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Talk about a thing you complained about something (but finally got a good result): IELTS Speaking Cue Card

You should say

  • What did you complain about?
  • Who you complained to?
  • When it happened?
  • What was the result and why you were satisfied with the result?
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15 unique answers with expert feedback

Show all 15 answers

Cue 1:What did you complain about?

  • Clearly state the issue you faced and why it was important to you.
  • Provide some context about how this issue affected you personally.

Example

I complained about the poor quality of service at my local grocery store. I often found expired products on the shelves, which not only wasted my time but also raised concerns about food safety.

Cue 2:Who you complained to?

  • Mention the person or organization you approached to voice your complaint.
  • Explain why you chose to complain to this particular person or entity.

Example

I decided to speak to the store manager directly. I felt it was important to address the issue with someone who had the authority to make changes and improve the situation.

Cue 3:When it happened?

  • Provide a specific timeframe for when you made the complaint.
  • Mention any relevant details about the circumstances surrounding the complaint.

Example

This happened about two months ago, during my regular shopping trip on a Saturday afternoon. I had just discovered another expired item, which prompted me to take action.

Cue 4:What was the result and why you were satisfied with the result?

  • Describe the outcome of your complaint and any actions taken by the store.
  • Explain why this result was satisfying and how it positively impacted your shopping experience.

Example

After I raised my concerns, the manager was very receptive and promised to improve their stock checks. A week later, I noticed that they had implemented a new system for checking expiration dates. I was satisfied because it showed that my complaint was taken seriously, and I felt more confident shopping there.

Conclusion

    Example

    In conclusion, complaining can sometimes lead to positive changes. My experience taught me that voicing concerns can not only help improve services but also enhance my own experience as a customer.

    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 Responses

    Avoid giving vague or unclear answers. Being too general can make your response less engaging and informative, which may lead to a lower score.

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    Tip

    Provide specific details about your complaint, including what it was about and the context, to make your answer more compelling.

    2: Lack of Structure

    Failing to organize your response can confuse the listener. A disorganized answer may skip important points or lack coherence.

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    Tip

    Follow the cue prompts in order, addressing each one clearly to create a logical flow in your response.

    Neglecting Emotions

    Not expressing your feelings about the situation can make your answer less relatable. Emotions help to engage the listener and add depth to your story.

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    Tip

    Share how you felt during the complaint process and why the final result made you satisfied to enhance your narrative.

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    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
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    Reported by

    Anonymous student Band 7.5

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    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
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    Reported by

    Anonymous student Band 8

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    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
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    Reported by

    Anonymous student Band 6.5

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    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
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    Reported by

    Anonymous student Band 7

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    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

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    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

    It was a rainy season, I used to complain about rains, specially I am from Mumbai, I was working in Mumbai and the rains are the worst thing which can happen to anyone while you are commuting from to your home to the office. The commute in Mumbai is so difficult nowadays because of traffic jams, overpopulation and rains acts up to it. So one fine day, I was going to the office and it took me 2 hours to reach my destination and because of the rain, I missed the meeting as well. So I started yapping about this to my colleagues like it was a thing which shouldn't be happening to anyone. I remember I particularly told him that the Mumbai rains are the worst thing which can happen to this city because the roads are blocked, there is dirt everywhere, you can see the water lodging in every part of the city. But as the time passes, one fine day, I was really stressed about my work, so I decided to take a break and go to the sea view during the rainy season as well. When I went there, I saw a beautiful scenery with the ocean and the clouds grey which is a pitch black and the scenic view was really good. I could still feel the breeze on my face which was really rejuvenating at that time and I finally made a peace with the rainy season as well. I know there are some parts which are chaotic but at the same time, the rains are really beautiful in Mumbai and it was really a game-changer for me when I think from that perspective. So rainy seasons are now

    Band 6-7

    So, when I was small, I used to complain about why to do yoga, what's the use of doing yoga, but like I used to complain about it to my mother and father, like why did they send me to yoga classes and what was the need to do so, but slowly I got to know that how much important yoga is for your health and your mind. So, I used to go to some classes for gymnastics where they used to make us practice for 2-3 hours and it was very exhausting for me, but slowly I started to like it, I started to like it, the reason was that it helped me stay fit, I had seen many changes in my body, I started getting much fitter, I increased my stamina in a month or two, my immune system got very strong and I am very happy that it happened cause to this date I still practice yoga and there are many advantages of it.

    Band 6-7

    Yeah, I complained about my studies in Aditya in my 11th and 12th where they put me on extra hours for extra assignments, extra exams just before JEE mains examination. So, JEE mains is the examination that was conducted, that is conducted in India for engineering entrance. So for that, just before one month, I was kept in long hours for studies in Aditya where they kept continuous assessments which I didn't like because I thought it was ruining my preparation for the examination. So, I complained about this to my parents and teachers. I often complained about, I often made, sorry, I often brought this thing into consideration of my parents and teachers where I even cried sometimes stating that it was stressing a lot for me to be held in the extra examinations which I thought will not be any helpful to me. But later I thought it was a blessing in disguise where I thought it was not useful in the first but it gave me a very good result in the end. So, because of this continuous assessments, I got a very good rank in mains. So, JEE mains and later in advanced examination because of which I got into a prestigious engineering college in India that was NIT Tiruchirappalli. So finally, my impression was that, initially it was kind of difficult for me to hold on. Later because of the practice in all the assessments, it was quite easy in the last which really helped me to do very well in the examination. I would like to thank my teachers and parents who forced me, who made me to go on the extra mile for this assessment instead of focusing on the studies, on the subjects that where I lacked because of which I got into that good engineering institution.

