arrow back icon Top Answers

Describe A Problem You Had While Shopping Online Or In A Store: IELTS Speaking Cue Card

You should say

  • When it happened
  • What you bought
  • What problem you had
  • And describe the party.
Show all 99 answers

Cue 1:When it happened

  • Begin by mentioning the time frame when the online shopping experience occurred, such as during a festival or sale.
  • Provide context about your shopping habits, like if you usually shop online or prefer physical stores.

Example

Last month, during the Diwali festival, I decided to do some online shopping to buy gifts for my family. I usually prefer shopping online because of the convenience it offers.

Cue 2:What you bought

  • Clearly state the item you intended to purchase, including any specific details that make it relatable.
  • Mention why you chose this particular item, perhaps due to its significance or popularity.

Example

I was looking to buy a beautiful set of traditional Indian sweets to gift to my relatives. These sweets are a staple during Diwali, and I wanted to ensure I got the best quality.

Cue 3:What problem you had

  • Describe the specific issue you faced while shopping, whether it was related to the website, delivery, or product quality.
  • Explain how this problem affected your shopping experience and your feelings about it.

Example

Unfortunately, after placing my order, I received a notification that the sweets I ordered were out of stock. I was really disappointed because I had planned to surprise my family with them.

Cue 4:And describe the party

  • Talk about the significance of the occasion and how the problem impacted the celebration.
  • Share how you resolved the issue or what alternative you found to still make the occasion special.

Example

Diwali is a time for family gatherings and celebrations, and I wanted to make it special. After the issue, I quickly searched for another vendor and found a local store that offered similar sweets. I managed to get them in time for the celebration, and my family loved them!

Conclusion

    Example

    Overall, while my online shopping experience had its challenges, it taught me the importance of having backup plans. In the end, I was able to enjoy Diwali with my family, which was the most important part.

    Following this structure will ensure you cover all the essential points while providing a clear and engaging response to the cue card topic.

    Tips to answer this Cue Card

    1: Vague Descriptions

    Being vague can make your answer less engaging and informative. Avoid general statements that do not provide specific details about your experience.

    bulb icon

    Tip

    Use specific examples and details about the product, the problem, and your feelings to create a vivid picture for the examiner.

    2: Ignoring the Cues

    Failing to address all the cues can lead to an incomplete answer. This may result in a lower score as it shows a lack of organization.

    bulb icon

    Tip

    Structure your response by clearly addressing each cue: when it happened, what you bought, the problem, and your feelings about it.

    Overly Negative Tone

    Focusing too much on negativity can make your response less appealing. It’s important to balance your experience with some positive aspects.

    bulb icon

    Tip

    While discussing the problem, also mention any positive outcomes or lessons learned to create a more balanced narrative.

    calendar icon

    IELTS Cue Cards asked last week

    Reported by Leap students who gave IELTS

    Describe your favourite food at a traditional festival or a special event in your country
    anonymous person icon

    Reported by

    Anonymous student Band 7.5

    location icon

    Pitampura Test Centre, New Delhi

    Answer

    I like to taste different types of cuisine. Here I would like to talk about my favorite dish at my traditional festival of Onam which is Sadya. Sadya is popular in my city. We are experimenting these cuisines on Onam festival day. Onam is a famous festival in my city. All family members get together in my home and we make a delicious Sadya. There are many ingredients includes that Sadya. Moreover, we make a big feast that day as well as we create a lot of memories together and we wear that day the traditional dress called Sari and men wear the Dhotis. That festival is really important to us because the whole day we are conducting different kinds of games at our homes and all the family members came together. It's a memorable day in my life. This is the festival. We are making the Sambar and Aviyal. These all the kinds of foods are making with the vegetables.
    Talk about a toy you liked in your childhood
    anonymous person icon

