How To Write a Customer Apology Letter, With Examples

It happens. If you’re in business long enough, sometimes things go wrong. And sometimes, they’re your fault.

What’s important is how you handle them. When you inconvenience your customers, you should issue a professional apology before things get out of hand.

Effective apology letters can make an unsatisfied customer feel cared for, listened to, and understood, and can stop them from churning. In this article, we’ll provide tips on writing a great apology letter to help your customers know you understand the situation and why it’s bad, as well as the steps you’ll take to prevent the mistake from happening again.

We’ll also review a few examples of apology letters for different business situations.

5 Steps to writing an effective customer apology letter

Writing a customer apology letter isn’t always as easy as saying, “I’m sorry.” Whenever your clients feel wronged, it’s important they feel you’re taking the initiative to meet their needs.

Good apology letters let your customers know you value them and own your mistakes, and are willing to do what it takes to correct your errors and make your customers happy. We cover the steps to writing a business apology letter that keeps your customer relationships strong.

1. Acknowledge the mistake

There’s no point in denying it—your business made a mistake that negatively impacted your customer. Acknowledge it. Your customers want you to take them seriously.

Show them you understand and empathize with their situation. Acting like there’s no problem will only infuriate your customers and increase the risk they’ll churn.

Be specific about what went wrong. If you were slow to process an order, say so. Otherwise, your letter will seem like a mass apology you send to every customer who complains. Your goal is to make your customer feel that you’ve heard them, and consider them a special part of your business—not like they’re just another dollar sign.  

2. Take full responsibility—don’t make excuses

Taking responsibility for what went wrong isn’t always easy, but the last thing upset customers want to hear is a bunch of excuses, even if they’re justified. Whether the issue was your fault, your customers want to hear you own up to it.

Explain what happened, but do it in a way that makes it clear you take responsibility for the problem. Avoid phrases like, “It wasn’t our fault,” “We were forced to,” or “We’re sorry you feel this way.” Instead, say, “We take total responsibility for the inconvenience this issue has caused you.”

3. Offer a solution

Empathizing with your customers is great, but it doesn’t mean much unless you fix the problem. Show your customers that you’re taking steps to make sure the issue doesn’t happen again. This can be a simple fix, like a refund, or a company-wide fix, like a training initiative.

For instance, if a customer’s order didn’t arrive on time, let them know you’ll reimburse their money. But suppose you’ve received several complaints about rude or insufficient customer service. In that case, you might want to let your customers know you’ll initiate a new training program for your staff.

4. Make amends

Everyone loves free stuff. Even after you solve the problem, try to go above and beyond to earn respect and your customer’s business. Offer them something more.

You could offer them a huge discount code for their next order or service—or even a gift card. A strategic gift can turn a negative experience with your business into something your customers are excited about.

The goal is to make your customers feel important. You want them to know your focus isn’t just on fixing the immediate problem. Rather, they want to feel you’re committed to providing them with an excellent experience.

5. Close with a sincere apology

At some point, you should offer a sincere apology. Let your customer know you’re sorry for the discomfort they’ve experienced due to the issue.

Tell them you care about their business and that you hope to get the chance to serve them again in the future. Saying sorry makes your customers feel validated and shows them you understand their feelings.

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Tips for crafting a customer apology letter

Now that you know the steps to write a great apology letter, we provide some tips you can use to create your own.

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Wait until you’re calm before responding

Customer complaint tickets won’t always be nice. Angry customers might make unfair accusations, hurl insults, or use harsh language to let you know they’re unhappy. Don’t respond with the same anger, or you’ll drive customers further away.

If you feel upset by a complaint, give yourself some time and space to cool off. This helps you avoid saying something you regret and also gives you time to think of the best way to respond to your customer.

Taking the time to get clarity helps you write a well-crafted and professional response.

Use a personal tone

Your customer wants to feel like you’re talking specifically to them, so keep your tone personal. Otherwise, they’ll think you’re just sending a generic form letter and that you don’t care to address them personally. Your apology letter should read like a friendly conversation and not a business meeting.

Address the customer in the second person and keep most of your language simple. There’s no need to use a complex word like “accordingly” when you can use an easy-to-understand word that means the same thing, like “so.”

Do your best to stick to the active voice. Below are two sentences that mean nearly the same thing. The first is the passive voice and fails to admit to the customer who made the mistakes. The second is active voice, and clearly takes ownership of the problem. Which one do you think sounds more familiar?

• Mistakes were made.
• We made a mistake.

Keep it brief and to the point

Your apology letter should be short and sweet. Your customers are already frustrated and don’t want to read a book. They want you to get to the point.

Keep your apology letter limited to a few short paragraphs. Don’t ramble on about excuses, company policies, or other unnecessary information.  

Address the key points:  

• We made a mistake.
• We hear and empathize with you.
• Here’s what we’re going to do to solve your issue.  
• Here’s how we’ll make amends for our mistake.
• We’re deeply sorry.

Avoid using jargon or technical terms

Don’t try to impress customers with your technical knowledge. Remember who you’re writing for. Don’t use industry jargon unless you send an apology letter to an expert. It will only confuse your reader and make you seem less sincere.

This is especially important if you work in a technical field, like software development. A long, complex letter littered with industry jargon will leave most customers scratching their heads. You don’t have to explain every issue in-depth.

