English, baby!

Making a Return

Date: Dec 22 2003

Intro

1. Learn Vocabulary - Learn some new vocabulary before you start the lesson.

make exceptions

2. Read and Prepare - Read the introduction and prepare to hear the audio.

Shopping is something we all do. Buying new clothes or gifts for people is a lot of fun. However, sometimes the things we buy (or receive as gifts) don’t work out. Sometimes clothes don’t fit. Sometimes what we buy is broken and we don’t realize it until we get home.
In the following conversation, we follow Tanis to a store. She wants to return some pants. This is a difficult conversation to have as a native English speaker. It’s even more difficult speaking English as a second language. Take a listen and learn some important phrases!

Dialog

1. Listen and Read - Listen to the audio and read the dialog at the same time.

2. Study - Read the dialog again to see how the vocab words are used.

Clerk

Tanis

Clerk: Hi! How can I help you today?

Tanis: Oh, um, well, I’m going to be a difficult customer. I have these pants, um, that I wore one time, but they do not fit and I need to return them.

Clerk: Oh, ok. No problem. Do you have the receipt?

Tanis: Um, well, that’s the other problem. No, I can’t find it, I’m sorry. I was looking for it but I don’t know where it is.

Clerk: Well, that’s okay. We can still make the return, but all we can give you is in-store credit or a gift certificate.

Tanis: Well, I did buy those pants with, um, this credit card right here so can’t you look it up via my credit card?

Clerk: Um, no, actually. Our policy states that we can’t do that. But we can give you in-store credit, which is, you know, even better.

Tanis: Oh, well, okay. Um, so, I don’t really have time to go shopping right now, um, how does this work?

Clerk: Oh no. Don’t worry about that. Just give me the pants and I’ll do a return and then I’ll print out a credit receipt for you, and you can come in and use it anytime you’re ready to shop.

Tanis: Oh, okay. That’s great! Thank you!

Clerk: Yeah, no problem. Just, uh, just a second. Okay, here’s your credit slip. Just come back anytime and, uh, sorry those pants didn’t work out for you but I’m sure there’s plenty of other things that will.

Tanis: Oh, God. You know it’s dangerous for me to be in here!

Quizzes

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Lesson MP3

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Discussion

Different stores have different policies for returning things. Some stores have a no-questions-asked policy, and some stores won’t take returns without a receipt. The best thing to do is to go to the store and ask. But don’t expect much.
There are a couple tricks to use when returning things. You should always be very nice to the people working at the store. Usually their decision is based on their feeling. Next, you can always ask to speak to the manager. Usually these people are more likely to make exceptions. And finally, always keep your receipt for major purchases.
Take care, and I’ll see you next week!
Your American Friend,
John