An email of complaint
A Hi Amer, What a nightmare journey! As you know, we were getting a coach to the airport – save on some money – and it didn’t get off to a great start! Coach was half an hour late picking us up. Rain was forecast – and guess what – while we were waiting, down it came! In buckets! The next thing that went wrong was on the coach itself. You know how cold it was on Thursday? Well, the heating on the coach stopped working after ten minutes. How we didn’t all catch our death of cold sitting there in our wet clothes I'll never know! Then to top it all, there was engine trouble and the coach stopped on the motorway! We had to wait another hour for a replacement coach to arrive and then luckily we just managed to catch the plane by the skin of our teeth! Talk about cutting it fine. And not an apology from anyone! Will tell you more when I’m back.
B Dear Sir, I am writing to complain about a journey my family and I recently made on one of your coaches. Although your company had been recommended to us as reliable and offering good value for money, the service definitely did not meet our expectations. We had booked the coach to arrive at 8.15 which would have enabled us to arrive at the airport in good time for our flight to Italy. We were disappointed when the coach failed to arrive on time. In fact, it was in excess of 30 minutes late. The driver admitted to having first gone to a completely different pick-up point. The second issue was with the heating system on the coach. You may remember that last Thursday was a particularly cold morning. Unfortunately, the coach’s heating system was faulty and did not work properly for the majority of our journey. Finally, to our utter disbelief, the coach suffered an engine problem and broke down on the motorway. This could not be repaired by roadside assistance and necessitated the driver arranging a replacement coach to take us the final ten kilometres. What was, in my view, completely inexcusable, was that at no time were we offered an apology of any kind, either by the driver on the day, or by the company in the days that followed. I would like to express in the strongest terms, how deeply disappointed we were with your company’s service. Not only was it clear that the coach had not been properly serviced, but also that sufficient care had not been taken over administrative matters, such as ensuring the driver had the correct address. While we were extremely fortunate in that we reached the airport just in time to catch our flight, we believe we should receive monetary compensation for the inconvenience we suffered and the disruption to the smooth running of our journey. Obviously, we hope that your coach service will be drastically improved for future customers.
Yours faithfully,
Malek Alhayek
Questions:
1. Who was the email addressed to in Email A and who in Email B?
Email A: “Hi Amer”
Email B: “Dear Sir”
2. What were the main problems with the coach service described in both emails?
“Coach was half an hour late picking us up… the heating on the coach stopped working… there was engine trouble and the coach stopped on the motorway.”
“…the coach failed to arrive on time… the coach’s heating system was faulty… the coach suffered an engine problem and broke down on the motorway.”
3. How did the writer of Email A describe the rain?
“…while we were waiting, down it came! In buckets!”
4. What was wrong with the heating system on the coach?
“The heating on the coach stopped working after ten minutes.”
“…the coach’s heating system was faulty and did not work properly for the majority of our journey.”
5. What happened after the coach broke down on the motorway?
“We had to wait another hour for a replacement coach to arrive.”
“…necessitated the driver arranging a replacement coach to take us the final ten kilometres.”
6. How long did the passengers wait for the replacement coach?
“We had to wait another hour for a replacement coach to arrive.”
7. Did either email mention an apology from the company or the driver?
Email A: “And not an apology from anyone!”
Email B: “…at no time were we offered an apology of any kind, either by the driver on the day, or by the company in the days that followed.”
8. Which email uses formal complaint language?
“I am writing to complain about a journey my family and I recently made on one of your coaches.”
9. What does the writer of Email B request as compensation?
“…we believe we should receive monetary compensation for the inconvenience we suffered and the disruption to the smooth running of our journey.
10. Which email sounds more like a personal story to a friend, and which one is professional and formal? Why?
Email A: “Hi Amer, What a nightmare journey!” (informal, personal)
Email B: “Dear Sir, I am writing to complain about…” (formal, professional)
