Complaint Letters Practice

but also, furthermore, not only, however, in addition to, firstly, to make matters worse

Dear Sir/Madam,

I am writing to express my strong dissatisfaction at the disgraceful treatment I received at the Walford branch of Stimpson's Electronics yesterday afternoon.

(1)..........................., the product I was given was not

the model I had asked for. The new X-401 calculator was demonstrated to me by the sales assistant, and I agreed to buy it. (2)..................................., on unpacking my purchase, I saw that I had been given the smaller X-201 model instead.

(3)............................................., this calculator was much cheaper than the model I requested and paid for. It didn't have many of the features I needed and was much more basic than the one I was shown to begin with.

(4)...................................., I was deeply offended by the behaviour of the sales assistant when I went back to the shop to complain. He was (5)...........................impolite, (6)............................ unhelpful. He refused to contact the manager when I asked to speak to him about the incident.

As you can imagine, I am extremely upset. I must insist on a full refund, (7)...........................................a written apology from the local manager, or else I shall be forced to take further action. I expect to hear from you as soon as possible.

Yours faithfully,

Caroline Adams

b) Read the letter again and label the paragraphs with these headings.

- closing remarks

- opening remarks/reason(s) for writing

- 1st complaint & examples/reasons

- 2nd complaint & examples/reasons

- 3rd complaint & examples/reasons

c) Now answer the questions.

Why is Mrs Adams complaining? What are her specific complaints? Does she justify her complaints? If so, how does she justify them? What is Mrs Adams expecting? Tick (/)

- A replacement

- A full refund

- The calculator to be repaired

- An apology
What will Mrs Adams do if she is not satisfied?

Has Mrs Adams used a mild or a strong tone? Underline the words phrases that justify your answer.

1 Read the rubric and underline the key words, then answer the questions.

You recently went for a meal at Benny's fast food restaurant, which is part of an international chain. Unfortunately, the service was very slow and the food was badly cooked, so you complained to the supervisor. However, he was very rude to you and insisted on your paying for the meal. You have decided to write a letter of complaint to the company's head office. Write your letter, explaining the reasons for your complaint and saying what you expect the company to do.

1 What is your reason for writing?

2 Do you know the person you are writing to?

3 Would you use mild or strong language? Why?

4 How would you begin and end the letter?

5 How many main body paragraphs should you write? What should the topic of each one be?

2. Read the advertisement and the complaints in the speech bubbles. Then, use the complaints and suitable linking words/phrases to explain the reasons why you are complaining.