Pre-Intermediate

Making and taking the call

How often do you answer the phone these days for work, family, friends?
- For Millenials and younger generations, phoning is strictly for emergencies. Some find it stressful and intrusive. Calling without texting before is disrespectful. Do you agree? How do you feel about taking calls? In English?
Do you pick up when you don't recognise the number, or do you let it go to voicemail / the answer machine? What's your reasoning?
- Have you, or anyone you know, ever missed something important because you ignored an unknown number? Or been scammed after picking up?
When you need to complain to a company about a flight, a bill, a faulty product, do you call, email, or go to social media? Why? Which gives a better result?
What tips would you give for making a phone call professionally (in English)?

Everyday life
- Cancel a gym membership (they try to keep you)
- Check why a parcel hasn't arrived
- Rebook a missed doctor's appointment
- Query an unexpected charge on your phone bill
- Report a noisy neighbour to the council/landlord
Shopping & services
- Change the size/colour of an online order before it ships
- Return a faulty item and demand a refund (shop is resistant)
- Complain that a food delivery arrived cold and late
- Ask a restaurant to modify a reservation (different time, more people)
- Cancel a hotel booking outside the free-cancellation window
Tech & utilities
- Report a broadband outage — the line keeps cutting out
- Dispute a higher-than-usual energy bill
- Cancel a streaming subscription without being upsold
- Complain to an airline about a cancelled flight and claim compensation

Everyday life
- Cancel a gym membership (they try to keep you)
- Check why a parcel hasn't arrived
- Rebook a missed doctor's appointment
- Query an unexpected charge on your phone bill
- Report a noisy neighbour to the council/landlord
Shopping & services
- Change the size/colour of an online order before it ships
- Return a faulty item and demand a refund (shop is resistant)
- Complain that a food delivery arrived cold and late
- Ask a restaurant to modify a reservation (different time, more people)
- Cancel a hotel booking outside the free-cancellation window
Tech & utilities
- Report a broadband outage — the line keeps cutting out
- Dispute a higher-than-usual energy bill
- Cancel a streaming subscription without being upsold
- Complain to an airline about a cancelled flight and claim compensation

When is the deadline? (?)
Do you know when the deadline is?
Could you tell me when the deadline is?
I was wondering if you know when the deadline is...
Can you turn the air conditioning up a bit? (?)
Do you think you could turn the air conditioning up a bit?

(could / would/ would you mind, etc. makes it more polite.)

Everyday life
- Cancel a gym membership (they try to keep you)
- Check why a parcel hasn't arrived
- Rebook a missed doctor's appointment
- Query an unexpected charge on your phone bill
- Report a noisy neighbour to the council/landlord
Shopping & services
- Change the size/colour of an online order before it ships
- Return a faulty item and demand a refund (shop is resistant)
- Complain that a food delivery arrived cold and late
- Ask a restaurant to modify a reservation (different time, more people)
- Cancel a hotel booking outside the free-cancellation window
Tech & utilities
- Report a broadband outage — the line keeps cutting out
- Dispute a higher-than-usual energy bill
- Cancel a streaming subscription without being upsold
- Complain to an airline about a cancelled flight and claim compensation