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

2 correction notes

Dear Sir/ Madam,

I am writing to inform you about the faulty mobile phone that I have purchased in your store.

In this regard, I insist on getting a refund of my full payment if the replacement within one more week.

Yours faithfully,

Christine B.

Overall assessment

Why this response received Band 5.0

The letter's strongest aspect is its clear overall format, with a suitable salutation, closing, and a recognizable complaint purpose. Its main limitation is severe brevity: the self-introduction and explanation of the situation are missing, and the demand for a refund appears without the necessary background detail.

IELTS criteria

How each score was decided

Task Achievement

4.0

The response fails to cover two of the three required bullet points, since the writer neither introduces themselves nor explains the purchase and repair situation, and the refund request is stated with no supporting context, falling well below the required length.

Coherence and Cohesion

4.5

Progression is minimal because the message jumps directly from an announcement of a faulty phone to a refund demand without any linking detail, producing very limited and unevenly connected content.

Lexical Resource

5.0

The vocabulary is relevant and appropriately formal for a complaint, including phrases like 'faulty mobile phone' and 'insist on getting a refund', but it is far too restricted in range to show flexibility.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy

6.0

Both main sentences contain subordinate structures: a relative clause identifies the purchase, and a conditional clause sets out the refund request. The present perfect have purchased is valid because no finished past time is specified. The very short response gives limited evidence of sustained grammatical range, and if the replacement does not arrive would express the future condition more naturally.

More responses with feedback

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