How to Write a Complain Letter?
IELTS Complaint Letter
IELTS Complaint Letter is a formal or semi-formal type of letter where you are given a situation that you wish to be resolved in some way.
Complaint letters are used to raise your concerns about unfair things, such as bad service, faulty goods, problems with people and to seek a productive outcome.
Question structure
All questions for IELTS letters have the same structure. They are made up of 3 parts.
Part 1 – The topic.
Part 2 – The person you must write to.
Part 3 – What you should write about (listed as 3 bullet points).
Here is a sample question for a letter of complaint with the 3 parts illustrated.
There is a problem with the changing rooms in the sports centre that you visit. You have complained several times but with no success. Write a letter to the manager of the sports center. In your letter:_ – describe what the problem with the changing rooms is – say what happened the last times you complained – explain what you want the manager to do. | The topic Who you should write to What you should write about |
Understanding this will help you to quickly analyse the question and plan your answer. To help you plan, use the letter structure below.
Letter structure
The layout of your IELTS complaint letter should follow the structure of the question and consist of four paragraphs with a greeting at the beginning and a signoff at the end.
Use this easy to remember 6 part structure.
1) Dear …..
2) Paragraph 1: Purpose – why you are writing
3) Paragraph 2: Write about 1st bullet point
4) Paragraph 3: Write about 2nd bullet point
5) Paragraph 4: Write about 3rd bullet point
6) Signoff
All you need to do to create your plan is to add in the details from the question, like this:
1) Dear ….. (manager)
2) Paragraph 1: Purpose – to complain about the sports centre changing rooms
3) Paragraph 2: describe the problem with the changing rooms (bullet point 1)
4) Paragraph 3: what happened the last times you complained (bullet point 2)
5) Paragraph 4: explain what you want the manager to do (bullet point 3)
6) Signoff
Formal & Informal IELTS Letters
Your letter must be written in the appropriate tone and style. There are two options:
- Formal – to someone you don’t know or don’t know well.
- Informal – to a friend or close family member.
It is essential that you are able to identify what type of question you’re required to write.
Follow this general rule:
- If the question includes the word ‘friend’, use informal language.
- If the question does not include the word ‘friend’, use formal language.
An IELTS complaint letter will almost always be addressed to someone you don’t know and will thus be a formal letter, so this is what we’ll focus on for the rest of the lesson.
Two parts of the letter that require very specific formal language are the greeting at the beginning and the signoff at the end so we’ll begin with these.
The Greeting & Signoff
The Greeting
There are two ways you can begin your formal IELTS complaint letter.
- Use Dear Sir or Madam if you don’t know the name of the person you are writing to.
- Use Dear + surname if you do know their name, e.g. Dear Mr Smith or Dear Mrs Jones.
It’s very likely that you would not know the name of someone you were making a complaint to but if you want to use a surname, just make one up.
The greeting you use will determine how you sign off your letter.
The Signoff
For a formal letter, there are two main options. The correct one will depend on who you are addressing:
- Dear Mrs Jones (name known) – Yours sincerely
- Dear Sir/Madam (name unknown) – Yours faithfully
Always sign off a formal letter with your full name, e.g. Jacky Spear
For our sample letter, we will use this greeting and signoff:
Dear Sir or Madam…
…Yours faithfully,
Jacky Spear
We are now ready to think up some ideas to write about. We have the guidelines of the 3 bullet points to help us so this won’t be difficult.
How To Generate Ideas for an IELTS Complaint Letter
You are only required to write 150 words, so you won’t need many ideas. Just make sure that you write about each bullet point and develop each idea fully.
The ideas don’t have to be the best ones you can think of. Go with your first thoughts and don’t waste time trying to think up better ideas. However, it’s essential that the ideas are directly related to the bullet points.
Note them beside each bullet point on the exam paper, like this:
There is a problem with the changing rooms in the sports centre that you visit. You have complained several times but with no success.
Write a letter to the manager of the sports centre. In your letter:
- describe the problem with the changing rooms
The toilets are dirty
- what happened the last times you complained
Promised the problem would be addressed.
- explain what you want the manager to do
Rota list for staff to check every hour and sign.
That’s our planning complete. Once you’ve had some practice, you’ll be able to do this in just a few minutes. Taking time to plan will make writing your IELTS complaint letter far quicker and easier than if you don’t do this step. You will also write a better letter and get higher marks.
Next, we’re going to write our letter.
