Below is a model IELTS complaint letter which is estimated at band score 9. People taking the GT writing paper will be expected to write a letter for their writing task 1. That letter should be over 150 words. Complaint letters are one of the most common types of letters that you can be expected to write.
You bought a TV a week ago but when you got home you discovered it did not work properly. You called customer service to report the problem but you have not yet received any help.
Write a letter to the company and in your letter:
- introduce yourself
- explain the problem
- and state what action you would like from the company
Model IELTS Complaint Letter
The letter below will show you how to organise information into paragraphs and extent information to create a high band score IELTS complaint letter.
Dear Sir or Madam,
I am writing this letter to report the faulty TV that I purchased from your company on Tuesday last week.
My name is John Davidson and I am one of your frequent customers. I live in Woodstock and have been using your services and buying your products for the last 11 years.
On Tuesday, 12th June, I visited your store to purchase a TV. I bought a Toshiba LED TV which has the code 40L675B40. On purchasing this TV, I was assured that this was the latest model and the best there was to buy. However, when I got home I discovered that not only did the remote controls not work but also the quality of the picture was not as good as promised, in fact it was quite blurry. I called your customer service department immediately on Tuesday and they assured me that my TV would be replaced or fixed within two days. I am disappointed to say that this has not happened and I have received no communication since then.
I am exceedingly displeased with both the quality of the product I purchased from your company as well as the poor service I have received since. I hope this problem will be resolved promptly. I expect to receive a replacement TV or have my current TV repaired but only if it could be fixed within a day.
I look forward to hearing back from you immediately.
Yours faithfully,
Mr J H Davidson
Recommended for GT IELTS Writing Task 1
Click below:
Essential Tips for IELTS GT Letters: Writing Task 2
Practice IELTS Letters to practice at home
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Hi Liz,
i have a question, in your second sentence which goes as
“My name is John Davidson and I am one of your frequent customers. . I live in Woodstock and have been using your services and buying your products for the last 11 years”.
instead of that mentioning the address after the name;-
if i wrote “my name is John Davidson and i Live in Woodstock. I am one of your frequent customers and have been using your services and buying your products for the last 11 years”.
could you elaborate why you have mentioned the address in the subsequent sentence not with name sentence
Because it makes no difference at all in IELTS. If the information is given in the same paragraphing it is fine.
Thank you Liz for your prompt response. i hope you are doing well
Thanks Liz for all the resources available for this writing test 1 lessons.
I would, however, like to ask if it is fine to include address and if this attracts a penalty or adds to the word count.
Isaac
It would add to the word count – all words written on the answer sheet lines are counted. It would be unnecessary information and I don’t recommend you do it.
Dear Liz,
We have used as many as 11 times the word “I”
Is it appropriate??
Please reply quickly🙏
Of course it is fine. Some words will be repeated. Not every word needs to be paraphrased. Choose the words you wish to keep the same and paraphrase those that can be easily and well paraphrased.
Hey Liz
You told taht letter to your boss is formal. So we have to use Yours faithfully. But in one of your sample paper, you have used Yours sincerely. I guess you have not makde a clear difference between formal and semi formal letter. Regards
You seem to have misunderstood. Yours sincerely and Yours faithfully are both used for formal letters. See this page: https://ieltsliz.com/ielts-letter-writing-essential-tips/
Hi, Liz, how are you? What do you think of my letter? is it ok if I make a joke, for instance, about my TV not being so smart? Thanks.
Dear Sir/Madam,
My name is Sarah Lynch. I have been a frequent customer of your shop for a very long time and I am always pleased with the services you offer.
Last week I bought a 40 inch LG Smart TV for my daughter´s room but I am sorry to say that the TV doesn´t seem very smart to me. For some mysterious reason it will not connect to the wifi as it should. At the beginning I thought I was doing something wrong but after speaking to customer service and tried all sorts of tricks they told me to, we came to the conclusion that the device is indeed falty and needed to be replaced.
The conversation with customer service was a week ago and although they promised to get in contact again the next day to arrange the pickup and exchange, I still haven´t heard back from them. I would very much like to get this issue sorted so please reverse back to me as soon as possible. You can find my contact details under my frequent shopper ID number 1022457.
