You travelled by a long-distance bus recently and your suitcase was damaged. Write a letter to the bus company. In your letter: - inform the bus company of when and to where you travelled - describe your suitcase and what happened to it - explain why the company should pay for a new suitcase
Sample Response
Dear Sir or Madam, I am a regular commuter of your bus service - Maple Tree Transportation, and I travelled from Edmonton to Calgary on April 5th. Unfortunately, my new suitcase was completely damaged due to the carelessness of your bus staff and I am writing to claim compensation for that and would request you to investigate the issue so that it does not happen to any other commuter. With regards to the incident, I took a bus from the Edmonton city station at 2:00 pm and reached the Calgary bus bay at 8:00 pm on 25th February 2025. I checked in a suitcase made by American Tourister and it contained my personal belongings. I instructed the bus staff to handle it with care. Unfortunately, when I arrived at Calgary bus bay and noticed my suitcase, its bottom part was completely torn down. I am sure this happened because someone very forcefully pulled it in and out of the luggage box. On top of that, the left wheel of my suitcase was also broken into pieces. This happened because your bus staff bungled my luggage. Mishandling of passengers luggage is not acceptable. My brand new suitcase got vitiated due to inadequate management and disregard of your bus staff. Therefore, I request quick action in this regard and ask for full payment for the damage caused to the suitcase. I am attaching the receipt for the suitcase which I purchased last month. Also, talk to the bus staff so that they do not repeat that incident. Awaiting your reply and expecting immediate action from you. Yours faithfully, Andy Odesa
IELTS Writing Correction
- 1. Resolve date conflict Original: April 5th Suggested revision: 25th February 2025 Why it matters: The opening date conflicts with the detailed journey date given later in the letter.
- 2. Fix verb parallelism Original: would Suggested revision: to Why it matters: This verb should remain parallel with “to claim” after “I am writing.”
- 3. Correct fixed phrase Original: regards Suggested revision: regard Why it matters: The standard fixed expression is “with regard to.”
- 4. Correct phrasal verb Original: down Suggested revision: open Why it matters: “Torn down” is used for structures, while damaged luggage can be torn open.
- 5. Choose accurate verb Original: bungled Suggested revision: mishandled Why it matters: “Mishandled” accurately describes careless treatment of luggage.
- 6. Add possessive apostrophe Original: passengers luggage Suggested revision: passengers' luggage Why it matters: The plural possessive needs an apostrophe after “passengers.”
- 7. Use clear wording Original: got vitiated Suggested revision: was damaged Why it matters: “Vitiated” is inappropriate for physical damage to a suitcase.
- 8. Specify requested remedy Original: full payment for the damage caused to the suitcase Suggested revision: full reimbursement for the cost of a replacement suitcase Why it matters: This directly states the requested outcome in line with the task.
- 9. Use polite request Original: Also, talk to the bus staff Suggested revision: Please also speak to the bus staff Why it matters: A polite request is more suitable than a direct imperative in a formal complaint.
- 10. Use accurate customer term Original: commuter Suggested revision: customer Why it matters: “Customer” is clearer because this is a long-distance service rather than a daily commute.
- 11. Improve damage collocation Original: completely Suggested revision: badly Why it matters: “Badly damaged” is the more natural collocation for severe physical damage.
- 12. Name the damage Original: claim compensation for that Suggested revision: claim compensation for the damage Why it matters: Naming the damage makes the compensation request more precise.
Suggested Rewrites
- April 5th 25th February 2025
- would to
- regards regard
- down open
- bungled mishandled
- passengers luggage passengers' luggage
Why this response received Band 6.5
The letter gives a clear account of the damage and supports the compensation request with specific details, including the suitcase's recent purchase and receipt. However, the two different travel dates create a serious factual inconsistency, while the single dense paragraph and several strained word choices reduce polish; the priority is to make key journey details consistent and express the complaint in more natural formal language.
IELTS Writing Criteria Scores
Task Achievement
All three bullet points are developed and the compensation claim is well supported, but the conflicting dates undermine the accuracy of the journey information.
State one consistent travel date and keep the closing request courteous while clearly asking for replacement costs.
Coherence and Cohesion
The account follows a broadly logical sequence, but repetition and the absence of functional paragraphing make the progression less controlled.
Separate the journey details, description of the damage, and compensation request into distinct paragraphs and remove repeated blame statements.
Lexical Resource
There is sufficient range for a formal complaint, but several choices, including 'bungled,' 'vitiated,' and 'torn down,' are strained or inaccurate in context.
Prefer natural complaint-letter vocabulary such as 'mishandled,' 'damaged,' and 'torn' rather than forcing uncommon words.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
The response uses both simple and complex sentences, but recurring article, possessive, coordination, and fragment errors reduce accuracy.
Proofread sentence boundaries and noun phrases, especially 'passengers' luggage,' and turn the closing fragments into complete sentences.
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IELTS General Training Writing Task 1
You travelled by a long-distance bus recently and your suitcase was damaged. Write a letter to the bus company. In your letter:
- inform the bus company of when and to where you travelled
- describe your suitcase and what happened to it
- explain why the company should pay for a new suitcase
Your response
Write the task yourself, then compare your choices with the annotated response.