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Describe something you bought that you really wanted to return: IELTS Speaking Cue Card

You should say

  • What you bought?
  • Why you wanted to return it?
  • What happened when you tried to return it?
  • And explain how you felt afterward.
Show all 319 answers

Cue 1:What you bought?

  • Begin by clearly stating the item you purchased and its significance to you.
  • Include details about where and when you bought it to set the context.

Example

I bought a pair of expensive wireless headphones from an online store during a sale. I had been wanting them for months because I love listening to music while commuting and exercising.

Cue 2:Why you wanted to return it?

  • Explain the specific reasons that led you to want to return the item.
  • Mention any expectations you had that were not met.

Example

After using the headphones for a few days, I realized that the sound quality was not as good as I had hoped. Additionally, they were uncomfortable to wear for long periods, which was disappointing since I had read many positive reviews.

Cue 3:What happened when you tried to return it?

  • Describe the process you went through to return the item.
  • Share any challenges or frustrations you faced during the return process.

Example

When I contacted customer service to initiate the return, I faced long wait times on the phone. They informed me that I needed to send the headphones back at my own expense, which I found frustrating. Eventually, I managed to send them back, but it took a lot longer than I expected.

Cue 4:And explain how you felt afterward.

  • Reflect on your emotions after the return process was completed.
  • Discuss any lessons learned from the experience.

Example

After finally returning the headphones, I felt relieved but also a bit frustrated with the whole experience. I learned to be more cautious when buying expensive items online and to read reviews more thoroughly before making a purchase.

Conclusion

    Example

    In conclusion, returning the headphones was a challenging experience, but it taught me valuable lessons about online shopping and managing expectations. I now feel more confident in making future purchases.

    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

    Using vague language can make your response unclear. Avoid general statements that do not provide specific details about the item you bought or your feelings about returning it.

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    Tip

    Be specific about the item, including its name and features. Describe your feelings and experiences in detail to create a clearer picture.

    2: Neglecting Emotional Impact

    Failing to express your emotions can make your answer less engaging. It's important to convey how the experience affected you personally.

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    Tip

    Share your feelings before and after the return process. Use descriptive language to express your emotions, such as frustration or relief.

    Ignoring the Return Process

    Not explaining what happened during the return process can leave your answer incomplete. Candidates often skip this crucial part, which can lead to a lack of depth.

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    Tip

    Detail the steps you took to return the item, including any challenges faced. This adds depth to your story and shows your problem-solving skills.

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    Anonymous student Band 8

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    Anonymous student Band 6.5

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    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.
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    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

    So, a month ago I went to USA to my cousins, there I went to a mall called Tracy's Mall which is located in New Jersey. I bought a toy which was a small car, a small remote control car for my young brother. It was looking good and it was also worth it. But when I bought it home, I felt there was something wrong with the car, it was not working and actually when I dug deep into it, I found that its windows were damaged. So, then I tried to return it, there were some arguments in between and eventually I got the toy returned. I felt very relieved because whenever I have tried buying a toy for my brother, I always make it sure that it is of the best and it does not have any flaws in it. So, one lesson which I learnt from the incident was always check the device or the thing which you are buying so that you don't have to take a trip back.

    Band 6-7

    I recently bought a Calvin Klein jacket, it was quite costly and when I ordered it and when it got delivered, I was very shocked to see how the material was because I did not expect it or I did not assume it to be such a quality and that is the reason why I wanted to return it but because of the fear of my parents, I did not return it. That is one of the things that I really regret, I bought it because I really liked it and I thought I could wear it in daily wear but I cannot wear it because it is of thick nylon and it can only be worn in very extreme winter conditions or very extreme cold weather. So it is not suitable for me and I cannot wear it in places like Hyderabad where I am staying right now. So that is the reason why I regret buying Calvin Klein jacket, it's more like a puffer jacket but now I cannot do anything and because I fear that my parents would scold me because I already paid 8000 on it and I cannot return it now, so I am regretting it a lot.

    Band 6-7

    I am someone who shop a lot through online and I recently bought a shirt and pant for myself and the pant was not my size so I tried to return it but they told me you have worn the pant so we cannot accept the return but the online website clearly showed that there is a return policy for seven days you can try it and return it but the company gave just gave me some excuses and told me that they cannot return the cannot accept the product back so it was a really worse experience for me because I believed in them and bought their product and they didn't take the responsibility as a business and I think they should more focus on their customer handling so that something like this will not happen in the future

    Band 6-7

    One of the items that I recently bought were my blue lens glasses. I got them off Amazon. One of the reasons that I ordered them was due to the strain that my eyes were going through due to the long hours of study for my upcoming exams. Why I ordered these particular glasses were because they were from a good brand and had a lovely tiger print frame. Upon receiving the glasses I was very excited but when I used them I found that the glass itself was very dull making it hard for me to view the images or my computer screen clearly. My first attempt to return the glasses was not successful. For this I contacted one of my friends who formerly worked in Amazon. He was very helpful and efficient in helping me not only return my glasses but also get a full refund for them. Upon his advice I ended up calling the Amazon executives who luckily understood what my problems were and upon hearing me out they decided to refund my money and also let me keep my glasses. Although I do not use those glasses anymore, I purchased new glasses that are not only blue lens glasses but also are suitable for me.

