160. Complain in writing or in person?

When people need to complain about a product or poor service, some prefer to complain in writing and

others prefer to complain in person. Which way do you prefer? Use specific reasons and examples to

support your answer.

『分析』

可以采取it depends的策略，要看是什么样的问题。也可以先比较，后选择。

• 书信投诉：有条理；避免冲动、更加理性；可以直接与高层沟通；也可以向媒体投诉；但是可能

石沉大海(like a stone dropped [sank] into the sea — no echo)

• 当面投诉：可能是最快解决问题的方式；相比文字，有更多的表达方式，比如appeal to emotion; appeal

to pity等等；但是如果缺乏控制，可能会引起争吵，反倒使情况恶化。

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『范文』

When we finally find out a service or a product that failed to satisfy us, we have to complain. Occasionally,

we can choose whether to make an argument face-to-face or in writing, but usually we have no choice. We have to

make our case in person if we need a personal touch or have no time to write; we have to write if we can't meet the

right person to complain.

Writing has its advantages: when we write, we can better control the flow of our ideas, explain complex issues

patiently, and convey our feeling of troubles that the poor products have brought explicitly and accurately. On the

other hand, writing also has disadvantages: we may lack of a sense of what the readers are like—amiable or

prickly, generous or difficult—and we can't respond immediately to their doubts, questions, or misunderstandings.

When we write, we also lose one way to get the reader to take our argument seriously: face-to-face, we can

draw others into it with our body language, the passion in our voice, even the look in our eyes. If, for example, I

ran into a dean after a bad experience at the student health service, I could visibly communicate my frustration

right there, and the dean would probably respond more intently than if he/she were in his/her office reading an

angry letter.

For common trivial problems, I'd prefer to complain in person, which is more direct than in writing. To a

large extent, to complain in a right way is a pure skill, if properly handled, problems can be solved without any

quarrel, because appropriate courtesy is always appreciated. On the contrary, if the problem or issue is fairly

critical, I'd prefer write a specific piece to complain, for complex issues often deserve careful thinking.