    Band 6-7

    Three years back, I was a bit of skeptical about attending Bible classes in my church. They offered various programs related to Bible convention and moreover they offered youngsters with loads of opportunity to attend classes related to various chapters in the Bible. But I was little, as I said, skeptical, dubious about should I attend the classes because I complained about this to my mother because I never felt it would kind of rejuvenate me in the future. But with a half-minded manner, I attended the classes and it turned out to be so reconstructive for me because those Bible classes fostered various creative and inquisitive skills in me which I never imagined would create such a great effect in me. I never really believed that classes would be held in such a manner which would align with our schedules of our classes in college. I got to experience a whole lot of peaceful atmosphere.

    Band 6-7

    I had a complaint regarding my physics teacher because I usually don't understand physics I hate the subject of physics I complained this to my parents that I couldn't score more marks because I feel the physics subject is very tough but they said that no if you work hard you can really get it and at last during my public exams compared to all other subjects I have scored well only in physics subject that is because of the bonding which I have with the teacher in the last one month she used to convey me all that she used to clear all the concepts she was not thorough I had I got the help from my friends also that was really helpful to me and I should thank my friends for helping me

    Band 6-7

    Back in my school when I was younger, my school organized a camp in which the military training was to be given. Me and my other friends were actively participant in this camp. When we reached the camp, we noticed that our rooms were very dingy and they were not clean enough. Although it was our military drill to clean the rooms ourselves, so we happily organized them. After a while, when we got our lunch and we ate happily, we tried to use the washrooms of that dorm. Sadly, to our disappointment, the washrooms weren't clean at all. Those washrooms were infested with insects, the taps were leaking, and the floor was muddy. Our friends and us, as our rooms were to the close vicinity of the washroom, couldn't survive the smell or the odor of that washroom. After the first day drill, we complained about the dirty washrooms that were bothering us all day. We, as a student, formed a union and sat outside the designated officer's office. As a result, we all wrote a letter and we got it signed from a higher official of that district. The result was that the washrooms were cleaned within 3 days and all the candidates were very happy as we were facing a lot of difficulty. We all were highly satisfied as it was our first batch that rebelled against this problem and got it solved. All in all, I think that it is basic awareness to complain about this issue and we should raise voices whenever we get a chance.

    Band 6-7

    My father has the most unique and the most evergreen taste in fashion in my whole family. So once I visited a shopping mall with my father for my birthday's dress and birthday shopping and he told me to wear a this beautiful dress that I didn't like so I complained about that that I won't wear it but he somehow convinced me to buy it and said that you can buy another dress as well so I bought that dress. On my birthday I didn't wear the dress that he told me to wear instead I wore the other dress of my choice and the year later I saw the same dress was worn by an Indian celebrity and I was so happy to see that why was I complaining at first place it is so good that a celebrity is wearing the choice of my father so I should have listened and wore the same dress and I could have got the opportunity to overcome the celebrity and wear the dress first.

    Band 6-7

    After my placement to a company from my college, I was placed with a company named Forvia. They had their thing called employment bond for two and a half years and I complained the human resource department of that company for it because the bond was mentioned that we cannot leave the company until and unless we have completed 2.5 years there or else we have to pay a bond amount of 2.5 lakhs. I think it is quite big and this happened just after my college and it was really new experience for me to have employment bond and that's why I was complaining it to them that the young people should get more opportunity to look for different opportunities in the various sectors so you cannot offer us bond of 2.5 years. But yeah at last I think that it was really helpful for me over the period of 2.5 years I studied a lot of different things, we had multiple trainings related to various softwares like CATIA and SOLIDWORKS also. I learned related to the design of the automotive car interiors, not only the design but also how production of the automotive vehicle takes place so it was really great experience. So I think it was for better future of young generation so that they will get to know more things in 2.5 years so that was a good thing about it.

    Band 6-7

    yeah i want to talk about my studies studies what i did like after 2018 normally in 2018 my studies my graduation have to be completed but due to some financial situation and all i am unable to pass and i have miscontinued my studies that's why i feel about sometimes because of my financial condition i used to complain that to my parents why i have why we don't have that much of sufficiency going to complete my graduation and all and why it going delay always why it's happened to me only why God will not supports us and all these silly things i used to complain after that i have i was taken my graduation like in 2019 and i was passed out in 2024 like again there is 2 years gap so due to my some financial issue again it go it was passed in 2024 so for that i used to complain now i am satisfied and now i am happy whatever done in the past due to our like irregularity and not doing well God is always there who is think about us he is a well planner so i really thank to the God who was tell us who was support every situation at that time we didn't understand who is supporting and all but after that i realized because of God i have passed in this 2024 and now i am preparing for my masters in a UK after that definitely i can be a successful in my life and God is always with me thank you

    Band 6-7

    I'm always a very picky woman. I find myself complaining every time. The most recent one I remember is to my brother. He was going to make pasta. I was helping him. I was assisting him with the work. He said, we should go to the grocery market. We went to the grocery market and I said, why are you not prepared? If you were going to make pasta, you should have prepared everything. He said, I was going to make it anyway, so that's why I thought I would go later. I complain a lot. After buying the grocery, we came back home and we were preparing. It was very recent when it happened. The whole process, I was the one that was complaining. I was not happy with how he was cutting. I was not happy with how he was making sauce. I was not happy with how he was stirring the vegetables. After we had the pasta, my mother was also there. She was very satisfied with the food. I took the first bite and I said, wow. Literally, my favorite has become my favorite. It was white sauce pasta. I really liked it. I really liked the taste. It has this creamy and salty, but at the same time it has cake cheese, which he used parmesan. Parmesan cheese. It was very tasty for me. Yes, the pasta was tasty.
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