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 122 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 6-7

    I recently was searching for formal shoes for an upcoming interview in my college placements. So to buy the formal shoes, I was shopping on Amazon, mostly because I did not have the time to go to in-store and purchase the formal shoes of my liking. Since my time was limited, I decided to browse online websites such as Amazon, Myntra and Flipkart. Although Amazon was the only online retailer where I found the shoe that fitted my outfit and my personality. I chose the shoes because they were the least expensive and the most favoured by other customers based on customer review. This was during last month, right before my college placements started. However, the size of my feet are very small. It's below average, I would say. So, it was difficult to find the right size on the Amazon description page. So, I had to email the seller about if they had the right size. And this is when the problems began. Initially, the buyer said he did have the size and he would have it ready by two working days, which was perfect for me because my interviews only began two weeks later. However, two days go by and he did not get back to me. So, I email him again and this time he completely ignores my request. This frustrated me. So, I went to Amazon's customer service and I raised a complaint. And they reached out to the seller and finally, I could talk back and forth with the seller. And it took me about three weeks, which was very delayed and I had to make other arrangements for my placements. However, in the end...

    Band 6-7

    While I do think that online shopping is a great way for individuals to find what they truly want and buy it, I believe it has its own problems. There was I think a few months ago when I had perused an app to shop obviously and I found a corset. I love corsets. I think they're a great fashion piece and they can almost go with anything and everything you wear. So I found a black corset with some lace on it and I saw the measurements. The measurements were like close to what my size was. I would say almost a perfect fit and I decided to buy it. I added it to my cart. I was extremely excited and I put in the money to buy it. So this piece of clothing, it arrived at my doorstep, obviously convenience, wonderful and the moment I tried it on, it was too small for me. Now I feel like online shopping, while it's a great way to get what you want instead of and with also less energy because a lot of shopping centers don't exactly have what we have in mind. We might have to compromise on the exact purchase but here it just gives a sense of disappointment. I feel I felt disappointed upon seeing that it didn't fit me. I felt a bit insecure because it didn't fit me. So I would say that I wish more apps were on the mark about what their product is, gave proper measurements instead of compromising the value of customers satisfaction.

    Band 6-7

    well first of all thank you for this tremendous q card. I would like to share a problem when I shopped online. I bought a kurti from Myntra because I love the shopping online and Myntra is my favorite application to shop because Myntra gives so much products on a single app. so I shop for a kurti and the kurti I ordered is in black color very pretty and decent but when I get the kurti I didn't get the same color rather it is in maroon color so I refunded it but they didn't reply to my refund request and it's the first time I am having this problem on Myntra so I then I refunded it for after 15 days they came and took the kurti but there is no refund showing in my app then within I think one week they gave me the refund so that's a bad experience I have with Myntra three months back but after that if I ordered a kurti short kurti but that's the problem solved and they gave me a message regarding to that sorry for the inconvenience and we will definitely make you sure that in future you will not have these type of problem so I think there are some problems if we shop online because we can't see the product or we have to wait for the product to come to our place

    Band 6-7

    I prefer to do my shopping completely online, the main reason is that I really don't have to go and search in a shop whether it is available, because you never know about the inventory of the store, right? But this idea contradicts with if you're gonna buy an item through online, right? So I prefer to do online shopping through various platforms like Amazon and Flipkart. So one event that I could actually remember is that I bought a popper balloon for my grandma's birthday, but the issue in the online shopping is that the product is not in the expected size. So actually we expected a bit big, but the item seemed very small to the actual size which was illustrated in the online platform. So it was a bit of a joke, because we were expecting another size and the size of an item was too small, so we felt we were cheated upon. So we complained it about to the customer representative, but there were no response from their end. So it really didn't expect as how we planned. My grandma, she's somewhere around 60+, so I was expecting to celebrate her in a grand view, so I really wanted to purchase big balloons, big popper balloons, big decorative items, but it really did not go as planned. However, the event turned out very well. Actually, my mother, she went out and purchased, because she knows the shop where they sell this item. She bought a bigger popper balloon, then we pasted it upon her, above the walls, walls of fame. So, like, it turned out well, but I really did not like that experience that I got, which I made through online shopping. So I really think that people who sell their products online should maintain their inventory properly, and they should depict the product.

