General Training Writing Task 1 · formal · complaint

Formal complaint letter to internet service provider

Your internet connection has been slow and intermittent.

Write a letter to your internet service provider to complain. In your letter:

describe the problem and why you are unhappy
arrange for an engineer to visit your home
request a reduction in your bill

Write at least 150 words. You do not need to write any addresses. Begin your letter: Dear ...,

Band 8 sample letter

Dear Customer Support Team,

I am writing to formally express my dissatisfaction regarding the consistently poor quality of my broadband service over the past three weeks. Despite paying for a high-speed fibre package, my connection is frequently interrupted and the download speeds are significantly lower than the minimum guarantee outlined in my contract.

This instability is causing major disruption, as I rely heavily on a stable connection for my remote work duties. The intermittent nature of the service has forced me to miss several crucial video conferences, which is highly unprofessional and unacceptable given the monthly premium I pay for your 'gold' tier service.

I would like to request that a qualified engineer visits my home as soon as possible to investigate the line fault. I am available throughout this coming Wednesday or Thursday morning, and I trust you can facilitate an appointment during one of these slots.

Given the persistent lack of service, I believe it is only fair that you apply a significant reduction to my next bill to compensate for these losses. I look forward to receiving confirmation of the engineer's visit and your proposal regarding the billing adjustment.

Yours faithfully,

Jonathan Miller

196 words. Names and details are invented; write your own.

Why this scores well

A Band 8 response addresses all three bullet points with a clear, professional tone and specific, relevant details that justify the request for a refund. A common Band 6 mistake is failing to provide specific details about the problem, instead relying on vague generalizations that do not clearly explain the impact on the user.

Write to an organisation or someone you do not know: open with Dear Sir or Madam, close with Yours faithfully.
If you know the person's surname, use Dear Mr or Ms and close with Yours sincerely.
No contractions, no slang; polite indirect requests such as I would be grateful if you could.

Useful phrases from the letter

intermittent: happening at irregular intervals or stopping and starting
premium: a higher price paid for better quality service
facilitate: to make an action or process easy or possible
broadband: a high-capacity transmission technique for internet access
adjustment: a small change to improve or correct something
consistently: always behaving or happening in a similar way

Write your own and get a band

Answer this prompt in a timed General Training writing test and get a band for task achievement, coherence, vocabulary and grammar, with the sentences to fix.

Practise IELTS General writing

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Frequently asked questions

Is this letter formal or informal?

Formal. Write to an organisation or someone you do not know: open with Dear Sir or Madam, close with Yours faithfully.

How long should an IELTS General Training letter be?

At least 150 words, and 160 to 200 is the comfortable range. Spend about 20 minutes on it and leave 40 for Task 2, which carries twice the marks.