. It’s illegal for them not to give you one. A friend of mine recently took the police round to a shop which refused to give him one, which hit the owner badly on the public relations front in his neighborhood.
I always try to take an airport shuttle bus when traveling to/from Madrid or Barcelona airports for that same reason. (AeroCity in Madrid and AeroBus in Barcelona). It’s a flat fee so no worries about getting taken on a scenic route and having to pay the “guiri” rate.
In the States we say that “the customer is always right” and people take full advantage of that mentality. Merchants go along because many of them consider a transaction as an opportunity to build a relationship with a customer, and they’re scared to death of bad word of mouth. In Spain, a transaction is just a transaction, nothing more, nothing less. There’s not much concern or worry about whether or not the customer is satisfied, is going to potentially badmouth your business if they’re not, etc. I’m generalizing here but fundamentally providing good customer service is not a routine part of retailing in Spain.
You can see the difference in something as simple as asking to speak to the manager in a store. In the U.S., generally the store clerk or waiter will go get a manager without any backtalk or hesitation. In Spain, the employee will resist and will give you a bunch of excuses as to why you can’t speak to a manager. In fact, they will argue with you about this. And I’m not referring to mom and pop operations. I’ve had bad customer service experiences with large companies in Spain that you would think would have some sort of basic policy in place but they don’t seem to.