    Band 6-7

    Well, recently, I have brought a laptop for my wife because she was eagerly waiting for the laptop because she tried to do some businesses at home. Moreover, I was looking for a laptop in online or any local shops, finally I have decided to buy a Lenovo laptop, which I was quite happy about it before I bought because I have been gone through the process and configurations and all. However, when I brought the laptop, it seems like good and softwares were installed by the local shop because I bought the laptop from the local shop because the reason why I chose local shop, in case if we face any problem while I am buying from online, so it's very hard to return it and also the service also sometimes won't be properly responded by from online. So, that's the reason I have chosen the local shop, but we were using it for a while because she was using and she started receiving complaints one by one and she informed me that she is facing some difficulties, especially when she tried to open for any typing and all, so it was not properly responded and when she began to share all the problems, so I was quite really embarrassed because the laptop cost was quite high and so it was the first thing which I brought for her, so emotionally I was quite damaged and I was not unhappy and I tried to return it, but I did not get the proper response from them.

    Band 6-7

    Last week, I bought a dress for myself which I ordered online and it got delivered to me within 3-4 days. When I received that dress, it was a completely different type of quality that I faced and it was really very cheap material that was used in it. Of course, that was also not a good fit when I tried it over. Although I thought of returning it as I didn't like the product that much and I was upset because that website had never failed me to express with its quality, but this time the promise was not kept. When I was trying to return it, I saw that the policy for that product is not returnable which made me upset. So, I raised a complaint and went to the email section to contact them where I raised the query and within a day, they contacted me and told me about it. When I explained them about the product and I told them that I am a regular customer, to them the service was promised and that's why they returned it. They scheduled a return and of course, the issue was solved, but to my surprise, it was really a very bad experience that I had when I was suffering to not getting it returned. But soon when I returned it, as they kept their promise, it was okay to believe again to the website and trust it.

    Band 6-7

    I recently went thrifting to this market which is infamous for designer stuff which is Sarojini located in the heart of Delhi. I always go there to buy easy cheap and reasonable priced garments and home furniture. I went there last Wednesday and I bought a lot of stuff basically clothes and the one thing that I regret buying would be this dress which I originally thought was a romper I bought that and obviously I cannot try that there because there is no changing room there and when I returned home I was trying I washed all of my stuff and then I was trying every cloth one by one and I realized that that dress was not a dress instead it was a romper. I nearly gave out I had a breakdown actually and then I decided that the next day I'll go and return it to the vendor and he took it from me and then I was really happy and glad and he returned my money and then I went back home happily and I bought a cute little Stanley bottle instead of the romper

    Band 6-7

    Nowadays, online shopping is the most trending thing that is popular amongst the youngsters. There are numerous websites available for all kinds of shopping, be it phone, clothes, accessories, everything is available online. You name it, they have it. Such kind of thing, I wouldn't advocate for that after what happened. So I fell prey to one of these lucrative websites and I ordered a brand new iPhone from the store called Amazon. It is quite a promising website and I was excited about buying the phone online because it was on a huge discount, whereas in the offline stores it was a bit expensive. But little did I know that I would have to pay a heavier price for it later on. So I ordered from the website and the delivery was also free. It showed a two-day delivery option and after that it was delivered to me at my doorstep. As soon as I opened the package, the phone seemed okay. But after a few days, the phone started hanging severely. When I checked the manufacture date through the stores, I realized that it was a very old phone and that they had sold a defective piece to me. I returned it back. The return policy was smooth. It was not cumbersome at all and I am thankful about it. But after that they had a 30-day return policy and during that I gave it, but I am glad that I gave it back.

    Band 6-7

    Being an adult, I still have an obsession with remote-controlled cars. So, one day me and my sister went to a mall. So, she saw me having an unusual attraction towards these RC cars. So, we decided to buy one of them. While coming home, I was really happy about buying this toy. But, when we reached home, we realized that it is not worth it to that much of cost. It was really expensive as it was sold in the mall. So, when we opened it, we saw that the material used in the car is really cheap and it can even break. Even it crashed in a lower speed to the wall. And the batteries it needed were really large and quite inexpensive. So, first we put the batteries or the cells in the car but it just ran out within a week which was quite sad. So, I felt that there was no need of buying this car and it was a waste of money. So, I think it cost me around 5000 which is really expensive. So, I think that this purchase was really really bad. And me and my sister always regret about it. And hence, we have decided that we should not get attracted towards this beautiful advertisement put on the malls. Which attracts the customers and make them buy things they don't even want. But, due to this attractive advertisements, we tend to buy these things and purchase expensive stuffs. Which later makes us regret a lot.

    Band 6-7

    I can barely remember the time when I was in my twelfth class. It was around 2010 or 2011 and I was with my sister and she was very much interested to buy a new video game. Initially, I gave her some money and said her that buy the thing by her own and she got a new video game for herself. And the time she arrived, I found that the video game is not too much good and I instantly accompanied her to the shop and told the shopkeeper to return it. But then instantly the shopkeeper told me about the various features and the technologies that are inbuilt in the video game. It was also demonstrating me the pros and cons of that video game. And after that demonstration, I was very much fascinated by its features and under his influence, that means the shopkeeper's influence, I bought that video game. And after arriving at home, I found that I was not supposing to get it but due to the shopkeeper's person, I bought that and I felt regret after that because after two or three days, that video game stopped working and the features are not also working and it was not under the warranty period. So, I wasn't able to return it and I was very disappointed by the facilities offered by that company.
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