123 Filmore Road Chadthorpe Lancs. 5th September 2022 Feel Free Travel 253B Delaware Buildings Portree Dear Sir / Madam, I’m writing to express my dissatisfaction at the service I received on my holiday with Feel Free Travel. My friend and I went on the 8-day tour of Greece, reference GR36A, from the 5 th to the 13 th of August and we were extremely disappointed with the accommodation and the food. First of all , your brochure said that we would stay in ‘clean, mid-range hotels’. However, my bedroom was dirty in the Olympia Hotel, and the Opera Hotel was in a noisy and unsafe part of town, which made me feel very anxious . Secondly , although the brochure stated that all meals were included , I was shocked by the food that we were served at the hotel restaurant. For lunch, we were given a small, squashed sandwich and a carton of juice. To make matters worse, when we complained to the tour guide, we were told to buy more food at the supermarket. I feel that I am entitled to a refund to compensate for this terrible service. I look forward to hearing from you soon.
Yours faithfully, Julie Watkins ➪ Explain that you are making a complaint and state what you want to happen next. ➪ Use adjectives to show your feelings ➪ Use connectors to move from one problem to the next ➪ Use passive voice to explain what happened to you ➪ Use reported speech to describe information from a website, brochure, etc.
Your letter should be divided into paragraphs. In the first paragraph you should:
➪ explain that you are making a complaint.
➪ give essential details such as the location, time and any reference numbers of the incident.
➪ introduce what you are complaining about.
In the next paragraph(s) give further details of the problem. If there were several problems, use connectors like Firstly, Secondly, Additionally, Furthermore, To make matters worse, Finally, to move from one problem to the next.
End your letter by stating what you want to happen next. Here are some useful phrases:
Usually, you have a bad experience because something happened to you – you didn’t do something yourself. For example, in the sentence:
The writer did not do anything. Someone else gave the writer a small, squashed sandwich and a carton of juice. And in the sentence:
Someone else told the writer to buy more food.
In this situation, it’s common to use the passive voice in formal writing.
When complaining about a past situation, use the past simple passive: was/were + the past participle of the main verb.
You may also need to use the past perfect passive: had been + the past participle of the main verb.
If you want to include who did the action, use the preposition by.
In your letter, you can refer to information printed in a brochure or advertisement. To do this, you should use reported speech. You can do this using phrases like:
Imagine what is written in the printed information. For example:
When you report this information in your letter, use reported speech and change the present tense to the past tense, and change will to would.
In your letter, you can contrast the information in a brochure or advert with your own experience by using link words like although and however.
Note that we use however and although in different ways. However is normally used at the beginning of a sentence, before a comma (,) and after a full stop (.) or a semicolon (;). Although can be used at the beginning or in the middle of a sentence. We do NOT use a comma after although; we use although + subject + verb.
You can use adjectives to show how you felt during a situation such as:
You can add adverbs like very or extremely to make the feelings stronger.
You should also use adjectives to describe the problems you experience. Choose adjectives that describe the situation clearly.
You should describe your dissatisfaction and frustration about the events, but you should always keep a calm and polite tone if you want your letter to be effective.