\ Letters of Complaint 4 BB You will hear two people discussing a letter which one of them is going to send, Listen to the cassette and answer the questions below. a) What is the main purpose of the letter? b) What complaints does Cathy make in her letter? ©) What does Cathy want the manufacturer todo? d) What is Cathy going to do if her letter is ignored? AY» sora etter of complaints written to complain about a problem which has arisen ( faulty merchandise, rude staf, inaccurate information, etc). It should explain the reasons for the complaint, and usually includes a suggestion/request) demiand conceming what should be done (e.g refund, compensation, etc). © Mild or strong language can be used depending on the writer's feelings and the seriousness ofthe complaint, but abusive language must never be used, €.g.Mild Complaint: ‘Lam writing to complain about a factual eror in yesterday's newspaper. | hope that you will give this matter your prompt attention. ‘Strong Complaint: 1am wrting to express my strong disapproval conceming the offensive behaviour of {introduction ‘an employee at your company's Winchester Road branch. Paragraph 1 | demand ful, writen apology or | will be forced to take legal action. ‘© The nature of the complaint should be clearly stated in the fist paragraph. Each aspect of the topic should be presented in a separate paragraph containing a clear topic state reason(s) for writing sentence. Each complaint should be supported by clear justification. Moin Body Useful Language Paragraphs 2-3 ; state complaint(s) with io oer justification Mild complaint : vam wrting to complain abou! draw your attention to (he problem of). Paragraphs 4-5 19 express my disappoiniment/cissatstacion with suggest what should be Strong complaint done TTam unting fo express my annoyancelextreme dissatisfaction with /anger at /protest about | regret to/fee! | must inform you how appalied/shocked | was Conclusion (© Toond lettre: Final Paragraph Mild complaint ing rer be deat wth/resolved as soon as possible. eames | hopetust this mater wil receive your immediate attention Full name rot be teated rt . feo that you shoud. am enti to compensation retina replacement The exact number and di Strong complaint depend on the specific Tus not on insist tha Serand am you that irra forjoueh Urls ts mater resoved Unless satsfacory compensation ofered writing task {will have no choice but tol wil be forced to take futherlegal action. . 10102 Unit 7d Letters of Complaint 2 Read the instructions and the model letter below and find the topic sen- tence of each paragraph. Then, underline any phrases which you feel are too informal for a letter of this kind, as in the example. (The num- bers in circles indicate the lines which contain the informal phrases.) Replace these with the phrases from the list below. ) compensate me for, b) otherwise I will be forced to, ¢) Lam writing to ‘express my extreme dissatisfaction with, d) I insist that you, e) Despite my objections, f) Having no other alternative, g) I therefore request that you 1) Contrary to whit HIrad been wold You recently hired a car for a part of your holiday. However, there were several problems with the arrangements. Write a letter of complaint to the managerimanageress explaining the problems and requesting com- pensation Sir/Madam, re waia this because 'm really upset about the service | received in rented one of your cars on 20th July, wert had chal requested afourdoor model. However, | was ajven a smaler two-door version which, apart from being to src) for was clearly in need of extensive repair | moaned al my reds was cet at was the only cor aac ond jour employees inf be on sesured me that it was in perfect order. I couldn't do anything else, $0! cf vehicle. @ amos tes said there werent there were in fact, several things wrong with the ca. Despite the fact that | had driven it for only on hour, was forced to stop when the engine showed signs of overheating Having added two litres of water to the radiator | was able t ee ue, although during the course of my journey a knocking sound fom the engine became increasingly persistent and the windscreen wip. stopped working my subsequent journey was most uncomfortable, Not only did! have ut | also had to worry of driving a car which was not roadworthy, but | a oop efor to rel the radiator Finally I had no choice but te Rave the car at your Oxford branch and continue my journey using ublic transport. : that your employees ated irresponsibly in issuing a car which was not safe to drive, and | believe | am entitled to compensation for the inleruption to my holiday, So | want you to send me the su of £200 to cover the cost uf my train ticket and to make me fea bet after the distress | was forced to suffer as a result of your negligence, ‘You'd better give this matter your urgent attention, or else ! really © will have to take legal action. Yours faithfully, S. Mattison Mr S, Mallison Linking Words Complaints and justifications can be linked together as follows: | purchased the camcorder only a month ‘ago but the rewind button does not function propery | purchased the camcorder a month ago Nevertheless, / However, the rewind ‘button does not function properly. The rewind button does not function propery in spite of / despite the fact that | purchased the camcorder only a month ago, Although / Even though | purchased the camcorder only a month ago, the rewind button does not function properly 3 Match the complaints and justifica- tions below, then join them using fe linking words/phrases. Complaints 1 The goods we ordered have not been received yet 2 Our wooden floors have become dull. 3 The batteries died after a few hours, 4. The hotel was an hour's drive from the beach. The film was too long and very boring 6 The knife became blunt after only a month's 7 The mascara made my eyes water. 