Formal Letter · Explaining a Delayed Delivery to a Customer
A complete IELTS General Training Writing Task 1 question with a model answer of 269 words, plus a breakdown of the sentence structures, cohesive devices and vocabulary that answer uses. Write your own version first, then compare.
Written by Manish Sharma · CELTA and DELTA qualified · 8 years teaching IELTS
Score my answer to this questionThe question
You have 20 minutes. Write at least 150 words.
You work for an online store. A customer has placed an order that will be delivered later than promised. As part of your role, you must write to the customer to explain the situation. Write a letter to the customer. In your letter: - Confirm the details of their order - Explain why the delivery has been delayed - Reassure them about what will happen next and how you will keep them informed Write at least 150 words. You do NOT need to write any addresses. Begin your letter as follows: Dear Ms Carter,
How to approach it
- 01Use 'Dear Ms Carter' as given and sign off with 'Yours sincerely' and your job title — formal, named recipient
- 02Open by thanking the customer for the order before introducing the bad news
- 03Confirm the order details specifically — number, item, date, value — so the customer trusts you have the right account
- 04Explain the cause factually and proportionately; avoid blame games or vague excuses
- 05Reassure with a concrete revised timeline AND a specific channel for ongoing updates
- 06Add a goodwill gesture (refunded delivery, voucher) to soften the impact and show care
Model answer
269 words in 7 paragraphs. Read it after you have written your own, not before: the point of a model answer is to show you what you missed, and you cannot miss anything you have not attempted.
Dear Ms Carter,
Thank you for your recent order with Northwood Living. I am writing to update you on its progress and to explain why your parcel has not yet reached you.
For your reference, you placed order NW-578214 on 28 April for one Ashbury two-seater sofa in Linen Grey, with a guaranteed delivery date of 12 May. The total value of the order was 749 pounds, and you opted for our standard white-glove delivery service.
Unfortunately, the sofa has been held up at our Midlands distribution centre. Our upholstery supplier in Manchester was affected by a serious flood on 30 April, which caused damage to the warehouse and a week of suspended production. As a result, the specific batch from which your sofa was due to ship has been delayed by approximately ten working days. I appreciate that this is well outside the timescale we promised, and I am very sorry for the inconvenience this may cause you.
I can confirm that your sofa is now finished and in transit to our regional hub, where it is expected to arrive on 19 May. Our logistics team will then contact you within twenty-four hours to arrange a delivery slot of your choosing, including evening and weekend options. As a gesture of goodwill, we have automatically refunded your delivery fee of 49 pounds, and you should see this credited to your card within five working days.
Thank you for your understanding and patience. If you have any questions in the meantime, please contact me directly on customercare@northwoodliving.com or on 0800 224 8810.
Yours sincerely, Jordan Reeves Customer Care Lead
What this answer actually does
Measured from the text above, and compared against the other 31 answers of the same type in this library. These are counts, not band scores: they describe what the writing does, which is the part you can copy.
45 more than the median answer for this task type
7 words at the shortest, 28 at the longest
2 more than the median answer for this task type
carry a subordinate or relative clause
Sentence rhythm
Sentences average 19.2 words and vary by 6.8 words either side of that, running from 7 words to 28. Variation is the point. Grammatical Range and Accuracy rewards a mix of simple and complex sentences, and an answer where every sentence is the same length reads as flat no matter how correct it is. 5 of the 14 sentences here carry a subordinate or relative clause.
The cohesive devices it uses
4 in total, spread across 3 different functions. Range matters more than count: an answer that opens every paragraph with a sequencer signals its structure but never signals a relationship between ideas, and Coherence and Cohesion is marked on both.
yet
as a result, due to
then
Vocabulary and repetition
Ignoring grammar words, 77 per cent of the content words in this answer are distinct, and 68 per cent appear exactly once. Lexical Resource is where repetition costs the most marks, and the usual cause is not a small vocabulary but reaching for the same noun every time the topic is named.
The longest run of words copied straight from the question is 3 words. Examiners discount wording lifted from the question, so a short run here is the right outcome: the answer restates the topic in its own words rather than borrowing the question's.
What you are marked on
All four criteria carry equal weight, and your Writing band is their average rounded to the nearest half band.
Task Achievement
Address all three bullets fully: confirm order details, explain the cause of delay, and reassure the customer with a clear plan and contact channel.
Coherence & Cohesion
Use a clear paragraph for each bullet with appropriate formal opening, internal linking, and professional closing.
Lexical Resource
Use precise formal vocabulary for retail logistics, customer service, and reassurance.
Grammatical Range & Accuracy
Use a range of tenses including the present perfect for the current status, past simple for the cause, and future forms for next steps.
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