You recently bought some train tickets for a journey a week in advance. When you went to the station to catch the train, you were told you could not use the tickets and the staff were very unhelpful to you. Write a letter to the train company. In your letter: - describe the problem you had with the tickets - say why you were unhappy with the staff - suggest what action the train company should take
Sample Response
Dear Sir or Madam,
I am writing to formally express my disappointment regarding an issue I encountered while travelling with VIA Rail Canada"VIA Rail Canada" on 25 February 2025on February 25, 2025. I had purchased two economy-class ticketseconomy class tickets (Booking Reference: VRC123456) a week in advance for travel from Toronto Union Station to Montreal Central Station on Train 64Train #64, departing at 9:30 a.m.9:30 AM. However, when I arrived at the stationupon arrival at the station, I was informed that my tickets were not valid, although I presented the booking confirmationdespite presenting the booking confirmation.
More seriouslyMoreover, the station staff were extremely unhelpful and dismissive. Instead of assisting me in resolving the issue, they repeatedly insisted that my only option was to purchase new tickets at a significantly higher price. When I asked for clarification on why my pre-booked tickets were not valid, I received vague and unprofessional responses, which left me frustrated and stranded.
I expect VIA Rail Canada to take responsibility for this inconvenience. I request a full refund for the tickets I was unable to use and a formal explanation of why this issue occurred. Additionally, I urge the company to improve staff training to ensure better customer service in the future.
Please respond at your earliest convenience, as I would like to resolve this matter promptly.
Yours faithfully,
Jacob Hall
Why this response received Band 9.0
This is a highly effective complaint letter: the ticket problem, the staff’s dismissive response, and the requested refund, explanation, and training are all developed with precise supporting detail and an appropriately firm tone. The structure and language are consistently controlled, leaving only a minor opportunity to trim some repeated references to tickets and the company. Preserve the clear request sequence while making the wording marginally more concise.
IELTS Writing Criteria Scores
Task Achievement
The letter fully satisfies every requirement with a clear purpose, detailed circumstances, justified dissatisfaction, and specific requested actions in an appropriate register.
Retain this level of specificity while ensuring every included booking detail remains directly useful to resolving the complaint.
Coherence and Cohesion
Purposeful paragraphs and well-managed linking create a seamless progression from the incident through the staff response to the requested remedy.
For even greater economy, combine the final response request with the remedy paragraph without weakening its emphasis.
Lexical Resource
Vocabulary is wide, precise, and natural for a formal complaint, with effective choices such as ‘dismissive’, ‘clarification’, and ‘stranded’.
Maintain this precise register while avoiding any unnecessary repetition of ‘issue’, ‘tickets’, or the company name.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
A broad range of complex structures is used accurately and naturally, with virtually no grammatical disruption.
Continue checking long sentences for concision so their strong grammatical control is matched by maximum efficiency.
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IELTS General Training Writing Task 1
You recently bought some train tickets for a journey a week in advance. When you went to the station to catch the train, you were told you could not use the tickets and the staff were very unhelpful to you. Write a letter to the train company. In your letter:
- describe the problem you had with the tickets
- say why you were unhappy with the staff
- suggest what action the train company should take
Your response
Write the task yourself, then compare your choices with the annotated response.