You were hurt in a minor accident inside a supermarket, and you wish to complain to the supermarket. Write a letter to the manager of the supermarket. In your letter: - say who you are - give details about the accident - suggest how the supermarket could prevent similar accidents - Write atleast 150 words.
Sample Response
Dear Sir or Madam,Dear sir/mam,
I am writing to reportwriting this to let you know about the unfortunate incident that took place yesterday while I was shoppingwhile I came to shop for confectionerythe confectionary items at your Baisakhi branch‘Baisakhi’ branch in our area and how it could have been been preventedabstained from happening had appropriate precautionsthe precautionary measures been taken.
I am Prakhar Panchbhaiya and I work as a marketing manager at the Shizumni Virtuoso ConsultancyShizumni virtuoso consultancy. I am your regular customer, and I regularly buy my day-to-day itemsgenerally shop for my day-to-day items from your store. Yesterday, as usual, I came to the supermarket only to be hit by the carton that fell upon me from one of your racks. I missed a casualty by a whisker though I am badly injured and currently seeking medical assistance.
This could have been preventedabjured from happening had the cartons and boxescartons and the boxes been stored securelyplaced properly. Kindly ensure your customers’ safetyyour customer’s safety and store these items safelymanage the items properly. Such negligenceBeing negligent could be fatal for customers and stafffor the customers and the staff.
Yours faithfullysincerely, Prakhar Panchbhaiya
Why this response received Band 6.5
The letter has a clear complaint structure and covers the writer’s identity, the accident, and a basic prevention request in a generally suitable formal tone. Its main weakness is inaccurate word choice, which repeatedly makes otherwise understandable points sound unnatural; the highest-priority improvement is to replace misused terms with precise language and develop the safety measures more concretely.
IELTS Writing Criteria Scores
Task Achievement
The purpose is clear and all required points are addressed, although the proposed prevention measures remain general and the injury description is slightly inconsistent with a minor accident.
Specify practical actions such as securing cartons, checking shelves regularly, and keeping heavy items on lower racks.
Coherence and Cohesion
The response is organised into purposeful paragraphs and moves coherently from background to the incident and requested action.
Shorten the overloaded opening sentence so the complaint’s purpose and circumstances are easier to follow immediately.
Lexical Resource
The writer attempts a broad formal vocabulary, but several choices such as “abstained,” “abjured,” and “missed a casualty” are inaccurate or unnatural.
Prioritise familiar, precise expressions such as “prevented,” “avoided serious injury,” and “stored securely” over ambitious but uncertain wording.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
Simple and complex structures are mixed with generally clear meaning, though awkward clause construction and some agreement and possessive errors recur.
Check complex sentences for natural clause links and revise forms such as “customers’ safety” to improve grammatical control.
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IELTS General Training Writing Task 1
You were hurt in a minor accident inside a supermarket, and you wish to complain to the supermarket. Write a letter to the manager of the supermarket. In your letter:
- say who you are
- give details about the accident
- suggest how the supermarket could prevent similar accidents
- Write atleast 150 words.
Your response
Write the task yourself, then compare your choices with the annotated response.