| Level: |
Topic: |
Speakers: |
Length: |
| difficult |
shopping |
two men |
01:51 |
Pre-Listening Exercise
What are some reasons why you would return merchandise to a store? What return policies do stores have in your area?
Idioms
“go to the dogs” = become worse and/or decrease in quality
“Don’t shop there! Their business is going to the dogs, and when I tried to return a faulty radio, they refused my request.”
“blow one’s top” = get very angry suddenly
“I almost blew my top when the store said they wouldn’t give me my money back.”
Listening Exercise
A. Listen to the recording and answer the questions.
Post-Listening Exercise
Create your own conversations involving returns, refunds, and exchanges. Use some of these words to prepare your ideas: stained, cracked, chipped, damaged, broken, and torn. Then, use infinitives (e.g., It needs to be fixed) or gerunds (e.g., It needs repairing) to suggest solutions.
Online Investigation
Imagine that you want to buy a computer from two online retailers. Two examples could be Amazon.com and Buy.com; however, before you make your purchase, you want to check the return policies for each company in case there is a problem with the computer, and you need to return it. Choose two companies (which could include the ones mentioned above or your own choice) and use the Internet to find out specific information about their return policies. Do they accept returns for any reason or only if the product is defective? Within what time period do you have to return an item? Who covers return shipping costs?