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LISTENING IELTS General Writing Task 1: Complaint Letter
Listening practice test
READING IELTS Complaint Letter is a formal or semi-formal type of letter where you are given a situation that

Reading practice test you wish to be resolved in some way.

WRITING
Complaint letters are used to raise your concerns about unfair things, such as bad service, faulty
Writing Task 1: Letter goods, problems with people and to seek a productive outcome.
Types of letters
Informal letter Here is an example how the task may look like:

Business letter
 Complaint letter
Request letter
WRITING TASK 1 (General)

Job application letter

You should spend about 20 minutes on this task.
Writing Task 2: Essay
Types of essays
You have had a problem with your next-door neighbour. You have not been able to
5 Tips for Essay
speak to your neighbour about this.
WRITING CORRECTION
SPEAKING Write a letter to this neighbour. In your letter

Part 1 Explain the problem

Part 2 Suggest a solution
Part 3
Say what action you will take if the situation does not improve
USEFUL RESOURCES
Linking words
Write at least 150 words.
Essay vocabulary
You do NOT need to write any addresses.
Speaking vocabulary
BLOG Begin your letter as follows:

CONTACT US Dear ... ,

Note! You will find the IELTS Complaint Letter Sample with grammar corrections and estimated band
RECENT POSTS score down below.

IELTS Speaking Part 2 Topics: Gift

IELTS Speaking Part 2 Topics:

Birthday

IELTS Speaking Part 2 Topics:

Family

IELTS Speaking Part 2 Topics: IELTS Complaint Letter Structure & Vocabulary
Movie
We have listed for you the letter structure of IELTS Complaint Letter with common phrases you can
IELTS Speaking Part 2 Topics:
Book use to get the correct structure and right tone.

1. Dear Sir/Madam, (or name if given)

2. Explanation: 1-2 sentences what you are complaining

about

I am writing to express my dissatisfaction with the ... / my

concern about
COMPLAINT LETTER
I am writing to complain about ... / I had been led to
believe ...
Dear Sir/Madam, (or name
I would like to draw your attention to ... 1
if given)
The reason I am writing to you is poor quality of a ... ,
Explanation: 1-2
which I bought in your store.
2 sentences what you are
After only two times it was in use, problems started to complaining about
appear.
3 Explain in more detail
3. Explain in more detail
What action you want the
what had happened, what is the problem 4 person or company to
I was supposed to receive ... . Unfortunately, that never take
happened. Formal ending, name,
5
I could not believe that ... signature

what are you unhappy about

You can imagine how unhappy I was to discover ...

I regret to inform you that your service was below my expectations.

what did you do to resolve the situation

I contacted your store immediately in order to return ...

When I tried to contact you by phone no one could offer me any sensible answer.

how do you feel about the problem

You can imagine how receiving this offer upset me.

4. What action you want the person or company to take / What would you like them to do, what
will you do?

The ideal solution would be ... / Nevertheless, I hope/assume you will replace ...

I hope you can settle this matter by ... (doing smth)

I insist on getting a refund of ...

I am very disappointed with the ... . Therefore I expect a full refund of $100 as soon as possible.

I hope this matter will be resolved / I trust the situation will improve.

5. Formal ending, name, signature

I look forward to hearing from you!

I look forward to receiving a prompt reply!

→ Yours sincerely, ... (you know the name of person you are writing to)
→ Yours faithfully, ... (you don't know the name!)

LEARN BY PLAYING!

Learning should be fun, right? For that reason, we have created a little game in order to help you
learn useful vocabulary and phrases for writing complaint letters.

There are 15 questions in total and the questions are in random order. Give it a try and test your
knowledge. Just click the answer!

Practice vocabulary YOUR SCORE 0/0

When I tried to contact you ...... phone no one could offer me any sensible answer.

A by B on C through

USEFUL PHRASES

misleading information

I would like to complain about the poor quality of service I recently received from your company.

I wish to make a complaint regarding your inefficient staff. (level of service)

I am writing to complain about the poor train service your company provided from the 5th to the
12th of November. / ... and I missed my plane as a result.

I am writing to you about the party ... . I have a number of complaints. I hope you will agree that it
was a very disappointing evening.

The problems do not stop here. / ... / Furthermore, ...

To begin with ... / In addition to this, ... / Added to this, there was no ...

... was not worth the money I paid for it.

Having paid a lot of money for the ... , I found this extremely frustrating

In your ... you promised a pleasant ... . This was definitely not my experience.

However, I would like to point out that ...

I feel I am entitled to a partial refund in addition to an apology for the inconvenience caused.

Furthermore, you will find a bill on the value of ... . I expect it to be compensated as well.

I would appreciate it if you could look into the matter as soon as possible.

Writing
Coaching Open
The Writing
Consultancy

IELTS Complaint Letter Sample (Corrected)

You have had a problem with your next-door neighbour. You have not been able to speak to
your neighbour about this.

Write a letter to this neighbour. In your letter

Explain the problem

Suggest a solution

Say what action you will take if the situation does not improve

Begin as follows: Dear ... ,

Click to show mark-

ups


Dear Mr. Stafford,

I am writing to you to complain about a problem that may have been caused by your kids.

First of all, as I have been made redundant since last month, I need to spend a lot of time at
home. However, your kids make it impossible to have any peace, especially soon after they have
arrived home from school. They play with a ball indoors, run around and listen to music too
loudly. I have really tried not to pay too much attention to this and I had hoped that things would
settle without needing to forbid them from enjoying themselves. However, the situation is
getting worse.

As I do not use a phone and I have not seen you around in a while, I have decided to contact you
by post. I would like to ask whether it would be okay for you to restrain your kids and explain that
there are other people living in the house as well. Otherwise, I will be compelled to report this
matter to the police.

I seriously hope that my letter will not create any ill-feeling between us and we can remain good
neighbours.

Yours sincerely,

Jack Smith

(206 words)

Band Score Estimate

6.5
(prior to corrections)

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LETTER RESOURCES

GENERAL WRITING TASK 1 GENERAL WRITING TASK 1

Types of Letters Job Application Letter

GENERAL WRITING TASK 1 GENERAL WRITING TASK 1

Complaint Letter Business Letter

GENERAL WRITING TASK 1 GENERAL WRITING TASK 1

Request Letter Informal Letter

USEFUL RESOURCES
Linking words for IELTS

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