Practice English Listening B1 Exercises – Listening to complaints

1   Evie: yes; her dress ripped and she had a receipt

2   Darren: no; he didn’t have a receipt and the coffeemaker was 4 years old

3   Gisela: no; she was at the wrong store

Transcripts

1   Evie

Store clerk:   Hello. How can I help you?

Evie:   Yes, I bought this dress yesterday. Here’s the receipt. I was at an important business dinner, bent over to pick something up, and the zipper in the back ripped! See?

Store clerk:   Oh, my. Yes, I see.

Evie:   Luckily, I was sitting down, but I had to pretend I was cold and wear my husband’s jacket all night. Then the server turned up the heat because he thought I was cold! I was sweating all night!

Store clerk:   I’m so sorry, ma’am. Let me take care of this and give you your money back.

2   Darren

Manager:   Welcome to Electronics City!

Darren:   I’d like a refund for this broken coffeemaker.

Manager:   Hmm. It’s pretty stained and damaged. Do you have the receipt?

Darren:   How can I have a receipt for something I bought four years ago?

Manager:   Sir, without a receipt, we can’t give you a refund. And the warranty on these is two years, so if it’s been four, we can’t help you.

Darren:   Just give me a new one then. I need my coffee!

Manager:   Unfortunately, we can’t give away coffeemakers, but I can show you some on sale. Just follow me.

3   Gisela

Gisela:   Excuse me. I bought this laptop two days ago, opened it, and found this scratch on the screen!

Employee:   Oh, that is a bad scratch! But we don’t sell this brand.

Gisela:   That’s impossible. I was here last week. Look at this receipt.

Employee:   Ma’am, this is from Electronics City, our competitor. We’re Electronics World.

Gisela:   Oh, that’s right! I bought my tablet here and my laptop there! How embarrassing!

Employee:   Don’t worry! I’m sure Electronics City will take care of it. And let us know if you need any help with your tablet.

Gisela:   Will do! Thank you!

The lights keep going off and coming back on again.

Transcripts

Mr. Leroy:   Hello?

Mr. Harris:   Hello. Is this the manager?

Mr. Leroy:   Yes, this is Mr. Leroy.

Mr. Harris:   This is Carl Harris in Apartment 10C.

Mr. Leroy:   Yes. How can I help you, Mr. Harris?

Mr. Harris:   I’m having a problem with the electricity.

Mr. Leroy:   What sort of problem with the electricity?

Mr. Harris:   Well, it keeps going off and coming back on again.

Mr. Leroy:   I see. Is it just the lights, or is it the appliances, too?

Mr. Harris:   Let me check. . . . No, the refrigerator is OK, so it must be just the lights.

Mr. Leroy:   I guess the fuse box needs to be checked. I’ll come up and take a look at it right away.

Mr. Harris:   Thanks so much.

A

1   The phone keeps freezing and the camera isn’t working.

2   to buy a new phone

3   to fix the damaged phone

4   She doesn’t trust repair technicians.

B

A “throwaway culture” is one where people throw products away instead of repairing them.

Transcripts

Aaron:   Hayley! Where have you been? I’ve been texting you all morning.

Hayley:   Sorry, Aaron. My phone keeps freezing. And the camera isn’t working! I’m going to go buy a new phone after class.

Aaron:   You’ll spend a ton of money on a new phone. Why don’t you just fix it?

Hayley:   I don’t trust repair technicians. They charge you for parts you don’t need, or they supposedly fix it, but a few days later, the same problem comes back! I don’t have time for that.

Aaron:   I agree there are a lot of dishonest ones, but I know someone. My phone kept shutting off, and this guy only charged me $50 to fix it! And my phone has worked perfectly ever since.

Hayley:   Yeah, Aaron, but we have different phones. Everyone says mine is more complicated.

Aaron:   This guy is a genius. He won’t charge you if he can’t fix it. Plus, Hayley, you shouldn’t throw electronics away if you can fix them. It’s terrible for the environment. I read this article about how we’re becoming a throwaway culture.

Hayley:   A throwaway culture?

Aaron:   Yeah, we throw things away instead of trying to fix them.

Hayley:   Well, I think companies don’t make things, especially electronics, as well as they used to. The quality of everything just isn’t as good as before.

Aaron:   Oh, I agree. The article mentioned that, too, but it made a good point. If the companies are making things worse than before, why should we buy more? That’s what the companies want. It’s better to give a local repair technician some money and help small businesses. And you’ll spend less, too.

Hayley:   I guess I see your point. So this guy guarantees his work?

Aaron:   Yep! Why don’t we stop by his shop after class? Hayley: All right, you convinced me, Aaron.

1   the light keeps flickering and needs changing; building manager gives a light bulb and the tenant’s son changes the bulb

2   the neighbor’s dog keeps barking; building manager will call the neighbor and ask if he can keep his dog quiet

3   the kitchen window is jammed shut and won’t open; tenant will call her cousin who’s a weightlifter to look at it

Transcripts

1

Tenant 1:   Hello, Mr. Frost. I was wondering if you could change the lightbulb out front. It keeps flickering, and it’s going to go out.

Mr. Frost:   I’ll take care of it later. I’m really busy right now, and besides, it’s still light outside.

Tenant 1:   But it’ll be dark when I get home tonight.

Mr. Frost:   I’d love to help, but somebody borrowed my ladder.

Tenant 1:   Well, you know, I have a chair! And if you give me a lightbulb, I can ask my son to change it. OK?

Mr. Frost:   Oh! OK. Here . . . take a lightbulb from one of my lamps so you know it works.

Tenant 1:   Thank you!

2

Tenant 2:   Uh, excuse me, Mr. Frost.

Mr. Frost:   Yeah?

Tenant 2:   Uh, I was wondering if you could do something about my next-door neighbor’s dog? It’s been barking and keeping me up all night.

Mr. Frost:   Dogs bark. That’s what they do.

Tenant 2:   Yes, but they don’t have to bark all night. This is three nights in a row.

Mr. Frost:   Have you seen the size of that dog? You want me to go up there? That dog could hurt me!

Tenant 2:   Well, I need my sleep!

Mr. Frost:   Look, look. I tell you what. I’ll call your neighbor and ask if he can keep his dog quiet.

Tenant 2:   OK. Thank you!

3

Tenant 3:   Mr. Frost.

Mr. Frost:   Mrs. Albano.

Tenant 3:   I have a problem.

Mr. Frost:   What is it now?

Tenant 3:   It’s my kitchen window. It’s jammed shut. I can’t open it anymore.

Mr. Frost:   Mrs. Albano, I’m not sure how I can help you.

Tenant 3:   Well, it needs to be opened. Can you try?

Mr. Frost:   That’s not really part of my job. Maybe you could try putting some vegetable oil on it.

Tenant 3:   I don’t think so. I’ll call my cousin George to come over to take a look at it. He’s a weightlifter.