Have you ever had to file a complaint, return a product, request assistance, or any other such nuisance?
Dealing with customer service is not always a pleasant experience, is it?
Nor is it an easy job to be the one who faces unhappy or angry customers.
Suppose your adventure with the Spanish language involves living or traveling to Latin America or Spain. In that case, chances are you’ll need to know how to handle customer service situations in this language.
To make this potentially stressful experience a little less strenuous, I will share some helpful customer service Spanish phrases with you in today’s post.
Let’s start with the very basic:
15 Key Spanish Customer Service Vocabulary:
- 🇪🇸 servicio al cliente / atención al cliente – 🇬🇧 customer service
- 🇪🇸 un reclamo – 🇬🇧 a complaint
- 🇪🇸 una solicitud – 🇬🇧 a request
- 🇪🇸 una consulta – 🇬🇧 an inquiry
- 🇪🇸 devolver un producto – 🇬🇧 return a product
- 🇪🇸 cambiar una reserva – 🇬🇧 to rebook
- 🇪🇸 un producto defectuoso – 🇬🇧 a defective product
- 🇪🇸 mala calidad – 🇬🇧 bad quality
- 🇪🇸 insatisfecho – 🇬🇧 dissatisfied
- 🇪🇸 la garantía – 🇬🇧 a warranty / a guarantee
- 🇪🇸 un recibo / una boleta – 🇬🇧 a receipt
- 🇪🇸 reembolsar – 🇬🇧 to reimburse
- 🇪🇸 una respuesta – 🇬🇧 an answer / a reply
- 🇪🇸 llenar un formulario – 🇬🇧 to fill out / in a form
- 🇪🇸 hablar con el supervisor – 🇬🇧 to talk to the supervisor
What can we do with these words? With a few basic verbs, we can actually do quite a lot. Have a look:
🇪🇸 ¿Dónde queda el servicio del cliente, por favor?
🇬🇧 Where is customer service, please?
🇪🇸 ¿Cuál es el teléfono del servicio al cliente?
🇬🇧 What is the customer service phone number?
🇪🇸 Quiero hacer un reclamo.
🇬🇧 I want to file a complaint.
🇪🇸 El producto está con garantía.
🇬🇧 The product is under warranty.
🇪🇸 Este producto no funciona. Lo quiero devolver.
🇬🇧 This product is not working. I want to return it.
🇪🇸 Esta tela es de muy mala calidad.
🇬🇧 This fabric is really bad quality.
🇪🇸 ¿Me van a reembolsar en efectivo o a mi tarjeta de crédito?
🇬🇧 Will you reimburse me in cash or on my credit card?
🇪🇸 Por favor llene este formulario.
🇬🇧 Please fill out this form.
🇪🇸 ¿Tiene la boleta / la factura?
🇬🇧 Do you have the receipt / the invoice?
🇪🇸 La respuesta le llegará a su correo dentro de 24 horas.
🇬🇧 The answer will be sent to your email within 24 hours.
Easy Spanish Expressions for Customer Service Situations:
Let’s suppose you need to change the date on your plane ticket. The phrases below will come quite handy:
The Customer – El Cliente
🇪🇸 Buenos días, necesito ayuda.
🇬🇧 Good morning, I need help.
🇪🇸 Tengo un problema con mi reserva. ¿Me podría ayudar?
🇬🇧 I have a problem with my reservation. Could you help me?
🇪🇸 Quiero cambiar la fecha de mi vuelo.
🇬🇧 I want to change my flight date.
🇪🇸 ¿Y este cobro adicional? Pensé que mi tarifa incluía cambios de fecha.
🇬🇧 And this extra charge? I thought my fare included date modifications.
🇪🇸 Muchas gracias por su ayuda.
🇬🇧 Thanks a lot for your help.
🇪🇸 Agradezco su ayuda.
🇬🇧 I appreciate your help.
🇪🇸 ¿Puedo hablar con su supervisor?
🇬🇧 Can I talk to your supervisor?
🇪🇸 Test Your Spanish Knowledge 🇪🇸
Customer Service Representative – El ejecutivo de Atención al Cliente
What if you work as a customer service rep? What are some basic expressions you would use when dealing with Spanish speaking customers?
