Responding to Complaints When Admitting Fault
Guidelines and Alternate Phrases
Focus immediately on any positive action you have taken to solve the problem.
We agree. You are totally correct, and we will pay for the damages to your garage shelves caused by our service personnel. Please forward the repair bills to my attention.
We have discussed your position with Sarah Rateson, the local manager, and she will be glad to replace the lamp if you will return it to the Willowbrook store.
We have now corrected the situation you mentioned in your July 7 letter.
Your letter arrived May 2, and we immediately went to work to correct the missing-authorization situation you detailed.
By the time you receive this response to your concern about the Fuhtii matter, you should have received our replacement shipment of tubing.
As soon as I got off the phone with you, I located Mr. Hytacci to investigate the situation you mentioned. As a result, we have already been able to verify the information you gave us and have corrected the misunderstanding about our clean-up schedule.
We have forwarded your letter about the performance of our spot remover to the distributor who sold you the product. As you may know, we have no control over how various merchants advertise the product, but we are definitely concerned about misleading our customers. I'll be in touch with you again after I've spoken to the distributor about ....
Your claim for expenses has been forwarded to me for handling; we have, therefore, enclosed our check for $478 to cover the cost of the damaged windows.
Acknowledge the complaint even if the corrective action must be delayed and turned over to another person for handling and follow-up.
We have spoken to our distributor in your area about the urgency of your situation, and he has assured us he will ship the new order by May 6.
Thank you for notifying us about the difficulty you have had with your storage space. We understand from Mr. Hank Ray you now have the correct combination to the lock and have immediate access to your stored items.
Indicate an approximate time for resolution if there will be a delay to your corrective response.
We will schedule the repair service as soon as we receive confirmation of the warranty. We have enclosed an envelope for your convenience.
Mark Hayes will call you on Monday to schedule a convenient delivery time.
Give a brief explanation of how the mistake happened or the situation occurred. An explanation adds credibility to your resolution; at least, the reader knows you have made the effort to investigate the problem. That in itself gives confidence about a resolution. And don't hesitate to give an honest admission of error when that's the case. Such honesty often diffuses the customer's anger more than excuses and vague platitudes about customer service. Similarly, if you have no reason for the problem, a frank admission to that effect usually disarms the reader.
I am indeed sorry that I missed the regional meeting. The honest-to-goodness truth is I had a spur-of-the-moment opportunity to go fishing off the Florida coast, and I hopped on a plane in that direction instead of yours. Will you allow me to make amends?
Unfortunately, I cannot blame even my excessive travel schedule for my delay in getting the questionnaire back to you. I sincerely apologize for my negligence and will phone next week to see if I can help you in any other way.
The information I gave you was understandably misleading. I should have been more clear about how the amount was actually calculated.
One of our secretaries inadvertently mislaid the forms in another customer's open file. We regret that error.
We simply did not follow through as we should have with repeated phone calls to make you aware of the possibility of severe weather conditions and possible delays.
Our investigators have completed their research and simply were unable to locate the items you reported missing. We're at a loss as to what could have happened to them. Nevertheless, we ....
Our team leader had an emergency personal situation develop late Thursday and rushed out of the office without remembering to tell anyone of the pending authorization. I'm sorry for the confusion.
We made a mistake, and we ask for your understanding.
You are correct; we did make an error in your last billing. The correct amount should have been $1489. We can either credit your account or send a refund check. Phone us at 344-9999 to let us know which you prefer.
Unfortunately, in our efforts to get the funds to you faster, we failed to take the time to verify the address against your latest payment coupon mailed to our Shreveport office.
Empathize with the reader about the difficulty or frustration of the situation. Avoid vague generalities; instead, add one or two statements that show the reader that you really understand the specific inconveniences involved.
I do know you have had to make four long-distance calls to our headquarters to get the matter corrected. May we reimburse you for these?
Certainly, you must have been disappointed in the delay and the missed deadline for your report.
You probably have been frustrated to no end, trying to find the appropriate person to address this concern!
Of course, this mistake has probably caused you several hours of rework, and I'm sure that increased your distress.
Can we in some way alleviate the burdensome chore of reviewing the employment paperwork that our error caused?
The malfunctioning doors must have created a major traffic jam during your peak customer hours.
I'm sure the two delays created frustration around your office for several days.
I regret your final report had to be delayed while we collected the correct data for you.
Be sure your tone and comments underscore to your reader that you value his or her goodwill.
In the event you have a recurrence of the problem, please feel free to phone me collect.
Thank you for your patience in dealing with this matter.
Please write me directly in the self-addressed, stamped envelope if I can do anything at all to alleviate the situation.
This service–or lack of it–is certainly not typical of our organization, and I sincerely hope you will give us a future opportunity to show you the true meaning of hospitality.
We will make every effort to ensure your next transaction with us is handled efficiently and courteously.
We want to assure you the next time you do business with us, we'll be eager to show you how much your business means to us.
We promise to make your next visit to our store an enjoyable one.
We are concerned that the poster insert created controversy. It was not our aim nor intent to offend any individual's moral viewpoint or sensitivities. Evidently, we unknowingly did so, and we apologize.
Avoid "fight" phrases (such as "you must assume" or "evidently, you were unaware" or "I'm sure you'll have to agree"). Readers don't like to be told what they know, feel, and must do. "Fight" words will tend to further alienate the reader already caught in a disappointing situation.
We have received your letter of concern (not complaint) about...
Apparently, I was unclear in (not you misconstrued) my response to you.
Mention any precautions you plan to take against a recurrence of the situation.
I plan to keep your number in my tickler file and will check with you periodically for the next few months to see how things are moving along.
I've made a calendar note to follow up with our sales rep again next week about your situation.
Please keep my direct number at hand should you have any further problems.
I've instructed my staff to clear all such procedures with me directly before they report to your site.
We have completely discarded the misleading set of procedures and have supplied our service people with the new set of instructions.
Be sincere. Don't use vague generalizations such as "We apologize for any inconvenience this has caused you." The reader wants assurance that you know exactly the kind of inconvenience the problem caused.
We greatly regret you were offended by the opening remarks; I can certainly understand your embarrassment in front of your former customers.
We know what an inconvenience the malfunctioning elevators must have been–particularly during the peak traffic hours.
We regret you had to make three long-distance calls to correct the situation. May we reimburse you for these?
Don't remind the reader again at the end of your letter or memo about the problem or disappointment. Instead, suggest that the matter has been corrected and that goodwill has been restored.
Assure the reader that you will guard against future mistakes. (Avoid guaranteeing that something will never happen again. Murphy's Law will make you a liar, and then the reader will be doubly disappointed.)