    Band 6-7

    Well, it's always challenging to shop online because the colors which is on the website is completely different to what product we get when it gets delivered on the third day or the fourth day. So this problem has been there for quite a while. Shoppers and online shopping websites try to grade the colors and edit the colors so it looks brighter on the screen and looks more attractive to us when we buy it. So shopping online has their own drawbacks while in-person shopping or in-store shopping is always much easier because you can see the product with your naked eyes and you can see how it feels, how the material is. While online, I've always found this problem of the quality of the material being extremely bad or the color which was precisely visible on the website was not the color which was delivered to me. This was one problem which has been constantly bugging me about online shopping. I think online shopping websites should try to show their true materials and whatever material they share, they should be true to whatever they sell. So I think that's one of the major problems I have faced.

    Band 6-7

    Recently, a few weeks back, I bought two jeans from an online retailer. And the problem I had with those was the size and the fit. As nowadays, we have a lot of different fits in jeans like baggy, oversized, carpenter fit, carrot fit, etc. and many more. Me personally, I am not a fashionista, so I don't know anything about those fits and how they taper from the bottom or how they are loose in nature. So when I got those jeans, I tried them on and I was very unhappy with the fit because in the description, there was written that it will be a little baggy but it will not stick to my skin. But when I tried them on, they stuck to my skin and I don't like piece of clothes that stick to my skin. I am very sensitive in that matter. So moreover, the size that I ordered was not the size that I received. I ordered 34 in length and 33 in waist. But the size I got was 35 in length and 33 in waist, I think. I may be wrong but the size was not the one that I ordered. Moreover, the quality of the jeans was not up to the mark.

    Band 6-7

    The biggest problem while shopping online is actually evaluating the quality of the items that you are purchasing. Most of the times what we see on the website or on particular app about the product or image and we assume the quality of it but when we actually get the product and we check the quality sometimes we can find a lot bigger difference in the quality of the item that we have purchased. One incident which happened to me is I had purchased two suits you can say on one online app and the photos of that suit on the app were quite good, the images were good but when I actually got it home the quality was not up to the mark or what they have uploaded on their websites or their app.

    Band 6-7

    A major problem I had while shopping online was not being delivered the right product. It happened a month back. I had ordered a headphone set but I was delivered an old wired earphones. I was in a great shock because something could like this happen. It not just infuriated me but also made me feel sad because I was looking forward to own my headphone set. I had been planning to buy this for a long time and when I finally did, it ended up in a mess like this. I immediately raised a query in the website but received no response. I called the customer support, I reached out multiple support partners but none of them were of help. It took almost 3-4 weeks for them to get back to me with a valid response. Finally they offered me a concession fee and promised to get me the pair of headphones I decide. This was one of the bad experiences I faced but also made me understand that mistakes like this are common.

    Band 6-7

    Last week I visited the nearby mall to buy some t-shirts and jeans to wear for casual purposes. Me and my mom visited the Reliance Trends in the mall where we have bought three t-shirts, polo t-shirts of brown, black and grey color and two jeans of Levi's company. When we came back home, at that time I found that the brown t-shirt is a bit dull in color at some point, making it a bad in front of others as it looks are hampered due to such misprinting. So I decided to visit the store back and tell the store owner regarding the same. When we went back and tell the store regarding complaint, at that time they were not ready to accept the mistake and they simply told us that do whatever you can as we cannot replace or exchange the product. So I decided to drop a mail to higher authority and I emailed to Reliance Trends head office which is which was located in Delhi and luckily I got a reply from the head office within two days. So they apologized me and ready to provide me a new piece or refund whatever suits me. So I decided to replace it, moreover they also give me 500 rupees cash back for their mistake and they are happy to serve me again.

    Band 6-7

    About 3 months ago, I had to attend a formal meeting at a reputed hotel in the city of Mumbai For the same, I had to shop for a plain white formal t-shirt which my wardrobe lacked I decided to go to the nearby mall which is the Oberoi Mall And I went through so many shops but to no avail I could not find a white formal t-shirt anywhere I went to brands like Pantaloons, Lifestyle but none of them had the white formal t-shirt that I required Finally, disheartened with no hopes for finding the shirt and having to make shift something out of my white t-shirts that I have at home As I stepped out, I found a store just in front of the mall which was recently opened and I hadn't noticed it before I immediately took to the cause and went to the store and finally found a white shirt that I was looking for So the problem that I faced while shopping was that even though the mall is full of clothes but the ideal requirement that I had and in my size, it was not available But as they say that if you have a will, God will find a way And I think that shop for me was a miracle appearing which helped me find my formal white shirt
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13

    Master IELTS Speaking with Leap's Self-Prep Course

    student enroll count

    Students Enrolled

    review count

    2,411 Reviews

    app download banner image
    See Course Details

    Master IELTS Speaking with Leap's Self-Prep Course

    student enroll count

    Students Enrolled

    review count

    2,411 Reviews

    app download banner image
    See Course Details