You have bought a new camera but when you got it home you found it had some problems. You returned the camera and spoke to the company representative a week ago but the camera has still not been repaired. Write a letter to the company. In your letter: - introduce yourself - explain the situation - say what action you would like the company to take
Sample Response
Dear Sir or Madam, A week ago I purchased a Sony digital camera from your store. I was excited when I brought it home but very disappointed to find that the product was faulty and unusable. I am 28 years old and workworking in a private company. I hope you will replace itI am hoping you will replace it. Regarding the purchase detailsIn relation to the specifics of the order, I purchased this Sony Cyber-shotthis Sony - Cyber-shot DSC-HX80 18.2-megapixel digital camera18.2-Megapixel Digital Camera from your store on 17 Aprilon April 17th using my Visa credit card. The order number is D4582135, andD4582135 and I have attached a copyI am attaching a copy of my receipt. The issue with the camera is that sometimes it turns off unexpectedly, strange dots appear on the LCD screen and I cannot access the photos in internal memory, so I’m sure these are manufacturing flaws. BecauseAs a solution, and because I really like the functionality of the camera, I hope you will agreeI am hoping that you will agree to replace the faulty one with a new onea new and fresh one. Otherwise, I would like a full refund. If I do not hear back from you regarding this matterin regards to this within a week, I would like to file a written complaint withlodge a written complaint to your senior managementyour higher authority. Thank you for your attention to this mattergiving the matter your attention and I hope to hear from you soonhear your reply soon. Yours faithfully, Oliver Felix
Why this response received Band 6.5
The letter clearly identifies the customer and purchase, explains the camera faults in useful detail, and requests a replacement or refund in an appropriately firm tone. Its main limitation is that it contradicts or omits the prompt's central history: the camera was returned and discussed with a representative a week ago but remains unrepaired. The priority is to establish that chronology explicitly before describing the faults and requested resolution.
IELTS Writing Criteria Scores
Task Achievement
The introduction, faults, and requested action are developed, but the letter fails to explain the prior return, conversation, and unresolved repair delay.
State when the camera was returned, identify the representative or repair promise, and explain that no repair or update has followed after one week.
Coherence and Cohesion
The content follows a sensible sequence from purchase to faults and remedy, but the absence of paragraphing makes the letter dense and weakens emphasis.
Use separate paragraphs for customer and order details, the return and repair history, the faults, and the requested action.
Lexical Resource
The vocabulary is sufficiently varied for a formal complaint, though phrases such as 'new and fresh one', 'higher authority', and 'in regards to' are unnatural.
Use precise formal expressions such as 'a new replacement', 'a senior manager', 'with regard to', and 'manufacturing defects'.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
A range of complex sentences is mostly accurate and easy to understand, with only occasional problems in collocation and sentence balance.
Refine long coordinated sentences and use standard patterns such as 'access photos stored in the internal memory' and 'complain to senior management'.
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IELTS General Training Writing Task 1
You have bought a new camera but when you got it home you found it had some problems. You returned the camera and spoke to the company representative a week ago but the camera has still not been repaired. Write a letter to the company. In your letter:
- introduce yourself
- explain the situation
- say what action you would like the company to take
Your response
Write the task yourself, then compare your choices with the annotated response.