Once a month, our Learning French blogs give you the opportunity to study some words, set phrases and examples on certain topics to boost your conversation skills. Now, most of our readers have a lot of compliments about our blogs, but if there was ever a problem, you might want to know how to make a complaint… Luckily, this blog covers how to do this in French – to do it politely, may we add!
Throughout this blog, we’ll explain different ways to make a complaint or express your disappointment with something. Whether you’re renting a holiday apartment in a French-speaking country, or have encountered some undercooked mussels in a restaurant, these skills might come in use in lots of different scenarios.
To make a complaint, the most important point is to always be polite yet direct. As part of being polite in French, we would recommend to always use the vous form to address whoever you’re making a complaint to. Both in person and when speaking on the phone. For more information on this, read our Easy Learning French Grammar page on using tu vs vous pronouns. In this blog, we’ll always use vous for our examples.
First of all, you’ll need to know the openers to get someone’s attention before striking up a conversation with a complaint in mind:
Excusez-moi. Excuse me.
Pardon. Excuse me. / Pardon me.
Je suis désolé(e), mais…. I’m sorry, but…
On to the next stage, where you need to tell someone that you have a problem:
Je voudrais me plaindre. I’d like to complain.
Je voudrais me plaindre de… I’d like to complain about…
Il y a un problème avec… There’s a problem with…
J’ai un problème avec… I have a problem with…
Je ne suis pas content(e) de… I’m not happy about…
Je suis déçu(e) de… I’m disappointed with…
Je ne suis pas satisfait(e) de… I’m not satisfied with…
Je trouve que… I find/think that…
C’est dommage que… It’s a shame that… (if you use this phrase, you’ll also need to conjugate the next verb in the subjunctive mood)
Il semble que… It seems that… (you could also use the subjunctive here to be more polite – using the indicative suggests the nature of your complaint is totally objective, which isn’t always the case)
Depending on what you want to complain about, the above phrases might be enough for you to look up and add in the relevant nouns from our English to French dictionary. But in our next set of examples, we’ll share common things you might be complaining about.
We’ll use the structures from the last section, as well as some extra phrases which you might find useful:
Ce n’est pas ce que j’ai commandé. This isn’t what I ordered.
Ce n’est pas l’appartement que j’ai réservé. This isn’t the apartment that I booked.
Je ne suis pas content de notre chambre. I’m not happy with our room.
Je trouve que c’est trop cher. I think it’s too expensive.
C’est dommage que le musée soit fermé tôt. It’s a shame that the museum closed early.
J’ai un problème avec le bruit. I have a problem with the noise.
Il y avait un problème avec le guide. There was a problem with the guide.
Le chauffeur est arrivé en retard. The driver arrived late.
J’ai réservé ces sièges il y a deux mois. I reserved these seats two months ago.
Le chauffage ne marche pas. The heating isn’t working.
In some cases, you might then need to use adjectives to add a bit more detail or explain why exactly you feel the need to complain. Let’s take a look at what you might say:
C’est trop… It’s too…
chaud hot
froid cold
salé salty
sale dirty
cher expensive
loin far
petit small
Ce n’est pas assez [x]. It’s not [x] enough.
grand big
cuit cooked
fort strong
frais fresh
Il manque… It’s missing…
un lit a bed
une chambre d’enfant a child’s room
des serviettes towels
du sel salt
The final step in making a complaint might be suggesting what you’d like as a solution (or escalation) to the problem:
Est-ce que vous pouvez me rembourser mon argent ? Can you refund my money?
Est-ce que vous pouvez remplacer ce plat ? Can you replace this dish?
Est-ce que vous pouvez me faire une réduction sur la note / la compte ? Can you give me a discount on the invoice / bill?
Je ne peux pas payer pour ça. I cannot pay for this.
Je voudrais parler au responsable. I would like to speak to whoever’s in charge.
Throughout all of this, be direct, but don’t forget to say s’il vous plait (please) to make sure you’re being polite.
After you’ve made your complaint and suggested what you’d like to happen, what next? If you were in the right, most of the time someone will graciously accept your complaint and offer a solution or apology. Or sometimes, they might argue back if they’re feeling a little offended about what you had to say. Especially if you were in the wrong, or there was a misunderstanding!
For either conclusion, we have a very useful blog for your further reading. To make sure you know what to listen out for or what to say, check out our French conversation blog on how to apologise and say sorry.
Language In Use
Here is a summary of the most useful words, phrases and structures covered in this blog.
Excusez-moi, je voudrais me plaindre.
Je voudrais me plaindre de…
J’ai un problème avec…
Je ne suis pas content(e) de…
Je suis déçu(e) de…
Ce n’est pas ce que j’ai commandé.
C’est trop…
Ce n’est pas assez…
Il manque…
Je voudrais parler au responsable.
