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Okay, hello students. Today we're going to be taking a look at the letter of complaint.

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There are many circumstances in which we can write a letter of complaint.

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Normally, these involve a bad experience for which you feel you have to be compensated.

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You may find we have had an unpleasant experience while eating out in a restaurant

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or had a disastrous stay at a hotel.

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Perhaps your telephone company has been charging you too much money.

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The list is never-ending.

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However, even complaining can be an art of its own.

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Here, you have some tips for writing an effective letter of complaint.

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Number one, you need to make sure that your letter is clear and concise.

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Number two, you need to outline your reason for writing and give a concise description of the problem.

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Number three, you should also propose a solution to the problem or suggest action that needs to be taken.

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and give a suggested time frame number four last but not least use formal language and always be

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polite okay now let's take a look at a model text that we can base ourselves on when writing a

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letter of complaint to become more familiar with its structure let's read it together dear sir or

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madam i am writing with regard to the council's recent installation of cctv cameras in our area

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briefly the problem is that despite guarantees about safeguarding the cctv images it is possible

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for anyone to view them on their home computer because the system is internet linked and not

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password protected as a result pictures cannot be kept secure and in fact myself and my car can be

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identified in images that were recently posted online i regard this as a serious invasion of

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privacy as well as a violation of the local council promise to taxpayers i have already

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pursued this matter with the local police department who have advised me to contact you

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immediately in all in order to resolve this matter i am requesting that you remove the images where

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i appear without delay specific coordinates are detailed in the enclosed document and that you

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take action to prevent further invasions of privacy in future this would include ensuring

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that internet-based cctv images are passworded and that techniques are used to blur the pictures

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so that individuals are unrecognizable please contact me within 10 days of the date of this

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letter to confirm that these steps have been taken if you need to contact me by telephone you may

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reach me at 0141-985-001 thank you for your prompt attention to this matter yours faithfully

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steam jones very well let's go deeper into the structure of the letter as you can see the

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paragraphs of the letter have been numbered so uh now i want you to try and answer this question

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in which paragraphs does the writer discuss the following topics a explain what you have done so

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B. Give a time frame for action and a way of contacting you.

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C. State the overall reason for writing in one sentence.

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D. Write a polite closing comment.

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E. Ask for specific action from the person or company you are writing to.

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F. Give additional detail about the reason for writing.

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Okay, now you should pause the video, write down your answers, and then press play again to see the answers.

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Here you have the answers.

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A, 3, B, 5, C, 1, D, 6, E, 4, and F, 2.

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Okay?

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so actually if we put these topics in order we will have the outline or structure of any letter

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of complaint okay so this is the order you should follow when writing a letter of complaint

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here i'm presenting you with uh another letter of complaint where we can verify if this order

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is being followed okay so let's read it again together and check whether each of these topics

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is addressed to whom it may concern i am writing with regard to the misuse of a personal photograph

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of myself and two of my friends of your website in this case yes the person is stating the overall

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reason for writing in one sentence. Next paragraph. The photographic question is one I posted on my

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personal blog several months ago and it involves my friends and I celebrating the end of the

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examination period at university. Several days ago I was shocked to discover that my photo had

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been used in an online advertisement for your study abroad program. This is both unfair and

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illegal. As you have been using the photograph without my permission and as you are advertising

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a product with it you are in fact using it for personal gain okay so this paragraph is where you

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have to include every single detail about the problem next paragraph i have taken up this

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matter with a lawyer who has advised me to contact you in writing she has also indicated what further

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steps might be taken should you fail to respond promptly and appropriately in here

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um charlene is in fact explaining what she has done so far to try and resolve

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uh the issue okay and now in the next paragraph let's see if she's asking for specific action

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from the person or company she is writing to which i am guessing she will do to resolve

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this matter i request that you remove the photograph without delay and in addition i

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ask that you issue a statement of your policy regarding use of images that you are not that

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are not your property sorry okay next paragraph please contact me within one week of the date of

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this letter to confirm that these steps have been taken if you need to reach me by telephone my

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number is... Okay, she does give a time frame for action and a way of contacting her. And finally,

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she ends the letter with a polite closing comment. Thank you for your prompt attention to this matter,

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you'll safely challenge it. Great. Let's go back to our initial model text and analyze it a bit

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further what I want you to do is to find in the text the formal phrases in the

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letter that match the informal phrases that are going to appear right now

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below okay so the first one is get in touch soon to let me know that you've

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done something the second one to put things right I want you to the third one

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I'm writing about fourth one with best wishes fifth one thank you for dealing

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with this problem quickly sixth one i'm sending something with with this letter and the last one

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i've already discussed the problem okay so now you should pause the video again write down your

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answers and press play the video uh if you want to see take a look at the answers obviously okay

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okay here are the answers the first one please contact me within 10 days of the date of this

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letter to confirm that these steps have been taken the second one in order to resolve this

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matter i am requesting that you blah blah blah number three i am writing with regard to number

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four yours faithfully number five thank you for your prompt attention to this matter number six

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in the enclosed document and number seven i have already pursued this matter great now um

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I want you to write down any other formal phrases or linking expressions in the letter that you consider to be useful.

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Okay, so again, pause the video and when you're done, continue watching it.

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These are my suggested answers.

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So, in the second paragraph, we have three examples of formal linking expressions.

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briefly as a result and in fact and other examples of formal phrases that we

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may find throughout the letter could be I regard this as a serious

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problem issue etc without delay sin demora and that you take action to

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prevent further you may reach me at this is another letter of complaint that I

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thought I could show you so that you can look for even more formal phrases that

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we could reuse when writing our own letters of complaint so I'm gonna give

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you some time to copy down the sentences you think are good and when you're done

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continue watching the video okay these are my suggested answers I'm writing

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with respect to. As you know, I mentioned that. I further mentioned that. And still nothing has

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been done. I have contacted my lawyer and he has suggested that I try once more to resolve the

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matter amicably before taking it any further. I am therefore requesting in writing that I would

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expect this issue to be addressed within two weeks of the date of this letter. If you should

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wish to discuss the matter further i will be available most evenings next week

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okay um now next question what are the formal equivalents in the text of the informal words

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and phrases below you have to find them the first one's fixed second one dealt with third one talk

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fourth one coming into fifth one free and sixth one house and gardens

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pause the video answer and then check your

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your answers there you have the answers okay well all that's left to do

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is to write our very own letter of complaint

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i hope now you feel more confident when doing so take into account

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the outline uh the formal style and well any other tips you might have found useful

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basing yourself on the information of the situation below write your own letter of

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complaint situation write a letter of complaint to whoops an online store that a is missing an

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N, I'm sorry.

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Okay, this is the situation.

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Recently you bought a new phone online.

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The security seal was open in the package when it arrived.

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Always a bad sign.

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Found images stored inside the phone of strangers.

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Phone gets very hot when charging and phone randomly switches off by itself.

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good luck and i hope this has been of help to all of you and i hope to receive all of

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your letters of complaint um the week of the 7th 8th of may okay bye