You work at home and have a problem with a piece of equipment that you use for your job. Write a letter to the shop or company which supplied the equipment. In your letter: - describe the problem with the equipment - explain how this problem is affecting your work - say what you want the shop or company to do
Sample Response
Dear Sir or Madam,
I am writing to complain about a defective laser printer that I purchased from your store - Tech Solutions, on 15th February this year. Unfortunately, the device has developed a serious issue that is disrupting my work.
The issue with the printer is that it frequently jams while printing multiple pages and often produces faded or streaked prints, despite using a brand-new toner cartridge. I have followed the troubleshooting steps provided in the manual, but the problem persists.
As I work from home as a freelance graphic designer, having a reliable printer is essential for my job. This malfunction has caused significant delays in completing my projects, leading to missed deadlines and dissatisfied clients.
Considering that the printer is still under warranty, I would appreciate it if you could either repair or replace the faulty unit at your earliest convenience. Please let me know how to proceed with the return or repair process.
I look forward to your prompt response.
Yours sincerely,
Leo Zhang
IELTS Writing Correction
- 1. Punctuate the store name Original: store - Tech Solutions, Suggested revision: store, Tech Solutions, Why it matters: Commas integrate the appositive store name more smoothly into the sentence.
- 2. Name the fault precisely Original: issue Suggested revision: fault Why it matters: “Fault” is more precise for a malfunctioning piece of equipment.
- 3. Remove redundant wording Original: provided in the manual Suggested revision: in the manual Why it matters: The shorter phrase conveys the same meaning more directly.
- 4. Avoid repeated wording Original: As I work from home as a freelance graphic designer Suggested revision: As a freelance graphic designer working from home Why it matters: This revision removes the awkward repetition of “as.”
- 5. Tighten the expression Original: having a reliable printer is essential for my job Suggested revision: a reliable printer is essential to my work Why it matters: This wording expresses the same point more concisely.
- 6. Use a direct link Original: Considering that Suggested revision: As Why it matters: The shorter connector introduces the warranty reason clearly and directly.
- 7. Align the requested options Original: the return or repair process Suggested revision: the return, repair, or replacement process Why it matters: Including replacement makes the follow-up request consistent with the remedy offered in the preceding sentence.
- 8. Match the salutation Original: sincerely Suggested revision: faithfully Why it matters: “Yours faithfully” conventionally matches the impersonal salutation “Dear Sir or Madam.”
- 9. Sentence rewrite Original: The issue with the printer is that it frequently jams while printing multiple pages and often produces faded or streaked prints, despite using a brand-new toner cartridge. Suggested revision: The printer frequently jams during multi-page print jobs and produces faded or streaked pages despite the brand-new toner cartridge. Why it matters: This rewrite presents both faults more concisely while preserving the original details.
Suggested Rewrites
- store - Tech Solutions, store, Tech Solutions,
- issue fault
- provided in the manual in the manual
- As I work from home as a freelance graphic designer As a freelance graphic designer working from home
- having a reliable printer is essential for my job a reliable printer is essential to my work
- Considering that As
Why this response received Band 9.0
The letter is highly effective: its purpose is immediate, every requested point is developed with specific professional detail, and the formal tone, paragraphing, and language control are consistently strong. The only meaningful refinement is stylistic, as the opening purchase sentence could be punctuated more smoothly; preserving this concise structure while polishing such minor details would make the response fully seamless.
IELTS Writing Criteria Scores
Task Achievement
The letter fully achieves its purpose by precisely describing the fault, explaining concrete work consequences, and requesting an appropriate warranty remedy.
Preserve this level of specific, relevant development while keeping future letters equally concise.
Coherence and Cohesion
Information is organised into purposeful paragraphs and progresses naturally from complaint to evidence, impact, and requested action.
Continue using this clear one-function-per-paragraph structure in similar formal letters.
Lexical Resource
Vocabulary is broad, precise, and natural throughout, including effective technical and professional terms such as 'toner cartridge' and 'dissatisfied clients'.
Maintain this precision while avoiding any unnecessary repetition of key nouns such as 'printer' and 'problem'.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
A wide range of sentence structures is used with excellent control, with only a minor punctuation awkwardness around the store name.
Integrate the store name with commas or parentheses rather than a spaced hyphen for smoother punctuation.
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IELTS General Training Writing Task 1
You work at home and have a problem with a piece of equipment that you use for your job. Write a letter to the shop or company which supplied the equipment. In your letter:
- describe the problem with the equipment
- explain how this problem is affecting your work
- say what you want the shop or company to do
Your response
Write the task yourself, then compare your choices with the annotated response.