    Reported by

    Anonymous student Band 8

    location icon

    Sector 34 Test Centre, Chandigarh

    Answer

    The toy which I liked in my childhood was a panda doll, which makes me pleasant and makes me more blush. The pandas are the most beautiful creatures of the world, which looks gigantic and has pooshy cheeks and they are like stars in the clouds and they dream in me. Furthermore, these have been given by my father. My father is a very very beautiful artistic person, who makes me think of that. Every day you will face every difficulties and make you suffer and move forward. Pandas are always seen in Japanese countries. It is my lifelong dream to visit a Japanese country and click a photo with the original pandas, which makes sounds better.
    Describe a time you were in a place where you didn't know the local language
    anonymous person icon

    Reported by

    Anonymous student Band 6.5

    location icon

    Whitefield Test Center, Bengaluru

    Answer

    As India is a very large country full of diversity, so there are many places which have their own language and speak their native language. The place which I visited and I didn't know about their language was Leladakh, which is about 300 km away from my hometown and it is a very good place as it consists of different kind of trees, animals and have many scenic views and I visited over there last year in summers as it was the best time to visit because it has many, it was cold over there and we had summers in our area so it was the best time to visit over there and I went over there with my whole family.
    Describe a time when your friend damaged something you owned
    anonymous person icon

    Reported by

    Anonymous student Band 7

    location icon

    Begumpet Test Centre, Hyderabad

    Answer

    When I was a kid, I had a little pencil box which had these four buttons which gave the pencil box an operative use. When you press the button, the box would open up. When you press the second button, a little part of it would slide out. Basically it was just a little electronical and a fun thing to have and I owned it when I was in 6th. One day after break, I was standing and talking there with one of my friends and another friend of mine was running through the hallway and accidentally she pushed my shoulder and my pencil box hit the ground and it broke into multiple pieces to the point that it was not functional anymore.
    Describe a book you recently read
    anonymous person icon

    Reported by

    Anonymous student Band 7.5

    location icon

    CBD Belapur Test Centre, Navi Mumbai

    Answer

    It Ends With Us is a book I read recently. It's by the author Colleen Hoare. It's mainly a story about two teenagers, Atlas and Lily, and how they just handle their life going through high school, adolescence, and just domestic violence at home. Both of them come from very, very different families. However, they have one common determining factor between them, which is domestic violence. The abuse that they've seen their moms go through is just insane, and they connect through that on a different level. They're actually in the same high school, but they never speak to each other until Atlas actually crashes into an empty house next to Lily's villa. When Atlas is homeless and he doesn't have anywhere to go, he just comes and breaks into the house next to Lily's, and Lily helps him with all the daily necessities like clothes and food, medicines and stuff. Furthermore, their friendship blossoms into love, but it doesn't really fructify as Atlas has to leave. This book really gave me a lot of knowledge about domestic abuse and how to deal with it.

    All Answers

    Here are all the answers by real-users practicing speaking for IELTS Cue Cards on our IELTS Prep App.

    Band >7

    The problem I am going to talk about is something I faced when I went to the H&M store at VEGACITY mall. Unfortunately, I am unable to recollect a specific date for the occurrence of this issue To add to the unfortunate events, I was unable to purchase any item which was a result of the issue that I faced. During the time I visited, there was a sale underway. Because of this, the shop floor was extremely crowded and had exceeded the capacity of shoppers that it was meant for. Clothes were strewn about everywhere. Items were on the floor, on the racks and saw no arrangement or organization whatsoever due to which I found it very difficult to look for a specific product. Additionally, because of the excess crowd, there was not a single store staff who was able to attend to my queries. It was a frustrating experience.

    Band >7

    I prefer shopping offline more than purchasing a product online because the products don't really seem to accept, I mean, don't really seem to match the expectations. For instance, I had placed an order for a long green dress on an app called Slick, which promises to deliver within 60 minutes. Initially, I was thrilled about the purchase because the products seemed perfect on the website. However, on receiving it, I seemed to be a little disappointed. So I made a decision to return the product and contacted the customer service. Although my first call was unsuccessful, I persistently followed up and they finally had accepted to process my refund. They assured me that my refund would be done within a week. Despite such an experience, I would still want to give another chance to the app, hoping that the outcome would be better.