Instead of saying, “Due to unforeseen integration issues on our network, the deployment of our new program update has been delayed,” try saying, “We had a technical issue, which delayed the release of our new update.”

Use a professional and courteous tone

Even though you want to come off personably, you’re still representing your business. Make sure your letter is professional and courteous. This lets your customer know that, despite your friendly attitude, you’re taking their problem seriously.

Start your letter by addressing the customer respectfully. Don’t start with, “Dear Jack.” A more professional way to address your customer would be to say their last name. You might say, “Dear Mr. Peters.”

Another way to appear more professional is to identify as a company representative. Say something like, “On behalf of [insert company name], I’d like to apologize for the shipping delay.”

Format your letter professionally. Most professional letters are single-spaced with two spaces between paragraphs and written in an easy-to-read font, like Times New Roman. Including an ending signature (written or printed) from yourself or an executive can also be a nice touch. Don’t forget to add your company logo.

Above all, stay true to your brand. For example, you can use fun fonts, like Mammoth or Zolina, if they more accurately represent your business’s personality.

Understand the advantages of apologizing

In business, your reputation is everything—so is it a good idea to send an apology letter and admit your company made a mistake? Apology letters can improve your brand image, help you retain business, and help you earn new customers.

Let’s explore a few ways writing sincere apology letters can benefit your business:

• They help you rebuild trust and mend relationships with displeased customers to keep them from churning.

• They help you avoid negative reviews on Yelp, Google, and social media platforms.

• They can help build customer loyalty by turning negative customer experiences into exceptional ones.

• They make your business appear more transparent. Admitting your mistakes helps customers see your brand is an ethical company.

• They help you build word-of-mouth business. People talk, and customers who feel they’ve been taken care of may recommend you to their network.

Know when not to apologize or when enough is enough

An apology letter might not always be the right move. If a customer’s complaint isn’t justified, apologizing might not be necessary.

Still, you should try to find a way to meet your customer’s needs. There may even be times when sending an apology can cause further problems for your company.

These are examples of when you might want to forgo writing an apology letter:

• When a complaint is unreasonable. Your service agreement says you’ll deliver products within five business days. A customer complains their product took four business days to arrive.

• When a client is abusive. A client is kicked out of your restaurant after mistreating a waitress and complains your staff is at fault.

• When an apology would bring negative publicity. Your company spokesperson makes a minor inaccurate statement at a small product demonstration. No one has complained, and the mistake was addressed by experts at the time. Bringing more attention to the statement could make your company seem less competent.

Even when you feel an apology letter or apology email is warranted, run it by your legal department before sending it, and understand the kinds of issues for which your company should not be too quick to accept fault. You don’t want to open your company to lawsuits or PR nightmares. This can be important if the issue is more than something minor, or if you work in medicine or a similar industry.  

Need legal services? Upwork’s got ‘em!

Examples of well-written customer apology letters

Now, we’ll give you a few examples of effective apology letters. Each sample apology letter is for a different business circumstance. Your customer support team reps can use these as apology letter templates—just be sure to personalize them, and adjust them to match your exact needs!  

Example 1: A mistake in an order

Dear Mrs. [customer name],

We messed up! We sent you the wrong product, and we know how frustrating that is. We didn’t live up to the high-quality customer service team standards you’ve come to expect from [business name].

We take full responsibility for the mistake and are committed to making things right! We’ve already started updating our shipping process to make sure this doesn’t happen again.

Please enjoy this $25 gift card to our online store. We’re very sorry for the inconvenience.

Sincerely,

[Name and title]

Example 2: A problem with a product or service

Dear Mr. [customer name],

We owe you an apology. We had a power outage that resulted in us sending you a defective product. We understand we’ve inconvenienced you, and there’s no excuse for that!

Our whole team at [business name] wants to let you know we value your business and will work to solve this issue. We’ve implemented a series of quality control checks in our factories to prevent this recurring problem.

Not only will we send you a replacement product, but we’ll also give you a full refund for your purchase. We deeply apologize and hope to see you again!

Sincerely,

[Name and title]  

Example 3: A delay in delivery

Dear [customer name],

How embarrassing! We had a company shipping issue, and your order didn’t arrive in time. At [business name], customer satisfaction is our highest value, and we fell short this time. We let you down.

But customer success is extremely important to us, and our customer support team is ready to do anything we can to solve this problem. We are revamping our communication policies with our shipping partner so that this glitch won’t be a recurring issue.

As a token of our humility, please take this coupon for 50% off your next purchase. We hope you accept our apology.

Sincerest apologies,

[Name and title]

Write effective customer apology letters with help from Upwork

Customer complaints can be a gift. When some customers have a bad experience or poor service, they don’t follow up. They just stop doing business with you. A customer complaint is an opportunity to get customer feedback and a second chance for you to earn their business.

Nobody’s perfect. That goes for people and businesses. Part of being a successful business owner is knowing when and how to apologize when things go wrong. The best customer apology letters improve your business relationships and help your customers feel heard and respected.

Entrepreneurs and small business owners are busy. If you’re in charge, don’t try to do everything yourself. You can find skilled, remote professionals from all over the world on Upwork to make sure your customer apology letters are top-notch.

If you’re a customer service professional who’d like to help businesses overcome customer complaints, find your next job on Upwork.