You took your family to a nearby restaurant. You were disappointed with the meal and wish to complain to the manager. Write a letter to the manager of the restaurant. In your letter, explain why you were at the restaurant describe the problems write about the action you want the manager to take
Sample Response
Dear Sir or Madam, I am a regular diner at your restaurant on Madison Avenue. Today, I am writing to express my discontent with the meal that I and my family had at your restaurant last Thursday. I am hoping that you will take the necessary action to improve your food quality and maintain your reputation. Recently, I have been promoted to the Senior Internal Auditor in my office, and to celebrate this event, I took my family out to your restaurant on Madison Avenue. We ordered four servings of shrimp fried rice, but we were shocked to discover that the shrimp in our serving was undercooked and had a pungent odour. After complaining about it to the supervisor, we were told that the restaurant had run out of shrimp - not a valid excuse for a distinguished restaurant like yours. You can understand my frustration when my family and I had to leave the restaurant empty stomach and with utter disappointment. My intention in writing this letter is to ask you to issue a "show cause notice" to the supervisor at your restaurant, and disseminate instructions to all your staff to hold a modicum of buffer stock for every item, just in case the restaurant runs out of that item and so that no customer experiences a humiliation. Yours faithfully, Muhammad Sameed
IELTS Writing Correction
- 1. Natural complaint Original: express my discontent Suggested revision: express my dissatisfaction Why it matters: This is the more common formal phrase for a complaint letter.
- 2. Pronoun order Original: the meal that I and my family had Suggested revision: the meal that my family and I had Why it matters: In English, the other person or group usually comes before "I".
- 3. Unneeded time marker Original: Today, Suggested revision: Delete Why it matters: The date of writing is not important here, and the sentence is stronger without it.
- 4. Job title article Original: promoted to the Senior Internal Auditor Suggested revision: promoted to Senior Internal Auditor Why it matters: Job titles after "promoted to" often do not need "the".
- 5. Plural reference Original: the shrimp in our serving was Suggested revision: the shrimp in our servings were Why it matters: The letter mentions four servings, so the plural form is clearer.
- 6. Dash punctuation Original: run out of shrimp - not a valid excuse Suggested revision: run out of shrimp, which was not a valid excuse Why it matters: This creates a smoother formal sentence.
- 7. Fixed phrase Original: leave the restaurant empty stomach Suggested revision: leave the restaurant on empty stomachs Why it matters: The plural noun is needed because both the writer and family left hungry.
- 8. Natural tone Original: utter disappointment Suggested revision: great disappointment Why it matters: This keeps the complaint strong but sounds more natural.
- 9. Practical request Original: issue a "show cause notice" Suggested revision: investigate the incident and apologise to us Why it matters: A customer complaint should usually request a remedy rather than a specific disciplinary notice.
- 10. Plain wording Original: disseminate instructions Suggested revision: instruct your staff Why it matters: The simpler phrase is clearer and more natural.
- 11. Unnatural phrase Original: hold a modicum of buffer stock Suggested revision: keep enough stock Why it matters: The original phrase is overly technical and awkward for this context.
- 12. Uncountable noun Original: experiences a humiliation Suggested revision: has such a disappointing experience Why it matters: "Humiliation" is too strong and is not normally used with "a" here.
Suggested Rewrites
- express my discontent express my dissatisfaction
- the meal that I and my family had the meal that my family and I had
- Today, Delete
- promoted to the Senior Internal Auditor promoted to Senior Internal Auditor
- the shrimp in our serving was the shrimp in our servings were
- run out of shrimp - not a valid excuse run out of shrimp, which was not a valid excuse
IELTS Writing Criteria Scores
Detailed feedback by IELTS writing criterion after the annotated essay.
Task Achievement
The complaint clearly explains the visit, the problem with the meal, and the action requested from the manager. The tone is mostly formal, but the requested action is slightly unrealistic and harsh for a customer complaint.
Ask for a practical remedy, such as an investigation, apology, refund, or staff training, instead of internal disciplinary action.
Coherence and Cohesion
The response is logically sequenced from background to problem to requested action. However, it is one long paragraph and some sentences carry too many ideas.
Use three short paragraphs: purpose and occasion, food problem, and requested action.
Lexical Resource
Vocabulary is varied, with effective words such as "undercooked", "pungent odour", and "reputation". A few choices are unnatural or too formal, such as "discontent", "empty stomach", and "disseminate instructions".
Keep precise complaint vocabulary but choose natural service-related phrases for the action you want.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
A range of complex sentences is used and meaning is clear. Errors with pronouns, article use, and singular/plural forms keep the grammar below a higher band.
Proofread noun phrases and pronoun agreement, especially when referring to the family, servings, and the overall experience.