Sentence construction Using Took and Had Taken

Question

Which statement construction is correct?

a) He did not provide her service even though he had taken Rs 500 from her as an advance.

b) He did not provide her service even though he took Rs 500 from her as an advance.

I feel sentence (a) is more correct as it gives detailed idea about first past (i.e., money taken) by using past perfect. Sentence (b) is more informative.

Answer 1

Both are correct, although (b) (even though he took) is more popular in informal (everyday) speech, while (a) (even though he had taken) is more popular in written English.