You bought a new HD television last week. At first, it seemed to work perfectly but after a few hours a line appeared across the TV and the sound seemed a little strange. You cannot take the TV back to the shop so you have decided to write to them. Write a letter of complaint to the shop. In your letter: - give them the background information - describe the problem - ask them to resolve the issue
Sample Response
Dear Sir or Madam, I am writing to complain about a problemnotify you of the problem I am having with the television that I purchased from your store on 29th March 2020. The television worked perfectlyIt was just fine when I checked it in the store but it started acting strangely and I hope you can sendI am hoping you would send someone to check it. I bought a 48-inch48 inch Samsung HD Flat FH4003 TV from your showroom in Author Street, Leevart area, on 29th March 2020. The TV worked fine for the first few hours and then suddenly started malfunctioningstarted erratic behaviours! I cannot bring it to your store to make a warranty claimclaim my warranty because my car is in the repairrepairing shop Deleteand I have an important exam next week. A thin dark line appears on the screen and it goes away after a while. This happens every time I start the TV. The sound of the TV was clear at firstsuperb at the beginning but it sounds strange now. People's voicesvoice sound robotichas become robotic and I am sure it is not related to the sound settingsrelated to sound settings.
It is quite disappointing to have a faulty product, especially from a reputablereputed brand. I would like to request that youI would request you to send someone to my place and have the television checked. If the fault cannot be repaired promptly, please provide meAfterwards, please provide me with a new one of the same model and make sure this one has no faultsissue! Yours faithfully, David Crown
Why this response received Band 7.0
The letter fully explains the purchase, describes both faults and requests an appropriate inspection and replacement, so its practical purpose is consistently clear. Its main weaknesses are presentation and control: most of the letter is an unbroken paragraph, several expressions are non-standard, and exclamation marks make the complaint less professional. Use conventional letter layout and more measured formal language.
IELTS Writing Criteria Scores
Task Achievement
All three bullet points are covered thoroughly with specific purchase details, symptoms and a clear requested remedy.
State the warranty or order reference and make the requested sequence—inspection, then replacement—even more explicit.
Coherence and Cohesion
The information follows a sensible sequence, but inadequate paragraphing and crowded opening and closing conventions reduce readability.
Use separate paragraphs for background, faults and requested action, with salutation and sign-off on separate lines.
Lexical Resource
The vocabulary communicates the complaint effectively, though several collocations are unnatural and some wording is too emotional.
Use standard complaint phrases such as malfunctioning, repair shop, under warranty, and fault.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
A mix of simple and complex sentences is clear overall, but article, conditional, noun-form and punctuation errors recur.
Check would versus could, compound modifiers, count nouns and sentence boundaries.
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IELTS General Training Writing Task 1
You bought a new HD television last week. At first, it seemed to work perfectly but after a few hours a line appeared across the TV and the sound seemed a little strange. You cannot take the TV back to the shop so you have decided to write to them. Write a letter of complaint to the shop. In your letter:
- give them the background information
- describe the problem
- ask them to resolve the issue
Your response
Write the task yourself, then compare your choices with the annotated response.