Remember: no matter how obnoxious the client is, you must stay calm and be polite.
Below you´ll find some popular polite phrases in Spanish:
- 🇪🇸 ¡Bienvenido! – 🇬🇧 Welcome!
- 🇪🇸 ¿En qué le puedo ayudar? – 🇬🇧 How can I help you?
- 🇪🇸 ¿Podría facilitarme su cédula de identidad, por favor? – 🇬🇧 Could I see your ID, please?
- 🇪🇸 Lo lamento mucho / lo siento mucho – 🇬🇧 I am very sorry
- 🇪🇸 Lamentablemente – 🇬🇧 unfortunately
- 🇪🇸 Me temo que… – 🇬🇧 I’m afraid.
- 🇪🇸 ¡Encantado de poder ayudarle! – 🇬🇧 Happy to be of service!
- 🇪🇸 Entiendo su frustración, pero… – 🇬🇧 I understand your frustration, but…
- 🇪🇸 Lamento no poder ser de más ayuda – 🇬🇧 I’m sorry I can’t be of more help…
- 🇪🇸 Lo más que le puedo ofrecer… – 🇬🇧 The best I can offer…
- 🇪🇸 Haré lo posible – 🇬🇧 I’ll do my best
- 🇪🇸 ¡De nada! Un placer poder ayudarle – 🇬🇧 You’re welcome! I’m happy to help.
Besides learning these useful expressions, keep in mind that being polite in Spanish requires using the USTED form rather than the TÚ form.
If you are a native English speaker, it might be challenging to distinguish between these two pronouns. That and other common mistakes are described in more detail in a separate post.
Now that we know how to be polite in Spanish, it is time for some real-life examples:
Here’s a bunch of ideas:
🇪🇸 Buenos días, mi nombre es Juan. ¿En que le puedo ayudar?
🇬🇧 Good morning, my name is Juan. How can I help you?
🇪🇸 (Nombre de la empresa), buenas tardes, habla Francisca.
🇬🇧 (Company’s name), good afternoon, Francisca speaking.
🇪🇸 Le transferiré al área de Soporte Técnico. Por favor manténgase en línea.
🇬🇧 I’ll put you through to our Technical Support Department. Please hold the line.
🇪🇸 Lamento mucho la situación. Haré lo posible para solucionarla.
🇬🇧 I am very sorry about this situation. I’ll do my best to solve it.
🇪🇸 Siento mucho el atraso. En compensación le ofrecemos un upgrade sin costo.
🇬🇧 I am very sorry about the delay. As compensation, we offer you an upgrade free of charge.
🇪🇸 Lamentablemente su maleta llegará en otro vuelo. Mientras tanto le podemos ofrecer 100 EUR de compensación.
🇬🇧 Unfortunately, your suitcase will arrive on another flight. Meanwhile, We can offer you 100 EUR in compensation.
🇪🇸 Para devoluciones y cambios necesita mostrar el comprobante / recibo / boleta de su compra.
🇬🇧 For returns and changes, you need to show the receipt.
🇪🇸 Me temo que el periodo de garantía ha vencido.
🇬🇧 I’m afraid the warranty has expired.
🇪🇸 Para realizar cambios, por favor llame a este número gratuito.
🇬🇧 For changes, please call this toll free number.
🇪🇸 Por alguna razón su reserva no aparece en el sistema.
🇬🇧 Your reservation doesn’t appear in the system for some reason.
🇪🇸 A modo de compensación le ofrecemos el acceso illimitado a todas las instalaciones.
🇬🇧 As compensation, we offer you illimited access to all our installations.
🇪🇸 Por ser nuestro cliente frequente, por favor reciba esta botella de champaña gratis.
🇬🇧 As our frequent customer, please receive this free bottle of champagne.
🇪🇸 Por política de la empresa solo se aceptan devoluciones dentro de los 90 días después de la compra.
🇬🇧 As per the company policy, we only accept product returns within 90 days after the purchase date.
If you are looking for some more specific context for customer service, perhaps you’ll be interested in my articles with Spanish Phrases For Restaurant or Essential Shopping Expressions in Spanish.
