“We take pride in our high standards of service and we know that we did not meet your – or our own – expectations.”
See also:
- 😡 How to talk to an angry customer or client
How to apologize for a damaged product - 🔔 How to follow up with a customer who gave you a low survey score or bad review
Start Here
- Start with 😡 How to talk to an angry customer or client
- If speaking with the customer on the phone, let them express their feelings/frustration first. Listen and acknowledge their concerns, then share how you plan on fixing it.
Talking Points
- Dear <Name>, I’m sorry to hear that you had a poor experience with us recently.
- We take pride in our high standards of service and we know that we did not meet your– or our own– expectations.
- We understand how frustrating this can be and we want to make it right. Because we want to make sure something like this doesn’t happen again, we’ve <provide high-level detail to show that you’ve taken steps to safeguard their future experiences>.
- Examples:
- We’ve launched an investigation into the incident.
- We spoke with the team involved to ensure this doesn’t happen again.
- We’re updating our processes/platform/app.
- As a small gesture of our gratitude for your patience and understanding, please accept <a bottle of wine, a gift basket>.
- Examples:
😔Big List of Apologetic Statements
| Name | Tags |
|---|---|
| So I can understand the full extent of the issue/problem, could you please tell me a little more? | Listen to Understand |
| I want to make sure that I really have an understanding of what you’re telling me. I’m hearing that… | Listen to Understand |
| Thank you for alerting us to [ISSUE]. I recognize that this can’t have been an easy thing to deal with and I’m so sorry that this caused you to feel [insert expressed emotion]. | Acknowledge Concern |
| I’m sorry, I can see how [ISSUE] must have been frustrating for you. | Acknowledge Concern |
| I’m very sorry, I appreciate how difficult it must have been for you to deal with. | Acknowledge Concern |
| If I were in your situation, I would feel the same. | Acknowledge Concern |
| I’m sorry to hear that | Express Regret |
| We take pride in our high standards of service and we know that we did not meet your – or our own – expectations. | Acknowledge Concern |
| Please allow me to apologize for your experience | Express Regret |
| Thank you for giving us the opportunity to make this right. | Thank Them for Feedback/Patience |
| I appreciate you bringing this to our attention, so that we can deal with this immediately. | Thank Them for Feedback/Patience |
| I would feel the same in your situation, but we will sort this out… | Acknowledge Concern Offer Reassurance |
| We deeply value your relationship, and we are committed to providing you with the highest level of service. Thank you in advance for your understanding and patience. | Thank Them for Feedback/Patience |
| Please know that we are doing everything in our power to make it right. | Offer Reassurance |
| We understand how frustrating this can be and please know we’re doing everything we can to make it right. | Acknowledge Concern Offer Reassurance |
| You were absolutely right to bring this to my attention, so I can [insert action] | Offer Reassurance |
| I will try everything I can to resolve this by [date] | Offer Reassurance |
| As I look into this, I will [insert action]… | Tell Them How You Will Fix it |
| What I’m doing now to help you is [insert action] | Tell Them How You Will Fix it |
| What I’m currently doing to help you is… | Tell Them How You Will Fix it |
| This situation is difficult, but one solution that we could try is [insert solution] | Tell Them How You Will Fix it |
| Now that I’m aware of the situation, we can look to fix it by [insert solution] | Tell Them How You Will Fix it |
| If I were in your situation, I would feel the same. What I would try, and I suggest that we do too, is to [insert solution] | Tell Them How You Will Fix it |
| I will contact you as soon as I have an update | Tell Them How You Will Fix it |
| I will work on resolving the problem and will be in touch by [date] | Tell Them How You Will Fix it |
| I’m sorry that you’ve had this issue, but we have managed to [insert solution]. Now we have done that, our next steps are [insert next steps] | Tell Them How You Will Fix it Express Regret |
| We recognize that this is not ideal, and we ask for your continued patience throughout this process. | Thank Them for Feedback/Patience Acknowledge Concern |