One hundred and thirty two patients who had undergone tonsillectomy for recurrent sore throats were evaluated by a questionnaire regarding the effectiveness of their operation. There were 98 respondents of whom 88.8 per cent were satisfied with the benefit gained. Smoking habit did not affect the post-operative satisfaction rate. Dissatisfied patients were more likely to have changed their General Practitioner recently and more likely to have had multiple hospital referrals in the past. Improved patient satisfaction rates may be achieved by more careful assessment of patients with the latter characteristics.