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,

Annotated response

7 correction notes

Dear Sir or Madam,

I purchased blue woollen sweater from your online store (Order # E1208750) on February 20th. The item was delivered to me on February 24th, but unfortunately, I am not satisfied with the product . I am hoping that you will replace the product urgently.

The issue with the sweater is that it is a different colour and size from what I ordered. Instead of the blue medium-sized sweater, I received a black sweater in size L. Since I specifically ordered a blue , that must be a mistake made by one of your staff. , I urgently require a replacement.

for the correct item to be sent to me as soon as possible. Please let me know how to proceed with returning the incorrect item.

I appreciate your prompt attention to this matter. Looking forward to your response.

Yours faithfully,

Amelie Tennyson

Overall assessment

Why this response received Band 7.5

This is an effective complaint that gives the company enough information to identify the purchase and understand the required correction. The order reference, delivery date, specific mismatch, and event next week make the request clear and relevant. The main limitation is repetition: the intended colour and size and the delivered product are described more often than necessary. Sentence control is generally strong, with only minor punctuation and formality issues.

IELTS criteria

How each score was decided

Task Achievement

8.0

All three points are covered with useful purchase identifiers, an exact description of the colour and size mismatch, and an event next week explaining the urgency. The replacement request and enquiry about returning the incorrect item make the desired action clear.

Coherence and Cohesion

7.0

The letter moves logically from purchase details to the problem and then the requested solution. Repetition of the delivered product and the blue medium-sized sweater makes parts of the explanation unnecessarily repetitive.

Lexical Resource

7.0

Vocabulary is appropriate and sufficiently varied for a complaint, including “replacement” and “prompt attention.” Repeated use of “product,” “sweater,” and “ordered” limits flexibility, although the problem remains precisely understandable.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy

7.0

The response uses relative clauses, a since-clause, and passive forms with generally good accuracy. The comma after “so” in “so, I urgently require” is unnecessary, while the closing fragment “Looking forward to your response” is less grammatically complete than the surrounding formal sentences.

More responses with feedback

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