    Band 7

    It's February the next week and I recently went to a mall to get myself a good celebrational dress. I found this festive piece which was black in color and of the latest design. I was very happy and I bought it. Since there was a lot of crowd in the mall I chose not to try it there. Once I got back home I tried it on peacefully. I figured out that though the shape and design of the dress were very modern and elegant, the size did not flatter my body as I really expected it to be. On the very next day I went to the mall again and discussed with the staff about the issue. They explained it to me that it was a black market sale and they could not, they will not be able to exchange any of the items sold in that particular sale. I was really upset for a minute but then I thought of explaining them, explaining to them my situation of what exactly happened. Though the juniors could not help me out to be honest, speaking to the staff and management in a senior positions helped me out a lot. It took some convincing but they really got my point and helped me out through it. They offered me a different size of the same dress and this time I did not repeat my mistake from the past. I tried it on there itself and made sure that the size was perfect. Once all the exchange was done I took, I collected my dress and got back home.

    Band 7

    So, as you have heard of the Amazon Big Billion Days Sale, that usually happens in India. So I was sitting in my living room, scrolling through my phone and I came across this beautiful amazing product. Guess what? It was the S24 Ultra in a bargain price. More than 50% off than MRP, maximum retail price. And I thought, why not buy it? I could even resell it for a higher price. So excitedly, I pressed buy now and paid for it. As usual, Amazon does not fail to impress us with its one day delivery. And I saw the scheduled delivery was one day later. I was excited and waiting. I couldn't control my nervousness. And then next day in the afternoon, I got a call. I rushed and opened the door, went straight out the staircase and met my delivery person who had a huge smile and he handed over the product for me. He handed over the product to me. I took the product, happily signed the form wherever necessary. I couldn't control my excitement. I took the product, ran home and opened the product. The box was perfect condition. There was no problem. I felt nothing must be off. For my safety, I started recording the video and I opened the box. And guess what? To my subscribers, subscribe.

    Band 7

    So, for my 20th birthday, my parents had ordered a gaming laptop for me online. It is an amazing laptop with all the advanced features and the glowing keyboard and a fast motherboard and graphics card. It's a really good piece of machinery. So, the problem that I came across was that the product that I received was nothing like what they had advertised. I thought the product was misplaced or I received a wrong product and turns out I was right. The online company offered to replace it and give me a new laptop according to my specification. Furthermore, they offered to give me a token of their gratitude for taking this problem lightly by giving me a voucher for their site of around 2000 rupees. Overall, even though it was not an ideal situation, I liked how they handled everything.

    Band 7

    One problem I faced while shopping happened about 6 months ago when I bought a pair of sneakers online from a popular shopping website. I was really excited because they were offering a big discount and the product looked perfect in pictures, stylish, comfortable and exactly my size. However, when the package arrived a few days later, I was really disappointed. First of all, the size was completely wrong. I had ordered size 7 but they sent size 9. Secondly, the color was different. I had chosen white sneakers but they sent me black ones instead. It was quite frustrating because I needed them for a short trip the following weekend and I didn't have time to buy another pair. I contracted a customer service team to request an exchange but the process turned out to be really slow and inconvenient. They asked me to send photos of the shoes and packing and even the invoice as a proof. After that, I had to wait almost 2 weeks for the pickup and another week for the replacement to arrive. By the time my trip was already over, so I couldn't even use the shoes when I wanted to. Although eventually I got the right pair, the experience left me quite frustrated. It made me realize that online shopping isn't always reliable even though it's convenient. Nowadays, I always double check the seller's rating and read reviews carefully before placing an order. Overall, it was a stressful experience but it also taught me to be a more careful and patient online shopper in future.

