An email to explain an accommodation problem

An email to explain an accommodation problem

Learn how to write an email to explain a problem with your accommodation.

Do the preparation task first. Then read the text and tips and do the exercises.

Preparation

Reading text

From: Eloisa Marr
To: Sam Matthews [landlord]
Subject: 32 Acacia Avenue electricity problem

Dear Sam,

I'm writing on behalf of myself and my flatmates about Number 32 Acacia Avenue as we've been having problems with the electricity.

We noticed that if we use more than one appliance at night when the lights are on, the power cuts out. This means that we can't use the dishwasher at the same time as the oven, for example. For a while we have been careful but recently we have found that even in the daytime, more than one machine running can cause a power cut. Occasionally, the power cuts out for no obvious reason.

We know the electrician who came before couldn't find anything wrong, but please can someone come again as the problem is getting worse? If it would be easier, we can arrange an electrician ourselves and send you the bill.

Kind regards,

Eloisa

Tips

  1. To email someone who's not a friend, use a neutral style and polite tone.
  2. Start the email with Dear … , not Hi. End it with Kind regards or just Regards.
  3. Organise your email in three paragraphs:
    • why you're writing
    • the problem
    • what you want the solution to be
  4. Keep it short and simple. Only include the important information.
  5. Put specific information in the subject line. Don't just put Problem.

Task 1

Task 2

Task 3

Discussion

Download
Worksheet101.5 KB

Language level

Average: 4.4 (10 votes)
Do you need to improve your English writing skills?
Join thousands of learners from around the world who are improving their English writing skills with our live online classes and personal tutoring courses.

Submitted by Ugulhan on Thu, 01/10/2020 - 08:03

Permalink
A good question. Since I am living in my apartment, it has been experiencing heating problems. In winter is so cold, I hope it is old heating and the landlord came and checked out it but it is unhelpful. Now, the old owner of the apartment sold it to another landlord, and a new landlord seems to be getting unhelpful. I will move to a new place as possible as soon before winter comes.

Submitted by YaMaCa on Tue, 29/09/2020 - 08:39

Permalink
My husband and I have some issues in our current flat. Specialty, the first weeks after we moved in. One example Dear Mr. Katrine We write to you from the flat No 1301, ubicated in Avenue 95. We have been having problems since some days ago. It seems to be an electrical problem and leaking out water in the washing room. Please can you send someone to have a look at them? Regards Lady Family
Profile picture for user shelly

Submitted by shelly on Tue, 15/09/2020 - 04:45

Permalink
Dear Sam, I am writing on behalf of myself and my roommate to tell you that we are experiencing a leaking problem during rainy days. We noticed that the wall is a little wet when we first moved into room 32. At the beginning we thought that it was the humid air leading to the wet wall on rainy days. But a few days later we found our floor was covered with water and water is dropping from the roof, some of our clothes was polluting by the dropping water. Please could you arrange a plumber to check what caused this problem. If you agreed, we could find a plumber and send you the bill. Best regards Shelly

Submitted by kyawkyawsoezhu on Mon, 31/08/2020 - 18:59

Permalink
I’m having a problem with my upstairs neighbour, as I’m living in an apartment. I can hear the upstairs doing something loud. They always cook in the very early morning, sometimes the noise of crushing ingredients wakes me up. Their kids play and run with really loud food steps during daytimes and even at night. Now that I have to work at home, it is so annoying to hear loud food setups everydays, sometimes I wish they didn’t live upstairs. There was one time it was almost 12pm and the kid didn't stop playing, so I went to them and requested them to stop, because I’ve already been asleep, the husband unhappy about it and the next morning they made louder noise than they were used to.

Submitted by IKEDA on Wed, 26/08/2020 - 14:02

Permalink
I don't have so many problems with my home now. One big thing I remembered, when I lived in a former house, I saw cockroaches occasionally in my room. So I moved as soon as I could.
Profile picture for user Hennadii

Submitted by Hennadii on Wed, 12/08/2020 - 10:41

Permalink
I used to rent a flat for a while some years ago. We live here with my wife. It was quite a nice flat. It clearly needs a renovation but it was near the metro station so we could quickly get to our works. In addition to the favourable location, there were lots of shops and fun: cinemas, roller drome, skating-rink, bowling, and many different restaurants. And view! It had such a lovely view from the window. We lived there for more than three years but when our first son was born we moved in the bigger one. Now we live in a big flat, near the park and some gardens squares in a quiet and peaceful district.

Submitted by seito kaito on Tue, 07/07/2020 - 17:16

Permalink
Hallo everyone! I have never lived in a rental apartment. But I have had a bad experience parent’s house. I would like to talk about that. When I was a junior high school student, I tried to turn on the air conditioner because it was very hot outside. However, no matter how the temperature was lowered, or the air volume was increased, it never became cool. So, I asked the repairman to fix the air conditioner, and I got it fixed immediately. It is hot to die in midsummer, so I thought it would be hard if I could not use the air conditioner. But the hardest thing I have ever done was break the refrigerator. One day, when I tried to remove the ice from the refrigerator, the ice melted unusually. When I checked everything in the refrigerator, I realized that the refrigerator was broken because it was not cold at all. It was hard because I could not buy the refrigerator immediately. If I become a member of society and live in a rental apartment, I want to be careful about trouble home appliances.

Submitted by Ayano on Tue, 07/07/2020 - 10:48

Permalink
I have experienced problem in rented accommodation. That was in Korea from August 4 to 24. In this time, I went to Hanyang University to study Korean, but I stayed a dormitory. Specifically, I think it doesn’t in rented accommodation but. Here was so comfortable and beautiful. There was about seven-tatami room in two people, but there was air conditioner, quite big desks and I could concentrate on study. However, I noticed the problem. It was that being leaked water from bathroom. Bathroom had the door and the curtain, but water was leaking. Other friends also said it happened. The water was flowing to my bed and I had to wipe floor by towel again and again every day. I didn’t find solution so I could only to be careful when I took a bath. By doing this, the water didn’t leak, but by taking bath, I couldn’t relax myself. Therefore, I told the owner about this problem. After all, it didn’t solve until I go back to Japan. I wanted owner to fix the door. I think the number of people who be in trouble due to leaking water will increase. So, I hope owner to have already fixed it.  

Submitted by Nanako Suzuki on Thu, 02/07/2020 - 06:40

Permalink
Hello, everyone. I had not problems in many times, but I had some bad experiences when I had lived in rented accommodation. When I entered the university, I had lived in rented accommodation which was near to my university. The rented accommodation was totally good because the rented accommodation was almost furnished, and the living-room was large for one person, so it was very convenient for me to spend the time. However, the rental apartment didn't have an elevator, and my room was the third floor. After I bought a lot of food and drink like two liter mineral water, I had to carry them to my room at third floor. This work was so hard for me to bring heavy things without using a elevator. I was always sweating when I went up the stairs. In addition, there was no wall in the passage in front of my room, so many bugs and insects were there such as cockroaches, spiders and moths. When I was back home at night, many bags and insects gathered at light in the passage. It was very gross to see them. I think it would have been easier if there were walls in the aisle.

Submitted by Belen jimbo on Mon, 29/06/2020 - 09:14

Permalink
Problems with electricity cables is very annoying. This is a problem that must be resolved quickly. Being worried that your electricity is going to be cut is very stressful. These power outages can damage some appliances. For electricity to work properly you must hire a good electrician.