letter of complaint: samples

u           Example 1:

Question:

One day, you read an advertisement for a newly opened fitness club, Burn Fat Gym, in a magazine. It said the club was the largest fitness centre in Hong Kong, and had first-class equipment and professional trainers. You were eager to slim down so you joined the club the next day. During your first visit, however, you found that the club was not spacious, the facilities were poor, and the trainers were neither professional nor helpful. Now write a letter of complaint to the editor of a local newspaper. Sign your name “Chris Wong”. Do not write any address.

Sample letter:

Dear editor,

I am writing to complain about Burn Fat Gym. I joined the club because of its advertisement on a magazine, saying it was the largest fitness centre in Hong Kong with first-class facilities and professional trainers. Last week, when I visited the club, however, I was extremely disappointed to find that it did not live up to its promises.

First, the centre was not as spacious as I had expected. It was only about the size of half of a basketball court. To the best of my knowledge, its size was not even comparable to that of mid-scale fitness centres in Hong Kong. The lack of space resulted in serious overcrowding and I ended up wasting most of my time waiting in line for the facilities.

Equally disappointing was the facilities. Instead of being first-class, they were poor and inadequate. Some basic fitness facilities such as treadmills and rowing machines were not found in the gym. There were only five cycling machines, which were all occupied at that time, a few rusty dumbbells and some filthy yoga mats scattered on the floor.

My last complaint concerns the “professional” trainers. When I consulted one of the trainers about how to train my muscles with the dumbbells, he told me bluntly that I was overweight and lifting weights would not help. He then recommended I should join a fitness programmer which cost over $10,000. When I said I needed time to think about it, he scorned me and turned away. I felt deeply humiliated.

I hope the club would stop placing misleading advertisement and take immediate actions to improve the situation.

Yours faithfully,

Chris Wong

u           Example 2

Question

You had bought a white leather handbag from a famous chain store. After using it for 2 months, it was torn and you took the bag to the store for free repairing while it was still under warranty. You were told that the bag would be repaired after a month, but you still couldn’t get it back after two months. You went back to the shop, and found that the bag was finally sent back, but without any repair. Besides, you are also totally dissatisfied with the false promise of the staff who claimed to call you back when there was any news about the bag. Write a letter of complaint to the Sales Manager of the chain store to make complaints on the case. Sign your letter “Mary Lam”. Don’t write any address.

Sample letter:

Dear Sir,

I am writing to complain about the poor standard of services of your company. I took a white leather bag to your store for repair but I still cannot get it back after 2 months.

The first thing that concerns me is the poor quality of your product. I have never expected that a leather bag would be torn after merely 2 months of normal everyday uses. It is totally contradictory to what I heard from your staff about the good quality and durability of the products of your company.

Another thing that I would like to complain is the poor follow-up contact of your retail store staff with your customers. I am totally clueless on why your staff would claim to call me for any news about the bag if they had no intention to do so. I feel I was cheated, and my precious time wasted.

My final complaint is about the poor coordination between your retail store and the factory. I am totally puzzled why my bag was sent back to the retail store without any repairing. I would have considered not to have it repaired if I had known that it would taken such a long time.

I have totally lost confidence in your company. I insist that you look into the matter and give me an apology. Besides, I demand that you repair and return my leather bag as soon as possible, or refund me for what I have paid if the bag can no longer be repaired.

Please do take actions and respond to my complaints. Otherwise, I cannot but take this matter to the Consumer Council. Thank you for your attention.

Yours faithfully,

Chris Wong

Other ways to start a complaint letter:

u           I would like to draw your attention to....

u           I am writing to express my dissatisfaction at....

The beginning sentences for the Body:

u           My first complaint is...

u           Another thing that concernes me is...

u           The final thing that makes me dissatisfied is...

Ending for the complaint letter:

u           I would like you to refund the full price that I paid...

u           I demand that you replace a new one to me....

u           If you don't do so, I shall take this matter to the Consumer Council....

u           Unless you give me an explanation for the matter, I shall write a letter about this to the newspaper.

A Proposal on Ways to Cut Waste at School

Sample

Question:

The Principal of your school wants students to help protect the environment by reducing the amount of waste at school. You are Hugh Cheung, the President of the Environmental Protection Club. Write a proposal of about 250 words to the Principal recommending ways to cut the amount of rubbish produced at school.

Dear Principal,

A Proposal on Ways to Cut Waste at School

Our Environmental Protection Club is very much concerned about saving the Earth. To achieve this, we would like to recommend two things students may do to reduce the amount of rubbish produced at school.

1.        Conserving Paper

The first step to cut waste is to conserve paper of all kinds. For example, students should use both side of writing paper and use it only when necessary. Besides, we suggest a tray be placed in each classroom for accumulating one-sided paper. Instead of using new paper, students should make good use of the single-sides paper for note-taking or other informal purposes. Apart from saving writing paper, we recommend that students should also conserve toilet paper. This can be done by using hand dryer instead of paper towels after washing their hands.

2.        Using Reusable Food and Drink Containers

Another way to reduce waste is to ask students to avoid non-recyclable food and drink containers. We suggest students bring water in reusable bottle from home rather than buying bottled drinks at school every day. The same can be done for lunch boxes. Students should consider bringing their own lunch boxes and choose dine-in if they go out for lunch, instead of having take-away in paper and non-reusable containers.

Thank you very much for your attention and I hope you can take my proposal for consideration.

