arrow back icon Top Answers

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 294 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.

    bulb icon

    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.

    bulb icon

    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.

    bulb icon

    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.

    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

    So recently I remember that I had bought a t-shirt for my dad for his birthday. So this shopping was done online, it was an online shopping. So I ordered the shirt and it got delivered within 4-5 days. And then I actually ordered the shirt because it was the dope version of Calvin Klein. So I thought I had given good amount for the shirt, it was quite exorbitant. It was almost like 2000, so I thought it would somehow relate to the quality that the real shirt had. So when I just unboxed the parcel, I was really disappointed because the quality of the shirt was very poor. So I had to give it back to them. So that is something that I really wanted to return. But it was his birthday, so I had gifted this shirt whooping around 2000. So I had no other option, so he kept it. So he uses that shirt while going to walk or jogging.

    Band 6-7

    A couple of months ago, I really wanted to buy these Adidas sneakers that I saw online. When I viewed these shoes on the website, they actually were a pair of all-black sneakers with a faux leather finish. I really loved the way it looked and I thought it would be a great fit for me. I thought I could use it as a semi-casual shoe that I could wear it when I go out I always wear it every day to my office. I purchased the shoes on Amazon after a couple of days for about Rs 3,500. I thought it was a good deal. The price had come down from Rs 5,000 in a span of 5 days. After I bought the shoes, the parcel arrived at my doorstep after 5 days. When I opened it, I was rather disappointed to see that it didn't look like how it was on the website. The finish was a little bit off. It didn't really feel like a faux leather finish. It felt rubbery and the way it looked was cheap. I thought it could even be a first copy that they had sent me. It didn't fit me well. It was a tad bigger for my feet. That's the reason I planned to return this shoe. I posted a complaint on the website as well and I booked a return. After a couple of days, this person from Amazon customer service called me and enquired me what was the problem I had with my shoes. I explained it to him that it looked nothing like what it looked on the website. Then someone from Amazon came in to take my shoes for the return.

    Band 6-7

    A few months ago I bought a smart watch online that I was really excited about but ended up wanting to return soon after receiving it. I purchased it from an e-commerce website during a festive sale because it was heavily discounted and I had been wanting one for quite a long time. The pictures and reviews made it look like a high quality gadget with great features like fitness tracking, hair rate monitoring, and long battery life. However, when the watch arrived, I was quite disappointed. The build quality felt cheap, the strap was uncomfortable, and the touch screen wasn't very responsible. It was not very responsive. When the battery drained within a few hours, it was totally opposite to what was promised in the description. I tried contacting customer support to report the issue but they didn't respond promptly. I felt quite frustrated because I had spent a decent amount of money on it expecting it to be reliable. Although I eventually managed to return it after a few days, the whole experience taught me a very valuable lesson to research more carefully before buying electronic items online. I wanted to return it mainly because it didn't meet my expectations at all and I felt a bit cheated by the authorities also. It was a really misleading product description. It definitely made me more cautious as a buyer.

    Band 6-7

    So lately, I bought a Michael Kors bag with my hard-earned money. I had this dream and desire of taking this bag from maybe two years. I really wanted to take a bag. So I saved a lot of money every month and got this on my birthday, my 22nd birthday. What happened is I ordered from a website, which was not really a good website, which had no good reviews. That was really bad of me that I didn't check about that earlier. Out of curiosity, out of happiness, I got that bag for 2000 less than the actual price. So what happened is it came before my birthday. I took it out and out of happiness, I opened it, I unboxed it and when I saw that it was not really the Michael Kors bag, but some MH bag. MK is the symbol of Michael Kors, but it was MH bag. It really disappointed me because I bought it from my hard-earned money. So I wanted to return it. I called the customer care and I took the picture of everything and mailed them as well. They didn't respond me. After many tries, they did respond me and told me it's your mistake. It's not us. You could have took a video while unboxing it. That really made me very sad and I had to keep it afterward.

    Band 6-7

    I brought a sneaker, a white coloured one, which has the brand of Polo, O.U.S. Polo. But, it was of a first quality, which means, it was not of a good quality at all. So, I just went to the website, to return it, and then I went and found out that the tag and all was on the shoe, to return it. Then, I went back and put the tail, tape, tag and all back in the shoe, and then later I requested for a return. They came after a week to take the shoe back, and then after another week, I got my money refunded. After that, I felt remorse or regret of buying from that website.

