Letter of Complaint About an Unrepaired Mobile Phone

  • Smartphones
  • Customer service
  • Complaint
  • Request

You have bought a new mobile phone and in a few days after purchase it has stopped working. You spoken to the company representative a week ago but the phone has still not been repaired. Write a letter to the company. In your letter – introduce yourself – explain the situation – say what action you would like to company to take.

Annotated response

1 correction note

Dear Sir/Madam,

My name is Jacob and I live at William Street Colony. I want to request a replacement for my Nokia N93 smart phone, which I purchased last week. I bought the phone last Monday and after two to three hours of using it, it started to have software issues that caused the screen to flicker . I contacted customer care and submitted my complaint and was given a reference number P262656. One of your company’s representatives said this predicament would be fixed in a week, but I have been given no updates as of Friday, which is the end of the week.

I would exhort your company to conduct an investigation on this issue. I have done my part with all the replacement requirements and would like to ask your company to process the replacement as quickly as possible.

I expect my complaint to be resolved and for the necessary actions to be taken without further delays.

Yours faithfully,

Jacob Brown

Overall assessment

Why this response received Band 7.0

The letter's strongest aspect is its complete and well-organized coverage of the complaint, with a clear purpose, appropriate formal register, and convincing supporting detail such as the purchase date and reference number. The main limitation is occasional awkward or slightly unnatural word choice, though grammar is generally accurate and meaning is never obscured.

IELTS criteria

How each score was decided

Task Achievement

7.0

The letter clearly covers all three bullet points—introducing himself, explaining the fault and the unanswered complaint, and requesting a replacement—using a suitable formal tone with specific supporting detail.

Coherence and Cohesion

7.5

Ideas progress logically from introduction to explanation to requested action, with effective paragraphing and cohesive devices such as referencing the complaint timeline.

Lexical Resource

7.0

Vocabulary is generally flexible and precise, including topic-appropriate items like 'software issues' and 'reference number', though occasional slightly unnatural choices such as 'exhort' reduce precision.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy

7.0

A range of complex structures communicates the complaint clearly. However, caused the screen to flicker and then went blank gives the coordinated verb an unclear subject; caused the screen to flicker and then go blank would keep the intended pattern. Which is the end of the week is grammatically valid.

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