Writing the Letter
IELTS Complaint Letter Structure & Vocabulary
We have listed for you the letter structure of IELTS Complaint Letter with common phrases you can use to get the correct structure and right tone.
COMPLAINT LETTER
- Dear Sir/Madam, (or name if given)
- Explanation: 1-2 sentences what you are complaining about
- Explain in more detail
- What action you want the person or company to take
- Formal ending, name, signature
- Dear Sir/Madam, (or name if given)
- Explanation: 1-2 sentences what you are complaining about
- I am writing to express my dissatisfaction with the … / my concern about
- I am writing to complain about … / I had been led to believe …
- I would like to draw your attention to …
- The reason I am writing to you is poor quality of a … , which I bought in your store.
- After only two times it was in use, problems started to appear.
- Explain in more detail
- what had happened, what is the problem
- I was supposed to receive … . Unfortunately, that never happened.
- I could not believe that …
- 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.
- 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.
- 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!)
Paragraph 1
In the first paragraph, you must state the reason for writing the letter, that is, its purpose.
Paragraph 1: Purpose – to complain about the sports centre changing rooms
Many students make the mistake of missing this purpose sentence out but it’s very important. Including it will gain you marks.
It only requires one sentence. Here are 4 different phrases you could use to start an IELTS complaint letter.
- I am very unhappy with / about….
- I am writing to complain about….
- I am extremely dissatisfied with / about
- I write to express my disappointment…
This is how we will start our letter:
I am writing to complain about the state of the toilets in the sports centre changing rooms.
Top vocabulary tip: Do not use contractions in formal letters. They are informal language. So, do not write ‘I’m writing to complain…
Paragraph 2
In the second paragraph, you write about bullet point 1.
Paragraph 2: describe the problem with the changing rooms (bullet point 1)
The toilets are dirty
Remember to keep the language formal for this question. Aim for around 50 words for each of paragraphs 2, 3 and 4. You could write something like this.
Each time I have used the changing facilities in the past month, the toilet area has been dirty. Particularly unpleasant are the soggy paper towels on the floor. They look horrible and there is a danger that people could slip on them. The shower plug holes are also frequently blocked up with hair which stops the water draining away.
Paragraph 3
The third paragraph should cover the second bullet point.
Paragraph 3: what happened the last times you complained (bullet point 2)
Promised the problem would be addressed.
For example,
I have reported this issue on two previous occasions. The first time, I told a member of staff and the second time I telephoned. Both the people I spoke to said that they would make sure that the changing rooms were cleaned more often but this is clearly not happening.
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 4 addresses the third bullet point.
Paragraph 4: explain what you want the manager to do (bullet point 3)
Rota list for staff to check every hour and sign.
As a solution, I suggest that you set up an hourly rota where a member of staff has to check that the toilets are clean, sign to say that they have done so and arrange for a cleaner to come if necessary. I have seen this system in operation in other places and their toilets are always clean.
Now we just need to add the signoff we decided on earlier and our letter is complete.
Prefabricated Sentences:-
- 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 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 if you could look into the matter as soon as possible.
Some more to go:-
Reason for writing:
- I am writing in order to complain about
- I am writing to complain about
- I am writing regarding
- I am writing to express my dissatisfaction with
Introducing the complaint:
- Topic sentence stating the positive point. + However, + problem….Example:We thoroughly enjoyed the first week of the holiday. However, after that we experienced a number of problems.
- I am (extremely) dissatified / dissapointed with the service / goods that I received / bought because
First complaint:
- Firstly
- First of all
- The first problem is / was
- My first complaint is
- My first concern is
- The first thing I would like to draw your attention to is
Further complaints:
- Secondly
- Also
- In addition
- In addition to this
- Added to this
- …… is / was also unsatisfactory / unacceptable
- Not only ……, but also
- To make matters worse,
- Furthermore
Mentioning negative consequences:
- I’m afraid that…
- Unfortunately,
Expressing Dissatisfaction:
- It is not acceptable to / that
- I am not at all pleased that
- I am disappointed because
Demanding action:
- I suggest that you replace the item
- I therefore suggest that I be given a full refund
- I would be grateful if my money was refunded
- I would be grateful if you could give me a full refund
- I would like to request that
- To resolve the problem, I would appreciate it if you could
Ending the letter:
- I look forward to hearing from you
- I look forward to receiving a full refund
- I look forward to receiving a replacement
- I look forward to receiving your explanation
- I look forward to your reply and a resolution to my problem