Short answer: an IELTS complaint letter is a General Training Task 1 answer of at least 150 words, written in about 20 minutes, in a formal or semi-formal register.
It states what you bought or experienced, what went wrong with specific detail, and what you want the reader to do about it — that third element is what makes it a complaint rather than a description, and it is the part candidates most often leave out or leave vague.
Complaint prompts are the most frequently reported General Training Task 1 type, because they generate natural three-bullet structures. That also makes them the most drillable: the situations vary, the shape does not.
How the prompt tells you the register
| The prompt says | Register | Greeting → sign-off |
|---|---|---|
| "Write to the manager of the company" (no name) | Formal | Dear Sir or Madam → Yours faithfully |
| "Write to Mr Davies, the course director" | Formal, named | Dear Mr Davies → Yours sincerely |
| "Write to your landlord, whom you know well" | Semi-formal | Dear Mr Khan → Yours sincerely / Best regards |
| "Write to a friend who recommended the hotel" | Informal | Dear Sara → Best wishes |
The greeting-to-sign-off pairing is a convention examiners notice immediately: "Dear Sir or Madam" takes "Yours faithfully"; a named greeting takes "Yours sincerely". Mixing them is a small, avoidable, and very visible error. The full tone table for all six letter types is in the General Training letter guide.
The structure that covers all three bullets
- Purpose sentence. One line, first paragraph: what you are writing about and when it happened. "I am writing to complain about the condition of a washing machine delivered to my home on 3 August."
- The problem, with specifics. Dates, order numbers, what was promised, what arrived. Detail is what makes the letter credible and is directly rewarded under Task Achievement.
- The consequence. What the problem cost you — time, money, a missed event. One or two sentences; this is the paragraph candidates skip.
- The remedy, stated precisely. Refund, replacement, repair by a named date, a written apology. Give a deadline where it is natural.
- Close. A forward-looking line and the correct sign-off.
Four paragraphs is the reliable shape. Each bullet in the prompt should be traceable to a paragraph — if you cannot point to where bullet two is answered, neither can the examiner.
Model 1 — formal, to a company (182 words)
Prompt: You recently bought a piece of equipment that stopped working within a week. Write to the shop. Say what you bought and when, explain what is wrong, and say what you would like them to do.
Dear Sir or Madam,
I am writing to complain about a dishwasher I purchased from your Riverside branch on 2 September, order number 48117, which has failed within a week of installation.
The machine was delivered and installed on 4 September and worked normally for five days. Since 9 September it has stopped mid-cycle and displayed an F4 error code, leaving standing water in the drum.
I followed the troubleshooting steps in the manual and telephoned your service line twice, on 10 and 12 September, but on both occasions I was told a technician would contact me and no one has done so.
As a result my household has been without a working dishwasher for over a week, and the standing water has begun to smell. I also took an afternoon off work for the first appointment, which was not kept.
I would therefore like the machine replaced rather than repaired, and I expect the replacement to be delivered within ten working days. I would also appreciate written confirmation of the delivery date.
Yours faithfully,
Daniel Okonjo
| Paragraph | Job | The marking point |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Purpose + identification | Order number and date do the credibility work. Task Achievement rewards specifics. |
| 2 | The problem, chronologically | Bullet two, fully covered. Note the two dated phone calls — invented detail is expected and encouraged in this task. |
| 3 | Consequence | Gives the complaint force without emotion. This is the paragraph most candidates omit. |
| 4 | Remedy + deadline | Bullet three. "Replaced rather than repaired" is a specific request, not a general grievance. |
Model 2 — semi-formal, to a named person (168 words)
Prompt: You attended a training course that was not what you expected. Write to the course director, Ms Barnes, whom you have met. Explain what you expected, describe the problem, and suggest what should be done.
Dear Ms Barnes,
I am writing about the Advanced Spreadsheets course I attended at the centre from 1 to 5 September, which unfortunately did not match its published description.
When I enrolled, the course outline promised daily hands-on sessions with financial modelling, and it was on that basis that my employer agreed to fund my place.
In practice, four of the five days were lecture-based, and the single practical session was cut short because the computer room had been double-booked. Several participants raised this with the tutor at the time.
This has left me without the modelling skills I was sent to acquire, and I now have to explain to my manager why a week of paid study leave produced little practical benefit.
I would be grateful if you could either arrange a supplementary practical workshop for the participants affected, or refund part of the course fee. I would be happy to discuss this with you in person.
Yours sincerely,
Amara Silva
Two differences from model 1 worth noticing: the register is warmer without becoming casual ("I would be grateful if you could" rather than "I expect"), and the remedy offers two acceptable outcomes, which is a natural move in a semi-formal letter to someone you will meet again.
The tone mistake that caps band 6
Candidates believe a complaint should sound angry. It should sound firm. Strong emotion in a formal letter is a register failure, and register sits inside Lexical Resource as well as Task Achievement — so one habit costs you on two criteria.
| Too strong | Scores better | Why |
|---|---|---|
| "This is totally unacceptable and I am furious." | "I was disappointed by the standard of service." | Understatement is the formal English convention for displeasure. "Furious" reads as uncontrolled register. |
| "Your staff were useless." | "Unfortunately, the staff I spoke to were unable to help." | Criticise the outcome, not the people. Also more precise, which Lexical Resource rewards. |
| "I want my money back right now!" | "I would like a full refund within fourteen days." | A specific, actionable request with a deadline is a stronger complaint and a better sentence. |
| "If you don't fix it I will sue." | "If this cannot be resolved, I will take the matter to the trade association." | Escalation stated calmly is normal in a real complaint letter; a threat is not. |
Useful phrases, by function
| Stage | Formal | Semi-formal |
|---|---|---|
| Opening | "I am writing to complain about…" / "I wish to draw your attention to…" | "I am writing about…" / "I wanted to raise something with you…" |
| Describing the fault | "The item was found to be faulty on arrival." / "The service fell well below the standard advertised." | "The course was not what the description led me to expect." |
| Consequence | "As a result, I have been without…" / "This has caused considerable inconvenience." | "This has left me…" / "It has meant that…" |
| Requesting | "I would therefore request a full refund." / "I trust you will arrange a replacement." | "I would be grateful if you could…" / "Would it be possible to…" |
| Closing | "I look forward to your prompt response." | "I hope we can sort this out." (semi-formal only) |
Use these as frames rather than as fixed strings. A memorised phrase that does not fit its sentence is charged as an accuracy error — the mechanism is explained in Lexical Resource explained.
Checklist before you move to Task 2
- Greeting and sign-off match (Sir or Madam → faithfully; named → sincerely).
- All three bullets have a paragraph you can point to.
- There is a specific remedy, not just a description of a problem.
- At least 150 words — aim 160 to 190. There is no upper limit, but Task 2 is worth twice as much and needs its 40 minutes.
- No exclamation marks, no capitals for emphasis, no informal contractions in a formal letter.
- Invented specifics (dates, order numbers, names) are present. They are expected in this task and they carry Task Achievement.
The fastest way to find out whether your letter would actually score where you think it would is to have it marked on the four criteria separately — the Writing Checker takes a General Training letter and returns Task Achievement, Coherence and Cohesion, Lexical Resource and Grammatical Range as four bands, which is how you tell a tone problem from a grammar problem.