I look forward to hearing back from you.
Yours faithfully,
Sarah Lynch (18 min – 194 words)
Dear Sir/Madam,
I am writing this letter in regards to the television I purchased a week ago from the Brentwood store.
My name is Isabelle Franco and I am one of your frequent customers. I live in the Brentwood area and have been using the products of your brand since the last 10 years.
As mentioned earlier, I purchased the television from the Brentwood store, I made the payment in store but had asked for a drop-home service for the television. The television that I chose was working well at the store but to my surprise when I set it up at home the screen displayed black and white vision. I tried contacting the customer service to report the problem regarding the television but unfortunately, I still haven’t received any support till the very moment.
I have been disappointed by the service and product. I request you to get this repaired and if need be it would be the best to replace the product at the earliest. I am looking forward for a prompt help.
Yours faithfully,
Isabelle Franco
Hello Liz
The sample letters written on this blog have no address, is it the style for writing letters for IELTS
It is a language test, not a real letter. You do not need an address or a date or a reference.
Hi Liz,
Firstly, I wanted to thank you for all the tips and knowledge about this test. It’s been really helpful.
I have a question about signing off and name at the end of the GT writing task 1. Are these words counted too in the word count (150)?
Each word you write on the lines of the answer sheet will be counted.
Dear Sir,
A letter of complaint
I am Farls Davidson, a daily customer of your shop. I am writing to draw your attention about the goods that are been sold in the store.
Recently (10th February 2020), I purchased a Television from your shop and I was extremely disappointed to find that it does not function well. Even though, I requested the staff members to open the Television 📺 in the shop, they refused it in a way that never have done, Therefore, I was in a ❓doubt, but since I trusted your quality service, I never expected that such a dissatisfaction would occur.
To make matters worse, when I ☎️ dialed the consumer hotline, I found that the customer service is worst as when I complained about the television 📺, no one paying attention on me as they simply passing the telephone call over one another for fun which was such an embarrassment to me.
Therefore, I kindly to look 👀 in to my matter and I would we grateful if you could refund my 💲money back or else replace the 📺television with a well functioning software operation. In addition, as a loyal customer, I trust the situation would improve if a new set of staff employees are recruited so that future sales 📈 could also be increased. In conclusion, I hope 🙏 we could sort out this matter amicably and I believe that I will not have to take any 📝legal action towards this afore mentioned ⚠️issue.
Thank you.
F.Davidson
Hi!
I would be grateful if you could read this letter writing ✏️ of mine and inform me regarding the errors and the marks that I could possibly recieve.
Thank you for your immense support
Sorry, I do not provide a marking service.
Hi Liz,
In first bullet point it says to introduce yourself and you have written a good sentence to introduce your self. Before reading your sample answer I wrote this letter myself. For the first bullet point I just wrote my name in introductory paragraph and then I wrote a whole paragraph to introduce myself. What do you think of my answer please?
Thanks,
Yasir
The introduction of yourself needs to be appropriate for the aims and style of the letter and also be appropriate for the person you are writing to. A complain letter is formal in nature – this means the introduction of yourself is short, formal and without any descriptive flourishes.
Hi Liz,
Will we be penalized if we go over the word counts for the GT Writing Tasks? What are the recommended word counts for both the GT Writing Tasks?
Thanks
There is no penalty for being over the word count. But it does not help your score at all. It means you might produce more errors in language and deliver a less focused piece of writing – those two points might lower your score. See this page for all information and tips: https://ieltsliz.com/ielts-writing-task-1-lessons-and-tips/
Hi Liz,
You mentioned that “Name” should not be given in the body of the letter. However, I noticed that the very first line of your letter is having the name as – My name is John Davidson.
Could you please help to explain.
Thanks!
There are no fixed rules. You are looking for black and white rules. IELTS have only limited rules about writing and it doesn’t include small detail like that. Mostly it is advice that teachers give you. It is not necessary to have the name twice in a letter.
hi liz
when question say introduce yourself .should we use our real name? or any name.
God bless u.
thanks.
The letter is fictional.
Hi Liz,
I recently attempted one of your questions of an informal letter about staying over with a friend while on a holiday vacation, Kindly help me rate my work.
