C1.

Unit 1

Writing a letter of complaint

A letter of complaint is a formal letter which should explain very clearly what went wrong and how it
affected you. The tone should be polite but firm and request some resolution to the problem(s) you had.

Dear Sir or Madam,

Explain the purpose of
I am writing to complain about the city break to Rome that we booked the letter and mention
through your travel agency and which turned out to be a huge briefly what problem you
disappointment. encountered.

Firstly, although the flight arrived on time, we had to wait an hour

before your representative arrived to take us to the hotel. To make
matters worse, we were then informed that there had been a problem List the reasons why you
with overbooking and we would be accommodated at an alternative are complaining.
hotel nearby. While it is true that this hotel was slightly more upmarket,
we had specifically asked for a quiet room away from the street. To
our dismay, the room allocated to us faced onto the street and was
extremely noisy with traffic rushing by for most of the night.

In addition to this, we had been assured by your agent that the

sightseeing tour and visits to the monuments would be in small
Add further reasons.
groups and with an official Italian city guide. However, this was not
the case. We were appalled to find ourselves herded around in a bus
with forty other tourists accompanied by a young English tour guide
whose knowledge of the city was seemingly less than ours.

State what action you

In view of all this, I think it would be appropriate to refund the full
expect the company to
cost of our stay. If this is not forthcoming, we shall consider taking take.
the matter further.

I trust this complaint will receive your immediate attention.

Yours faithfully,

Danielle Ferguson

Writing tips
• Explain
 what happened and how it affected you. Focus on two or three events related to the
incident.
• Use
 passive structures when describing what happened to be more impersonal.
• Use appropriate expressions to express your displeasure and increase the impact.
• Use connectors to structure the text.
• Be
 clear about what action you want taken.