8 My daughter's watch stopped after she swam with it on Justification The label on the packet claims they are long- lasting bb We were told they would not lose their shine. They were shipped a month ago. 4 We were told it was within walking distance € The manufacturer claims iti hypoallergenic. f The trailer said it would keep me on the edge ‘of my seat The packa proot bh You said it was guaranteed to stay sharp for five years e label states that it is water4 Read the instructions and model plan on the right, ree mmplete the paragraph fying the topic of eact em the bl e let P ‘each paragraph. Ther i ie ee read ea eae ple Some af the words cn bewsed mare than one. m | inthe a therefore, not only .. but also, while, nevertheless, us, furthermore, as a result, although, since : You are a regular customer festaurant. The last time you ate uustomer of a k local restaurar there, however, vou felt that the standards had di coped slant. We a it ltr expianing wh ing why you were cs be done to improve the situation. ee oear Mr Seward, tr Magn regret that | feel t must write fo express my appointment. at the quality of food ond service | Poe at your restaurant yesterday, every {1 your food is usually of @ ery high nsaaraT eit tat, on this occasion, te meal left a lot sae desired. The preparation and ipresentation seemed Furried and careless. (2) orm neither my guest ra felt inclined to finish our med was not what | have @) ._, the service establishment. Our waiter was come to expect from your in taking our in bringing the dishes. (5) coe nattentive and slow, (4) - not Only order .. but, also ce wcereason for my visit was tO entertain dient, 1 was in standards. On my previous experience of YOU" restaurant, | especially memorable dinner deeply embarrassed to be | Somewhat disturbed at the apparent fall I) the basis of [had promised my quest an and was (6) || proved entirely wrong. ght 1 suggest that, as the manager, would be advise || ale Tor you to oversee the preparation of food person. | aly. (7) eee ee ven | realise the work | volved in running a restaurant ry demanding, | | a : feel that the standard of the | food served is of utmost impor ance 1 would recommend, of utmOs vat. you give this matter Your @) ; urgent attention ae ng the service, 1 would suggest TO speak _egarding I ncermed to ensure that other monet te ere etary inconvenience, Ts, would iP. ME are tnt maintain its welkdeserved repute 1 look forward to hearing from You ‘as soon as possi- Be. (10) 1 hope you will eae my comments into consideration vyours sincerely, BA. Fagen PA. Hogan Unit 7d Letters of Complaint + dntroduction reason for writing + Malin Body 103104 Unit 7d Letters of Complaint 5 Read the instructions below and the beginnings and endings from letters of complaint, Then match the beginnings and endings and say ‘whether the language in each pair is mild, strong or abusive. Which level of language would be most appropriate for the situation described? You recently travelled by coach and were very disappointed with the ser- Vice provided by the staf, and the delays you encountered. Write a letter to the company to complain and to demand compensation ENN oA DUN TOS A | hope that you will look into this situation asa matter of some urgency, and that the sevice offered by your com pany will improve (AISNE hbo 1 | am writing to express my total dissatisfaction with the appal: ling service | experienced on one of your coaches from Cardiff to Coventry on 24th May. B Organise your pititul company efficiently and stop cheating the public by charging outra. ge0us prices for fifth-rate ser. vice 2 Lam writing to complain about the poor quality of the service | experienced on one of your coaches from Cardiff to Coventry on 24th May. | insist that my wite and | re- celve a full refund of the price of our tickets, and must warn you that unless this matter is resolved at once | will not hes. itate to take legal action. 3 Lam writing to draw your atten. tion (if you have any, which | doubt) to the fact that the staff who ‘served’ us on your Cardift to-Coventry coach on 24th May are incompetent, idle foots. Id or strong language G Read the following situations, and say whether n ‘would be more appropriate for a letter concerning each one. Then, ‘choose two situations and write a suitable beginning and ending for a letter of complaint about each. 1 your neighbour's dog barks at night — you can't sleep 2. the hotel receptionist forgot to place your wake-up call — you over- slept, missed your flight and had to pay for another ticket 3 you found a piece of glass in a packet of frozen food — you nearly ‘swallowed it 4 the TV guide always has inaccuracies concerning dates and times you can’t be sure what programmes will be shown the birthday cake you ordered wasn’t delivered on time — the children were extremely disappointed 6 there was no lifeguard on duty at the public swimming pool — your child almost drowned 7 Look at the following writing task instructions and then answer the questions below. The questions apply to both tasks, 4) Youare the manager of a supermarket which is losing customers because ‘employees of the company next door park their cars in the supermarket parking area. Write a letter of com- plaint to the company and suggest what should be done. 1b) You have noticed that students at your son's school are often left unattend- ‘ed. Write a letter of complaint to the headmaster and ask him to ensure that the situation does not continue. © What greeting would you use? © What is the main purpose for writing the letter? © What is the additional purpose? © What paragraph plan would you use? © What useful expressions could you nee ac opening and elacing remark? © How would you sign the letter? 8 Choose ONE of the writing tasks above, and write a complete para- graph plan with notes. Then write the letter in about 300 words.