You are not happy about a service you received a couple of days ago from a company and you have decided to complain about it. Write a letter to the company to complain about the poor service you received from its employee. In your letter express: - why you went to the shop/office - how the employees behaved to offend you - what you expect the company to do
Sample Response
Dear Sir or Madam, I am writing to register a complaint aboutwith you regarding the poor service and rude attitude of your staffpoor service, and the rude attitude by your staff that I experienced last Monday when I visited your shop. I hope you will takeI am hoping you would take appropriate actionproper steps so that no other customer is treated as disrespectfully as I wasfeels humiliated the way I did. I went to your shop on Monday, 24th November, with the intention of purchasing a microwave oven for my home. While I was in your shop, not a single employee approached me or offeredapproached and offered me any assistance! They were watching a soap opera on the television and were completely absorbed in the programmefully focused on the show. I decided to ask one of the employees for help but he showed no interest in helping meshowed no interest to help me. He was actually rude when I asked him what types of microwave ovenwhat type of microwave ovens were available in the shop and if he could assist me. He pointed at another employeepointed out his finger to another employee and this dismissive gesture was extremely rudethis gesture was extremely awkward. I was not there to ask a favour, rather, to purchase a product and your unprofessional employeesthe unprofessional employees you have are surely going to cost your business. I regret visiting your shopI regret to have been in your shop and will not returnwill never be there. However, you should know how poorly your staff treats your customers. I am hoping you would take the proper initiative to offer a better customer experience in the future by hiring more professional employees.
Yours faithfully, Irene Byers
Why this response received Band 7.5
The letter fully establishes the complaint, clearly explains the visit and the employees' conduct, and makes an appropriate request for action in a firm, generally suitable tone. Its main weakness is that some phrasing is awkward or overly forceful, while the single-block presentation limits readability. Prioritise more natural complaint language and clearer paragraphing for the incident and requested resolution.
IELTS Writing Criteria Scores
Task Achievement
The purpose is immediately clear, all three bullet points are fully addressed, and the complaint is developed with specific relevant detail.
State the desired company response more precisely, such as an investigation, apology, or staff training, while maintaining a measured formal tone.
Coherence and Cohesion
The information progresses logically from the reason for writing through the incident to the requested action, although it is presented in one dense body block.
Separate the purpose, account of the incident, and requested resolution into distinct paragraphs to make the progression easier to follow.
Lexical Resource
The letter uses a good range of complaint and service-related vocabulary, but several collocations such as 'pointed out his finger' and 'take the proper initiative' are unnatural.
Use more idiomatic combinations, for example 'pointed me towards another employee' and 'take appropriate action'.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
A range of complex sentences is used with generally secure control, while a few article, preposition, and punctuation choices reduce precision.
Review complex clauses and verb patterns, especially forms such as 'showed no interest in helping me', and avoid unnecessary comma breaks.
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IELTS General Training Writing Task 1
You are not happy about a service you received a couple of days ago from a company and you have decided to complain about it. Write a letter to the company to complain about the poor service you received from its employee. In your letter express:
- why you went to the shop/office
- how the employees behaved to offend you
- what you expect the company to do
Your response
Write the task yourself, then compare your choices with the annotated response.