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 or Madam, I purchased a brand new Samsung Smartphone from one of your stores. I was delighted to purchase it but frustrated to find that it stopped working after a few days of use. I am hoping you would replace it with a new one as I am entitled to a two-year replacement warranty. I purchased a Galaxy S24 Ultra mobile phone from your Madison Avenue store on 24th March. The phone worked fine for the first week, but then suddenly froze and stopped working. Since I have a valid replacement warranty, I immediately sent it to your store on Madison Avenue on 2nd April. The customer service representative promised me that the phone would be checked and a new phone would be dispatched to my home address soon. But to my dismay, when I spoke to this person two days ago, I was shocked to discover that the phone had not been checked yet! Because of this, I have been without a smartphone for which I have paid a good amount of money. As per the contract, I am entitled to get my cell phone replaced. Therefore, I expect you to ship me a brand new cell phone within a week. Otherwise, I would be forced to seek legal advice. Thank you in advance for your cooperation and actions. Yours faithfully, Muhammad Sameed

Overall assessment

Why this response received Band 7.0

The complaint explains the purchase, fault and requested remedy with generally clear language. However, the complete letter is one paragraph, and the self-introduction is indirect. Dividing the main stages would make the account and requested action easier for the company representative to follow.

IELTS criteria

How each score was decided

Task Achievement

7.0

The letter clearly explains the purchase, the unresolved fault and the requested replacement. It introduces the writer indirectly as a recent customer, but the name appears only in the signature; a brief explicit introduction would address that instruction more fully.

Coherence and Cohesion

5.5

The narrative progresses from purchase to fault and requested action, but the whole letter, including the salutation and closing, is one continuous paragraph. Its main stages need separate grouping.

Lexical Resource

8.0

Vocabulary is flexible and precise, with natural complaint-register phrases such as 'to my dismay', 'entitled to', and 'seek legal advice', and only rare minor imprecision.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy

7.0

Relative clauses, varied tense forms and passive constructions are used with generally good control. The reported promise that the phone would be checked and dispatched is clearly formed. I am hoping you would replace it is a valid tentative request, and the main organisational problem is the lack of paragraph divisions.

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