Yours faithfully,

Hugh Cheung

The President

Environment Protection Club

Notes:

Other ways to give suggestions

l           I propose …subject+bare infinitive

l           I recommend ..

l           I suggest

l           It would be sensible/ beneficial/ advantageous to …. / if … past tense

l           Subject + should consider + gerund

suggestion form

  Example 1

Question:

Below is a suggestion form to the Environmental Protection Club in your school. Give your opinion about ways to conserve the following resources: n           Energy n           Water n           Paper and other materials

Sample answer:

Ways to Conserve Resources

1.        Energy

It would be a good idea to switch off electrical appliances of classrooms that are not in use. For example, lights, air-conditioners, and fans. Also, it is suggested that fans should be used instead of air-conditioners when the temperature is below 25 degrees Celsius. Or, we may open the windows for ventilation if it is not too hot.

2.        Water

After washing their hands, students should make sure that no water is dripping or running down from the tap. This saves unnecessary water waste. Of course, students should never splash water in washrooms.

3.        Paper and other materials

I recommend that students use single-sided paper for informal uses like making drafts. Also, students should not overuse paper towels after washing their hands. Or, if possible, students may use the hand dryers instead.

n           Example 2

Question:

More and more students at your school are getting fat. Concerned about this situation, your school Principal is inviting ideas from students to help tackle the obesity problem. You decide to fill in a suggestion form, proposing three solutions.

Sample answer:

Suggestion form

I would like to make the following suggestions.

1.        Banning unhealthy food from schools

Banning unhealthy food from school tuck shop is the first step in preventing obesity crisis among students. Junk food such as fried chicken wings and crisps leads to obesity because it is high in calories. Therefore,the tuck shop should stop selling them immediately.

2.        Establishing a fitness club

Most students lack regular exercise because they prefer surging the internet to playing sports. To entice less sportive students to do exercise, I suggest setting up a fitness club which arranges various types of fat-burning classes, for example, cardio kick-boxing,aerobics, and high-temperature yoga.

3.        Setting up a healthy food club

It would be a brilliant idea to set up a healthy food club which aims at promoting a healthy eating habit. To achieve this, it can hold seminars on food and nutrition and help design a healthy school lunch menu.

informal expression

Chances are

It is likely that

calm vs clam

Calm /kɑːm/ (留意l不發音)

v. or adj

(v .)to stop someone feeling upset, angry or excited

He tried to calm the screaming baby by rocking it back and forth. 

clam /klæm/

n.

a type of sea creature with a shell in two parts that can close together tightly, and a soft body which can be eaten 

letter to the editor: sample 2

   Sample 2

Question

You read a news article entitled “New blood to our education system”, in which the writer put forward an idea of importing more Mainland students to Hong Kong. You think it is an important policy so you write a letter to the newspaper discussing its advantages and disadvantages. End the letter with your own view. Sign the letter “P. Tam”.

Letter:

Dear Editor,

I am writing in response to an article entitled “New blood to our education system”. The writer proposes that we should import more Mainland students to Hong Kong. But what effects would this policy bring to society?

One big advantage of having more Mainland students in Hong Kong is the facilitation of cultural exchange between the two places. When students have more chances to meet young people from the Mainland, they would surely understand life there more. Likewise, the experience can open the eyes of the Mainland students.

Another benefit of this is that the general standard of Hong Kong students can be raised. By admitting outstanding Mainland students, we can have more role models for local students. Students can also learn from each other’s learning habits.

Despite all these, we should not overlook the drawbacks of this proposal. To begin with, this would definitely increase the workload of teachers. Imagine you were a teacher and there were a few Mainland students in the class. What would you have to do to meet their needs? Of course, there is a lot to work on to help these new students catch up with others.

Another point is whether it is wise to put extra pressure to students in Hong Kong. Our education system is highly competitive and exam-oriented. Implementing this policy is like having our students to compete with all the top students from the Mainland.

Clearly, then, we have to examine the possible outcomes of this proposal carefully before carrying it out. Nevertheless, it we can relieve the impact brought by this practice, having more elite students in our schools is a good phenomenon in our society.

Yours faithfully,

P. Tam

letter to the editor: sample

Sample 1

Question:

Mrs. La had written a letter about students’ paying more attention to English. After reading her letter, you have a strong feeling. Write to the newspaper editor to respond to Mrs. Lam. Sign your letter “Chris Wong”.

Dear Editor,

I am writing in response to Mrs. Lam’s letter entitled “Today’s Children are paying more attention to English than ever”, which was posted on your newspaper on 28^th of March 2009. While some people believe that students are embracing English, I am of a different view. I am afraid they cannot grasp the full picture of the issue. 

[Other ways to write the introduction:

l           When asked about…, many people say that… But others believe that…

When it comes to…, some people believe that … There is probably some truth in their statements, but I think quite differently.

l           Should….? Opinions vary widely. Some view… as… while claim that…]

Some parents may think that more and more students realize the importance of English as there is an increasing number of students attending English tutorial classes after school. Thus, they suppose their children cherish every opportunity to learn English. From my point of view, students are in fact trying to escape from English. Have your realized the reasons behind going to tutorial classes? I believe most of them hope to seek some tips so as to get better results with less effort. Do you still think today’s youngsters are learning English whole-heartedly?

As a matter of fact, hardly can we see youngsters reading English newspapers or books except when they have to do their news-cutting homework. What we can see is students reading entertainment magazines or fashion magazines in order to keep up with latest trends. To make things worse, students recently get addicted to playing portable electronic game consoles like NDS and PSP, no matter in their leisure time or every during lessons. They have forgotten to spare time for something more meaningful like doing revision and exercise, let alone learning English.

To round up, the above examples have clearly proved that students have not waken up from the truth of their deteriorating English ability. We’d better not be relieved towards the language proficiency of the future generation.

Yours faithfully,

Chris Wong