A letter of complaint

The episode in the restaurant of Fawlty Towers brings up the issue of how to write a letter of complaint, which is an academic task intermediate students and above frequently have to deal with.

There are three basic parts in a letter of complaint, and we should write each part in a different paragraph.
a) Why you are writing (introduction).
b) What exactly happened (details).
c) What you want the company to do and what will happen if the problem is not solved.

On top of that, we must remember that this type of writing is formal or semi-formal, so we should use polite formulas and respect layout conventions.

And never forget, especially in exams, to keep to the length of the piece of writing. Sometimes it is really difficult to include lots of information in a very limited space!

You can read a corrected version of a letter of complaint in the Flo-Joe site, which prepares students for the Cambridge exams.

Microsoft also gives us access to endless templates for letters of complaints or any kind of writing  for that matter. Just download and read three or four models so that you get familiar with the type of language and design that you should use.

Self-study activity: You are Mr or Mrs Johnstone from the clip Gourmet Night in the blog entry before. Write a letter of complaint to the manageress of Fawlty Towers Hotel, complaining about the situation and the manager's attitude. Write 170 words.