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ÁREA: ENGLISH LANGUAGE GRADE: 10TH A B C D

TOPIC: LANGUAGE SKILLS

TEACHERS: MR. LUIS ALFONSO LOPEZ – MRS. MARLENY MONTES

TIME: FROM: April 6TH, 2018 TO: April 12TH, 2018

GRADE MOTTO
“I interiorize fundamental values and knowledge that allow me control myself and advance in my life plan”.

INTRODUCTION

The purpose of this guide is to give a training for the writing task 1 form the IELTS Test, which is a complaint letter.

IELTS Writing Task No. 1: Complaint Letter

How to write an IELTS complaint letter

In this type of letter, you are given a situation that you wish to be resolved in some way. Common examples are bad
service at a hotel, shop, restaurant or other place or faulty goods you have bought. It is common to have to do these two
things:
 Explain the problem
 Ask how it will be resolved / Suggest how you want it to be resolved
However, remember that there are always THREE tasks you have to address in the letter, so check carefully what they are.
In this case the third task in the IELTS complaint letter is introducing yourself.

Take a look at the question:

You have bought a new camera but when you got it home you found it had some problems. You returned the camera
and spoke to the company representative a week ago but the camera has still not been repaired.
• Write a letter to the company.
• In your letter: Introduce yourself
Explain the situation
Say what action you would like the company to take.

It is essential that you address the three points you are given. If you do not, you will lose marks for Task Achievement,
and your band score may be reduced. You need to make sure you think of some extra details to support the points.
You don't necessarily have to write the same amount on each point.
You should make sure you give plenty of detail for the second two points, but in this IELTS complaint letter, it is likely you
would write less on the first point as there are limits to what you can say if you introduce yourself.

You should write your letter in the same order as the bullet points.
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IELTS Complaint Letter Model Answer

Dear Sir / Madam,

My name is Mark Roberts and I am writing to you regarding a Nokia camera that I bought at your department store on
Sunhill Road, Dewsbury, on the 5th September.

The camera seemed to work fine in the shop. However, upon returning home, it became clear that the shutter
mechanism was not functioning properly. In addition to this, there was a small scratch on the lens.

I therefore returned to the shop the following day, on the 6th September, and spoke to a company representative about
the issue. I left the camera with the assistant and they assured me that they would look into the problem with a view to
repairing the camera and get back to me a few days later.

However, it has now been one week and when I contacted the shop again they said that the camera has still not been
fixed and they do not know how long it will be.

As I am sure you will understand, it is not acceptable to be waiting for such a long time for it to be repaired. I would like
then to request that I be given a full refund should I not receive the repaired camera by the end of this week.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Yours faithfully
Mark Roberts
Common Phrases for an IELTS Complaint Letter
These are some common phrases you can use in an IELTS complaint letter that will help you to get the right tone:

Reason for writing:

 I am writing in order to complain about

 I am writing to complain about
 I am writing regarding
 I am writing to express my dissatisfaction with
Introducing the complaint:

 Topic sentence stating the positive point. + However, + problem….

Example:
We thoroughly enjoyed the first week of the holiday. However, after that we experienced a number of
problems.
 I am (extremely) dissatified / dissapointed with the service / goods that I received / bought because
First complaint:

 Firstly  My first complaint is

 First of all  My first concern is
 The first problem is / was  The first thing I would like to draw your attention to is
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Further complaints:

 Secondly  …… is / was also unsatisfactory / unacceptable

 Also  Not only ……, but also
 In addition  To make matters worse,
 In addition to this  Furthermore
 Added to this

Mentioning negative consequences:

 I'm afraid that…

 Unfortunately,
Expressing Dissatisfaction:

 It is not acceptable to / that

 I am not at all pleased that
 I am disappointed because
Demanding action:

 I suggest that you replace the item

 I therefore suggest that I be given a full refund
 I would be grateful if my money was refunded
 I would be grateful if you could give me a full refund
 I would like to request that
 To resolve the problem, I would appreciate it if you could
Ending the letter:

 I look forward to hearing from you

 I look forward to receiving a full refund
 I look forward to receiving a replacement
 I look forward to receiving your explanation
 I look forward to your reply and a resolution to my problem
You will need to practice these to make sure you know how to fit them in correctly to your letter as they may all vary slightly
depending on the particular context.

ACTIVITY: WRITING TASK. You should spend 20 minutes on this task.

You recently bought a piece of equipment for your kitchen but it did not work. You phoned the shop but not action was
taken.

Write a letter to the shop manager, in your letter:

 Introduce yourself
 Describe the problem with the equipment
 Explain what happened when you phoned the shop
 Say what would you like the manager to do

Write according to the model given above in the example.

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Dear Sir/ Madam:

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of-complaint
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