    Band 6-7

    Well, I'm very fond of gifts and I'm sorry I'm going to start here from here again. I'm very fond of shopping. I usually shop home decor, my clothing and various stuffs both online and offline. I vividly remember an experience in my life when I shopped for a home decor online, it just caught my eyes, I was really fascinated by its beauty. It was a beautiful vase in pink color with white and purplish flowers, but when it arrived at my home, it was all broken up in pieces, so I just bite the bullet as it was a very difficult situation for me to handle and there was no return policy for the same item. I bought it from an online platform known as Amazon. As it was a home decor, they did not offer any return for the same, it was all broken into two pieces, but as we say, there is nothing to cry over spilled milk, so I tried my best to bring the pieces back in one shape and luckily with the help of a glue, I was able to make that. After that, I finally felt relieved, I placed that home decor in my living room. It not only adds beauty, but also increases its ethical values, I have clicked many photographs with that, that vase in my room really adds cherry on the cake, it is everyone who visits it gets rejuvenated by its beauty, so that is a very beautiful piece, if I ever get a chance to buy the same vase, I will definitely buy it.

    Band 6-7

    I faced a lot of problems, be it shopping online or while I'm in a store. So one of my experiences that I want to share with you today is while I was shopping online back in the days in March 2025 this year is when I actually placed an order for an abaya. It was a website that actually was kind of known but the reviews weren't good enough so I wanted to try it so I actually placed an order for a black abaya and I actually paid online for the order and the order got placed but it was a long time, a week has passed and there was no response from the other side. I actually got nervous about the order because I had paid the money online and I really got anxious about what happened with my order, did it get placed or not, is it going to be delivered or not, was it a scam website, were they trying to trick the customers by putting such fake content online. But later on a few days passed and someone reached out to us about it and I actually received the order, it was a very beautiful abaya and I actually went to the party, everyone liked it and were so amazed and thanked me and asked me if it was a scam.

    Band 6-7

    After completion of my Bachelors in Mechanical Engineering, I was a little bit confused about what to do next. At that time, my friend Anandu recommended me to start some business while my parents encouraged me to pursue my Masters abroad. But I wanted to try or learn something unique and I started researching for some unique skills and I came across a post about financial investment and trading. At that time, I got interested about that and I researched and I studied a lot about that. After my 6 months of studies, I started investing into different platforms like exchanges and for keeping my money safe, I need a ledger wallet which ensures more security than any exchanges. Exchanges can be scammed so that I bought a ledger wallet. Actually I bought it through Flipkart and it is an amazing wallet. But one problem happened in that actually when we switch on the wallet, its screen splits a bit that we can't actually see the things clearly. So I got very sad about that incident and I returned the product after 2 weeks. The Flipkart shows convenience about damage to the product and they helped me to return the product and they gave me a new wallet which ensures quality.

    Band 6-7

    In the present era of technology, online shopping has become more convenient than ever before. I consider myself a regular online shopper, but I would like to talk about the eBay, which allows people to buy and sell a wide range of products from electronics to fashion. Last month I bought a mobile phone as my old one was not working properly, so I researched for a suitable online shopping and found it on eBay. I was extremely sorry to say that because my parcel was not delivered on time and I got a phone that is not functioning correctly, so I preferred a store nearby me to buy a mobile phone again. There are also a number of phones in the store and it is difficult to find or to choose a phone according to my taste. Then I most probably I must say that the shopkeeper used to help their customers to have an item of their own choice and try to make their customer comfortable. So I went there and asked him a phone that will fulfill my needs as he showed me a lot of phones, different phones. I found it.
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
    ielts logo

    Get the IELTS Prep App

    Star rating icon

    4.2

    1M+ Installs

     app download banner image

    Get the app link on your phone

    +91

    Or download app from

    google play storeapp store
    master ielts speaking ad