7 A LETTER OF COMPLAINT

a R ead the le tte r o f co m p lain t. T h e n an sw e r

th e qu estion s.
1 W h o is C h ris M ason com plaining to?
2 W hat item is he com plaining about? W hy?
3 W h o did he con tact first?
4 W h at problem did he have when he called to
com plain?
5 In which paragraph does C h ris use flattery? Sa nd ra Adams
How?
Head o f D epartm ent
b R ead it aga in and com plete the b la nk s w ith a Jo h n Leavis C ustom er Service
w ord fr o m th e list. P O B ox 9 0 8

Deaf delivered forward However in stock M ontclaire, New Je rse y 07042 M ay 19, 2013
number service unhelpful yours
1 Dear M s. A dams:

P Useful language: a formal letter (or email)

You don’t know the person’s name
Start: Dear Sir / Madam:
Finish: Kind regards,
You know the person’s name
Start: Dear+ Mr. / Ms. / Mrs. Garcia:
Finish: Sincerely yours,
Style
• Don’t use contractions
• Write /look forward to hearing from you. as
the final sentence
• Write your full name under your signature
Note: a formal email is exactly the same as
a formal letter, except in an email we don’t
write the address or date.
c W r i t e a lette r (or an em a il) o f com p la in t
abou t so m e th in g you b ou gh t o n lin e . P l a n
w hat you’re g oing to w rite . U s e th e U s e f u l
la n g u a g e to help you.
d C h e c k you r le tte r o r e m ail fo r m istak es
(g ram m a r, v oca bulary, p un ctu a tion ,
and spellin g).
<p.77
Last Wednesday, April 25 , T ordered a coffee m achin e from
your online store (order 2__________# C E 4 3 7 18 4 ). Before placing
the order I read the conditions carefully, and the item was
3 ________. Your website says th at items in stock are
4________ in 4 8 hours.
Two weeks passed, and nothin g arrived. 5__________, I noticed
that payment had been charged on my credit card. I called your
custom er service line, and the person that I spoke to, Becky, was
rude and 6_________ . She said that the item was not in stock,
and that she didn’t know when it would arrive. Sh e could not
explain why the money had been charged on my card.
I have bought many things from you over the years, both from
your New Je rse y store and the online store, and I have always
had good 7_________ . I c an only im agine that this is a departure
from your usual high standards, and I am sure you will be able
to resolve the situation in a satisfactory way.
I look 8________ to hearing from you.
Sin cerely 9__________,

C -N n J A/tYU|Vk*'

C hris M ason

W riting 119