Apology Letter to Customer

The customer is always right even when the customer is wrong. The power of a sincere apology can turn a negative experience into a positive one, saving you and your company from unfavorable publicity and even lawsuits. It is critical to craft an apology letter that rings true and leaves the affected customer feeling like someone actually paid attention to their complaint/statement. The letter should not give the slightest hint of victim-blaming, in which the customer is made to feel like they bear some responsibility for the incident. It pays to have a template that your company can customize quickly so that the customer’s complaint can be acknowledged in a timely manner. Responding quickly is crucial in de-escalating a situation that could potentially turn into a public relations nightmare given the power of social media and viral content these days. Address the customer directly, include specific information, acknowledge the inconvenience to the customer, accept responsibility and sign the letter with the name of the responsible manager with phone and email contact provided.

The Art of Apologizing to your Customers

When a customer complains about poor customer service:

• On behalf of (company name), please accept my sincerest apologies for your negative experience with our representative, (name of person/s). I understand your frustration at being made to wait for a long time and not getting your question resolved quickly by a supervisor. It is our goal to make sure that customers are 100 percent satisfied when they do business with us. In your case, we obviously failed to do that, and for that I apologize. At (company name), all of our representatives, supervisors and managers are trained in the (company)way of doing business, which is service with a heart, ensuring that the customer’s needs are top priority. Your concern was not addressed quickly and to your satisfaction, and I am personally going to follow up with (department or person) to make sure that this type of incident will not happen again. I plan to discuss changes that the team should make to be more proactive about preventing situations such as yours and resolving incidents quickly and effectively. Your time is valuable, and our representative should have asked for help from her manager sooner. Thank you for bringing this matter to our attention. We hope to turn this into teachable moment so that we can deliver 100 percent to the customer’s satisfaction. Should you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to reach me at the phone and email provided below.
• How to Write a Business Apology Letter
• Dear Customer, On behalf of our company, I would like to sincerely apologize to you for your recent inconvenience during your contact with our personnel. Even though we strive to provide you with the best service possible, mistakes can happen, as it is in our human nature not to be perfect. You have to know that we have plenty of measures in place to make sure that our personnel is the best we can provide so your experience shopping in our store is always a pleasant one. So, I am pleased to inform you that the staff member(s) that were responsible for the inconvenience caused have been informed and the correct measures are being implemented so we make sure nothing like this happens ever again. We want all of our customers to be happy, so in order to apologize for the mishap, we are offering you a 25% discount on your next purchase from our store. We sincerely apologize again, and we hope you let this incident aside and continue preferring us for all of your shopping needs!
• Formal Apology Letter Samples
• Dear Customer, I would like to express my never-ending gratitude for your continued support over the past few years. I would also like to thank you for bringing this subject to our attention, and I apologize on behalf of our company. We want every single one of our customers to be satisfied with our services, so we are deeply saddened by the fact that one of our most loyal customers was left unsatisfied. You have to understand that mistakes are a part of human nature, and even though we strive to provide you with the best experience possible, mistakes can happen. We have implemented measures to ensure that nothing similar will happen in the future, so we hope that you will continue preferring our services for all of your future needs. As a token of our gratitude for your loyalty, and as a means to express our deepest apologies, we would like to offer you not only a full refund of the last service provided, but also a 25% discount on future services.

When a customer complains about damaged or defective goods:

• Thank you for contacting us about your defective (name of product). We are sorry that the item/service did not meet your expectations. We understand that you are disappointed, and we apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused you. We can assure that our products undergo several stages of inspection to ensure quality. We regret that this error slipped past our quality measures. We will replace the product. In addition, we are sending a discount coupon/gift card that you can use on your next purchase. Thank you again for bringing this issue to our attention. If you have other concerns, please don’t hesitate to reach out to us.

When a customer had been charged more than the actual price:

• Dear Customer, It has come to my attention that during a recent purchase from your store you were charged more than the actual price of the item. On behalf of our store I would like to humbly apologize for the mishap. Even though machines are programmed to do the things that were previously tainted by human errors, system failures and glitches can happen, causing several problems. Even though we run several system checks throughout the course of the year, nobody can predict something as unexpected as this. Yet, with everything running perfectly fine now, we would like to restore your faith in our company, by not offering you a full refund of the product, but also offering you a 25% discount on your next purchase from our store. We hope that you will remain a valued customer, and we very much appreciate that you brought this issue to our attention.

When the company makes a mistake that directly affects the customer:

• I am writing to apologize for the unfortunate error that occurred while processing your order/account on (date). I can understand your frustration with (name of company/service) at the moment, and we all want you to know that we are deeply sorry for this error. Due to a glitch in the system (or human error/misunderstanding/etc.), we made a mistake that has inconvenienced you. We would like you to know that we are working quickly to correct this mistake and to make sure that it does not happen again. We would like to offer you a 20 percent discount on your next purchase along with a $10 gift card that you can use on your next order. We regret that this happened, and we hope that you can accept our apologies.

When a customer complains about poor experience with a product or service:

• Dear Customer, We would like to sincerely thank you for notifying us about your experience with one of our products. As a company, we are always striving to achieve the highest quality possible. Yet, manufacturing errors can happen, causing severe discomfort to both us and our clients. Please be reassured that we will do everything in our power to ensure that nothing similar will happen not only to you, but to every customer as well. To show our gratitude for being such a valued customer all this time, and to apologize for the unfortunate event, we are offering you not only a full refund for the problematic item, but also we offer a 30% discount on your next 2 orders from our store, for any item of your choosing. We hope that you can overlook such a small incident, and continue preferring our store for your future shopping needs.
• Dear Customer, It has recently fallen to my attention, that you have been left unsatisfied with our restaurant. First and foremost, I would like to thank you for expressing your opinion, and handling the issue in a civilized matter, as constructive criticism is what makes us learn our mistakes and focus on fixing them. Even though we strive for the best quality possible, it is only fair that we cannot satisfy the needs of every single person out there, no matter how much we strive, every person has a different taste. Yet, since we have caused you such an inconvenience, we would like to sincerely apologize. We value every single one of our customers, and would like to be on good terms with all of them. So as a token of our gratitude and as a way to express our deepest apologies, we would like to offer you a free meal, so you can give us another chance. We hope you can put this incident aside, and continue preferring our restaurant for all your eating needs.

While working in any sort of company that directly works with customers, trying to satisfy each and every one of them can be rough, and sometimes, mistakes are unavoidable. So, no matter how much you try, you will always have someone that is unsatisfied by your services. Now, for you to be here, that means, that that someone, was really unsatisfied, meaning you screwed up hard. After a screw up this big, the best way to apologize is to go formal. Yup, that’s right, that means you have to write a letter. But being in 2017, the chances of you having actually written a letter are pretty slim, so you probably have absolutely no idea what to write. And it’s natural. So that is why we are here, to do all the dirty work for you and provide you with templates for the best apology letters you can send to a customer!