You have purchased some goods from a company and the goods were supposed to be delivered within three days of purchase. Seven days have already gone and you have not received the products yet. Write a letter to a company manager with whom you arranged the delivery of goods. In your letter: - inform him/her what items you have purchased - ask the reason for the delay in delivery - suggest what can be done about the matter
Sample Response
Dear Sir or Madam, I am Rahul Sharma, the manager of the purchase and procurement division in Delta Bank, Maryland branch, writing to express my concern about the delivery of personal computers and routers I have recently purchased from you. I am hoping to get an update from you immediately. I purchased five Dell PCsPC and two NETGEAR-AC2750 Dual-Band routers and my invoice number is DNR12547A. You personally assured me that you wouldwill arrange the delivery withinin three days, before 25th May to be exact. Unfortunately, it is already 2nd June and I am yet to receive those products.those products! What is the reason for the delay? Is this something to do with a stock shortageyour product stock or delivery servicechain? We need those goods as soon as possible, and I can even arrange for one of our cars to pick up these products from your store. Please update me on the cause of the delay and the revised delivery datePlease update me regarding this. If you fail to deliver the products within the next couple of days, I am afraid I willI am afraid, I will have to cancel the order. I look forward to your cooperation in this matterExpecting your cooperation in this regard. Yours faithfully, Rahul Sharma
Why this response received Band 7.5
The letter fully addresses the delayed delivery, specifies the products and invoice, directly asks about the cause, and offers practical remedies, so its purpose is immediately clear. The main limitation is that the formatting and a few forceful phrases make the complaint slightly less polished than its otherwise appropriate formal tone. The priority is to organize the request into clear paragraphs and replace fragments or abrupt questions with courteous complete sentences.
IELTS Writing Criteria Scores
Task Achievement
The purpose is clear, all three bullet points are fully covered with specific details, and the formal complaint tone is generally appropriate.
Soften the direct questions and ultimatum slightly to maintain a consistently courteous professional relationship with the manager.
Coherence and Cohesion
The letter progresses logically from order details to the delay, possible causes, and proposed solutions, but it is presented as one dense block.
Use separate paragraphs for the purchase details, delivery problem, and requested resolution.
Lexical Resource
Specific product and delivery vocabulary conveys the situation precisely, although a few phrases such as “delivery chain” and “get an update” are less natural.
Use more idiomatic formal phrases such as “supply chain,” “receive an update,” and “collect the products from your store.”
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
A good range of sentence structures is mostly accurate, with minor errors in reported tense, plurals, punctuation, and the closing fragment.
Write “five Dell PCs,” use “would arrange” after “assured me,” and turn the final fragment into a complete sentence.
Write this task while it is fresh
Try the same task now. It helps you remember the feedback and write better next time.
IELTS General Training Writing Task 1
You have purchased some goods from a company and the goods were supposed to be delivered within three days of purchase. Seven days have already gone and you have not received the products yet. Write a letter to a company manager with whom you arranged the delivery of goods. In your letter:
- inform him/her what items you have purchased
- ask the reason for the delay in delivery
- suggest what can be done about the matter
Your response
Write the task yourself, then compare your choices with the annotated response.