    Band 6-7

    Recently, I purchased an expensive pair of headphones. It's a Sony WH-1000XM6. It's a popular model and some say it is one of the best out there. Within a week of purchasing it, the hinge of the headphone broke. This disheartened me completely. I went to the service center to ask for a replacement and they said any physical damage was not covered under their warranty. Well, fair enough. But it was not my fault. The hinge failed like many other people on Reddit mentioned that theirs failed too. But nevertheless, I brought a replacement from Amazon. Later, down the line, I saw that the ear pads on my headphone started to have some wrinkles on it. This is not something that I would expect out of an expensive pair of headphones. Recently, I bought an expensive pair of headphones from Amazon. It was quite expensive, somewhere around $500. Within a week of usage, the hinge broke and it disheartened me completely. I immediately went to the service center and asked them to replace it but they said that any physical damage was not covered under their warranty. Fair enough. I bought the replacement from Amazon and fixed it myself. Then, after some days, it had some issues with the touch sensors. The touch sensors were working crazy. Recently, I purchased an expensive set of headphones from Amazon. It is a new Sony WH-1000XM6. Some say it is one of the best out there. It is one of the flagship models that Sony has launched. Within a week of usage, the hinge of the headphones broke. It disheartened me completely because... Recently I bought an expensive pair of headphones from Amazon. Some say it is one of the best out there and it is a flagship model that has been recently launched by Sony. It is none other than the infamous WH-1000XM6. Within a week of usage, the hinge broke. This problem was similar to that of the XM5s. It disheartened me completely. I immediately went to the service center and asked them to replace it. But they said that any physical damage was not covered under their warranty. Fair enough. So, I bought the replacement from Amazon myself and did the repair myself. After that, after quite some days, the touch sensors started to act crazy. And this started to act crazy and this is not something that you expect out of an expensive pair of headphones. It was quite expensive, somewhere around $500. And that was the turning point for me.

    Band 6-7

    The thing which I bought and wanted to return was my Apple Airpods which I got it in December 2023. Now when I opened the box and went on to register for the warranty for the product, I found out that the warranty was already active since last month and it felt like the product I got was returned by somebody else before reaching to me. So I wanted to return that and in order to return the item, I contacted the customer care services at Amazon from where I got the Airpods. I also tried and contacted Apple, the manufacturer, in order to get some more insights about who and when availed the warranty of the product. So I didn't got any satisfied response from either, so I visited the customer care service center of Apple and got the Airpods inspected whether it's been used or not. So after visiting every possible place and contacting every possible services, I found out that it was a technical glitch from Amazon and the product which I received was not used by somebody or not even being ordered by somebody. It was a fresh piece and this was clarified by both Amazon and Apple with some proofs. So I was satisfied and kept it.

    Band 6-7

    I bought a really expensive bag from Mango. I bought it online but when I received it, it was not really towards my liking and it was not similar at all to the pictures that they showed me before buying that product. I really just wanted to return it but I couldn't because they were having an issue. They said that you can't return it. So I don't really like that bag. I've never used it. It is just kept there in my closet in a corner. I never want to use it.

    Band 6-7

    I have bought an earpod recently but I really don't want to use it so I tried to return it but when I tried to return it it was not possible and it shows that returning with the full refund is not possible it made me feel bad and I thought that even the earpod is not having all the functions it has shown in its marketing and since I have brought in an online marketing app I could not connect with any other person to return it or to get it more access

    Band 6-7

    I would like to talk about a smartwatch that I bought about 6 months ago, which was definitely an item I wanted to return, though unfortunately I was past the return window. I would been looking for a fitness tracker and productivity tool for a while, and after reading many reviews, I settled on a relatively expensive iHand smartwatch from a very popular brand. I purchased it online through a major e-commerce retailer. The main reason I bought it was for the supposedly advanced health monitoring features like ECG tracking and detailed sleep analysis, as well as the convenience of quickly seeing notifications without constantly pulling out from my phone. I convinced myself it would help me be more productive and health conscious. The moment I opened the box, my enthusiasm started to wane. The watch itself was much bulkier than it appeared in the pictures, and the strap was made up of a stiff synthetic material that was uncomfortable on my wrist, but the real disappointment came when I started using it. The battery life was terrible, it barely lasted a full day, meaning I had to charge it every single night, which defeated the purpose of its overnight sleep tracking. Moreover, the operating system was laggy and the health tracking data was inconsistent, often giving me widely different readings just minutes apart. After about a week of frustration, I was desperate to return it. I felt like I had thrown a significant amount of money at a gadget that was more of a burden than a benefit. However, because I had ordered it online and traveled soon after its arrival, I missed the retailer's 30-day return deadline by just a few days. I was absolutely furious with myself for not acting sooner. So now it's sin in a drawer, a constant reminder of a poor purchasing decision.
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30
    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