Dear Sam,
It was a great experience to have stayed over at your place on my holiday trip to London. I had been eagerly waiting to meet you, after we had parted our ways on graduating.
The moment I stepped into your house I felt a sense of joy and warmth as it always did even during our graduation. I had always wanted to experience London as a destination for vacation. My visit to London had been an eventful one. I got to see the great Big Ben, that reminded me of the story of, “Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde”, all thanks to the lovely hop-on bus tour you had booked for me. I especially enjoyed the evenings spent with you at the Tower Bridge. We recounted our funny, witty and embarrassing moments we encountered during our graduation, and the lovely bond of friendship we had developed over time.
As a special gift I am sending a collage, capturing all the lovely moments we had spent during my visit to London for a holiday at your place.
I hope to see you soon.
Your’s
Samantha
Hi Liz
Please rate my letter below – its about forgetting my wallet after a week long trip with a friend
Dear Palak
I must say that the week we spent has actually made me feel refreshed out of my hectic work schedule. All thanks to you for organising it.
The trip was indeed full of adventure and now when it is over I realise how tiring it was. I did not wake up during my entire return journey. But ironically the moment instepped at my home i realised, while unpacking, that i have forgotten my wallet in your hand bag. Needless to say that it is difficult to stay without the wallet as i have all my ID proofs and bank cards in it.
Henceforth I would request you if you can courier the wallet via Bluedart as disclosing the details of the wallet to them. I would be highly great full. I am hereby mentioning my address for your convenience.
Hoping to meet soon.
Yours Lovingly
Richa
Hi, In my opinion, this letter needs to be an informal one , but has a formal tone in the end “I would request”, “for your convenience” . Some spelling errors that can be avoided if you proof read your essay “great full – grateful”.
Your content is good. Good luck.
Hi Liz/Rashmi
Any comments on the below letter
Asking for a reference from a teacher
Dear Kajal Man
Hope you in good hewlth. I am writing this letter to you to inform about my job placement and also request you for acting as a reference
I am placed with an FMCG gaint – a multinational headquartered at Switzerland. I will be a part of their India business in sales team as Sales Officer. As this is going to be my first job I could not find a better reference than you as you are someone with whom i have worked quiet closely during my college days. You would be in a better position to tell them about me.
This reference is extremely important to for various reasons. Firstly it is my first job and it will help me in defining my career path. Secondly this is one of the dream companies I always desired to be associated with. So when asked about a reference i can definitely look up to you.
For reference they can ask you about my performance in college, my personality traits and also about my take on life. I am sure your would give them a positive feedback about me.
Your little contribution would make huge difference to me.
Thanks & Regards
Richa
Hi Liz,
Is it ok to combine the first point with the opening statement?
As in your model letter above, the personal introduction has been included in the opening statement, which, in this case is technically the best way to go at it. But in other cases, is it acceptable?
Also, the first paragraph is rather brief compared to the other two. Could this risk getting a lower band score?
Thanks in advance,
Shailesh
Letters do not have paragraphs of equal length. As long as you add information where necessary and expand in the right places, it’s fine. Sometimes the opening line might contain some of the required information – not common in formal letters though.
That explains it well Liz. Thank you once again.
Cheers,
Shailesh
Hi Liz,
Firstly thank you for your selfless contribution. You are really a saviour for the students like me who want to achieve high score in IELTS but somehow lacks in one or other aspect.
There is a question in my mind- Can there be varying length of the paragraphs as written above?
I am bit confused as this is not the case in task-2.
You do not need paragraphs of equal length in task 1. The marking criteria are not the same for task 1 as they are for task 2.
Hello Liz ma’am
I am confussed about it.
In formal letters,Do we need Subject line to mention.
Salutations should be on right side or left side.
The letter should be written exactly as you see it above. This is a letter for a language test, not a real letter.
Hello Liz….
Have you any mock test sample for preparation.
There’s one free full IELTS test on the British Council IELTS website. My website contains free lessons, tips, model answers, topics etc. Go to the HOME page to learn how to open those lessons or use the RED MENU BAR at the top of the website. My lessons help you develop skills and build essential awareness.