the meaning of 意见

[Pedroski]

Talking about 王嘉廉， I have:

 

他经常到客户部听取意见，并受到了很大的启发。电脑界最大的弊端是仅靠技术为驱动力，科技人员从不聆听客户的需求。如果有人愿意听取客户的意见，必定会有很大的发展机会。

 

I‘m pretty sure that '意见' is 'complaints' here, but I suppose it could just as easily be 'ideas' or 'suggestions'.

 

Is there any way to be sure?

 

[889]

That's what the complaint box or book is labeled in China. Not seen too often any more, but there's almost always one hanging on the wall in a sleeper car. Can be fun to read the comments (those that haven't been torn out).

[anonymoose]

Opinions.

[Pedroski]

Well, it says he is '听取意见‘ so he is not reading a book. Found this though: 记录客户意见及建议.

 

These opinions you mention, could they be highly critical opinions?

[anonymoose]

These opinions you mention, could they be highly critical opinions?

 

Of course they could be, but that is not obligatory.

[889]

You're being too literal and looking for an exact word-match, when you should be looking for the concept.

The key here is that it's something submitted to the 客户部. It's in the nature of a 客户部 to hear mostly complaints. But in China, as in the West, organisations don't refer to these as complaints, they like to call them customer suggestions, or feedback or the like. Here, the writer is using the polite organisational term 意见. Perhaps there's some slight facetiousness in the comment, but it's hard to tell from a snippet. In any event, everyone knows that staffing the 客户部 listening to customers' "意见" is a thankless task.

[OneEye]

You're being too literal and looking for an exact word-match, when you should be looking for the concept.

 

Oh, I see you've met Pedroski.

[Pedroski]

It's in the nature of a 客户部 to hear mostly complaints.

 

 

That's how I see it, ergo the wish to use 'complaints', Chinese modesty and politeness notwithstanding.