Complaint Letter About Unsatisfactory Online Clothing Purchase

You have bought some clothing online and are not satisfied with your purchase.

Write a letter to the company that you bought the clothing from. In your email • give details of the purchase • describe the problem • explain why you need a replacement urgently

You do NOT need to write any addresses.

Begin your letter as follows: Dear Sir or Madam,

2 sample answers, estimated Band 7.0–7.5. Your turn?

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From essays on this question

Letter points: Complaint Letter About Unsatisfactory Online Clothing Purchase

WhyThis is aFormal letter — it asks you to cover every bullet point in a formal tone.

SoWe group the points under each bullet point of the task.

Give details of the purchase

3 points

Describe the problem

4 points

Explain why you need a replacement urgently

2 points

Same question · Different responses

Sample responses and feedback

Response 01

Must fixSuggested

Answer · 228 words · 7 paragraphs · 12 comments

Score details

Response 01
Estimated band7.0/ 9

Overall assessment

The letter fulfills the communicative purpose well, covering all three bullet points with concrete purchase details, a clear problem description, and a plausible urgency explanation in an appropriately formal tone. Its main limitation is somewhat formulaic and occasionally imprecise language, which keeps the expression from being fully flexible and natural.

TA

Task Achievement

The letter clearly addresses all three bullet points with specific purchase details (receipt number, payment method, items), a detailed description of the collar, colour, and size problems, and a convincing reason for urgency, all in a consistently formal register with only a mildly abrupt closing demand.

7.0
CC

Coherence and Cohesion

Ideas are logically organised into paragraphs that each handle one bullet point, with cohesive devices such as 'Not only that but also', 'As for the trousers', and 'So, please' guiding the reader smoothly through the message.

7.0
LR

Lexical Resource

The vocabulary is generally appropriate for a formal complaint, including items like 'round-neck collar', 'receipt number', and 'at your earliest convenience', though phrases such as 'decent summer dresses' and 'lodge a complaint to' show occasional imprecision.

7.0
GRA

Grammatical Range and Accuracy

A good range of sentence structures is used with mostly accurate control, including complex forms like relative and conditional clauses, despite a few minor slips such as awkward punctuation and slightly unnatural constructions.

7.0

What to work on next

Refine word choice and phrasing so that expressions like the threat of complaint and clothing vocabulary sound more precise and naturally formal.

From essays on this question

Useful vocabulary: Complaint Letter About Unsatisfactory Online Clothing Purchase

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Task 1 General question loaded.
Part 1

You should spend about 20 minutes on this task. Write at least 150 words.

Words: 020:00 starts on first word