A complaint letter lives or dies on precision: model number, order date, exact fault, and one clear demand — refund, repair, or replacement.
20 min·≥ 150 words·Classic GT scenario
You recently bought a laptop from an online store. When it arrived, you discovered a problem with it. Write a letter to the company. In your letter: • give details of the laptop you bought and when you bought it • describe the problem • say what you would like the company to do about it You do NOT need to write any addresses. Begin your letter as follows: Dear Sir or Madam,
How to crack it
A 4-step plan for the letter
Fix the register first.
Who is the reader — stranger, acquaintance, or friend? That decides every word from "Dear…" to the sign-off. Register is half of Task Achievement here.
One bullet = one paragraph.
Three bullets, three body paragraphs, in the same order. The examiner literally ticks them off — a missed or thin bullet caps the band.
Open with the purpose.
"I am writing to…" (formal) or "Just wanted to tell you…" (informal). The reader should know why you're writing by the end of line one.
Close in the same voice.
"Yours faithfully" after Dear Sir or Madam; "Yours sincerely" after a name; "Best wishes" to a friend. A mismatched sign-off is a register error in the last line they read.
What loses you the band
The four traps this question sets
Mixed register
"I am writing to inform you" next to "gonna" — pick one voice and hold it.
A skipped bullet
All three bullet points must be covered AND developed. Two done well is still a penalty.
Copying the prompt
Paraphrase the situation in your own words — lifted lines don't count toward 150.
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No invented detail
Letters need specifics: names, dates, model numbers. "The product" all the way through reads as memorised.