Discussions / Customer Service
Customer Service Conversation Questions for Adult ESL Classes
Use these 20 discussion questions about Customer Service to run a full speaking lesson with adult learners (B1–B2). Each part opens with a vocabulary warm-up, every question is labelled with the thinking skill it practises, and each part fills roughly thirty minutes of class time on its own.
Reviewed by Brando Oxley · 18 Aug 2026
Part 1
Good Service and Customer Experiences
Focus: sharing customer experiences, describing good service, discussing expectations, and comparing different ways businesses treat customers
Think of one thing a customer may buy, one action a staff member may do, and one feeling connected to a customer-service experience.
Describe each word without saying it directly. Your teacher or partner must guess the word.
EXPERIENCE
Tell me about a time when you received especially good customer service.
DESCRIBE
What qualities make someone good at working with customers?
PREFERENCE
When you need help in a store, do you prefer staff to approach you or wait until you ask? Explain your preference.
COMPARE
How is good customer service in a restaurant different from good service in a shop or hotel?
COMMUNICATION
What can an employee say or do to make a customer feel welcome?
CULTURE
What customer-service habits are common in your country, and how might they be different elsewhere?
PROBLEM-SOLVE
A customer does not understand how to use a product they just bought. How should the employee help?
EVALUATE
Which matters more to you: friendly service, fast service, or knowledgeable staff? Explain your priorities.
ADVISE
What advice would you give someone starting their first customer-service job?
REFLECT
How much can one good or bad service experience change your opinion of a company?
Part 2
Complaints, Difficult Customers, and Solving Problems
Focus: discussing complaints, mistakes, refunds, difficult interactions, employee responsibilities, and ways businesses can repair customer relationships
Choose one word from each category: Person: customer, cashier, manager, waiter; Action: complain, explain, replace, apologize; Problem: wrong order, damaged item, long wait, high bill; Feeling: annoyed, embarrassed, patient, satisfied. Use your four words to describe a short scene in two or three sentences.
EXPERIENCE
What kinds of problems have you experienced as a customer?
COMMUNICATION
What is a polite but clear way to complain when something goes wrong?
COMPARE
Is complaining in person easier or harder than complaining by phone or online? Explain why.
RESPONSIBILITY
When a company makes a mistake, what should it do to make the situation right?
PROBLEM-SOLVE
A restaurant brings the wrong meal to a customer who has already waited a long time. How should the staff respond?
BALANCE
How should an employee respond when a customer is angry but the employee did nothing wrong?
EVALUATE
When should a business offer a refund, replacement, discount, or apology?
DISCUSS
Are customers sometimes too demanding? What behavior do you think crosses the line?
ADVISE
What should a manager do if the same customer complaint happens again and again?
REFLECT
Can a company become more trusted after handling a serious complaint well? Explain your view.