There will always be some part of your customers who will be dissatisfied with something – service, delay, damaged goods, etc. At that point, it’s important to respond honestly and accurately. It’s also important not to ignore the complaint you’ve received, which means responding immediately and not delaying your response for too long. It is important that the customer is always updated, this way the problem will not escalate and the client will be reassured. In this post, we will show you 15 sample emails and phrases to reply to a complaint from a customer.
Sample Emails
EXAMPLE 1
Dear James, We have received your letter of April 14th telling us that you haven’t received your order. We are sorry we have not yet been able to deliver your order no. 2123. This is due to industrial action at our factory in London. Delivery will take place as soon as the strike is over. Kind regards, Daniel
EXAMPLE 2
Hi Liam, We apologize for the delay, but our warehouse was recently damaged by fire. We will be able to deliver in three weeks’ time. Best regards, Sam
EXAMPLE 3
Dear Mr. Smith, Thank you for your letter of January 23rd. Please accept our sincere apologies for this delay and the trouble it has caused you. We have arranged for a replacement to be dispatched immediately. Best regards, Oliver
EXAMPLE 4
Dear Mr. Garcia, We were concerned to learn from your letter of March 21st that you have not yet received the items purchased. The delay is due to customs complications which are holding up all shipments to the United States. We are doing everything in our power to make sure this consignment arrives as soon as possible. Sincerely, Ava
EXAMPLE 5
Hi Emma, We are sorry to hear that you have not yet received the products you purchased. Since this delay is beyond our control we cannot assume any liability, but your claim has been passed on to our insurance company, who will get in touch with you in due course. Kind regards, Noah
EXAMPLE 6
Dear Robert, We greatly regret having given you cause for complaint. The discrepancy in our invoice was due to a clerical error. It has now been rectified and we enclose our modified invoice / a credit note. Warm regards, John
EXAMPLE 7
Hi Thomas, We have investigated the cause of the problem and have found that a mistake was made because of an accounting error/ a typing error. This has now been corrected. We have now taken steps to ensure that such a mistake does not occur in the future. Thank you for your understanding! Yours truly, David
EXAMPLE 8
Dear Daniel, We were sorry to learn of the unsatisfactory service you experienced from our maintenance engineer. Your annoyance is quite understandable. We have started inquiries to discover the cause of the problem. I’ll keep you updated. Cheers, Barbara
EXAMPLE 9
Hi James, We are very sorry to hear that you have received the goods damaged. If you are prepared to keep the damaged goods, we will invoice them at a reduced rate / at 50 % of the list price. Please let me know if you accept our offer. Otherwise, we will suggest you another solution. Warm regards, Oliver
EXAMPLE 10
Dear Mark, Thank you for your email. We have taken the matter up with the forwarding agents and will inform you of the results. Regards, Linda
EXAMPLE 11
Dear Mr. Brown, We were concerned to learn from your fax of October 3rd that the consignment of telephones ordered from us was damaged on arrival. We very much regret the inconvenience this has caused you. Upon investigation, we have ascertained that the consignment was packed in the usual manner, which in our experience is more than adequate for a journey of the kind undertaken. Any damage occurring in transit, however, is the responsibility of the carrier, and we have handed the matter over to our insurance company, who will be contacting you shortly. I have asked one of our agents to arrange to call at your premises to inspect the damage. In the meantime, a replacement for the damaged articles was dispatched today. Once again, we apologize for the inconvenience caused and trust that you will find the replacements satisfactory. Yours sincerely, Liam
EXAMPLE 12
Dear Peter, We were concerned to learn from your email of 5th June that the consignment of porcelain plates was damaged on arrival. We have arranged for a replacement to be dispatched immediately. We will keep you posted on further updates. Best wishes, Noah
EXAMPLE 13
Dear Anna, We have discovered that a mistake was made in our dispatch department. We apologize for the inconvenience this has caused you and will forward the missing goods as soon as possible. Kind regards, Maria
EXAMPLE 14
Dear Mr. Brown, Please accept our sincere apologies for the delay, which is due to strikes in this country. We are doing everything in our power to make sure this consignment arrives as soon as possible. Kind regards, Sarah
EXAMPLE 15
Dear Charlotte, Please accept our sincere apologies for the missing item. Our delivery department is going to send it to you as soon as possible. You will receive an email once the item has been delivered to your address. Kind regards, Mary
Sample Phrases
Salutation Dear Sir Dear Graham Dear Mr. Brown
Express concern concerned to learn from interested to hear in very angry to read in
Damaged delivery in a bad way when it arrived damaged on arrival broken in transit
Express my regret are very sorry that the problems send our most humble apologies for the trouble very much regret the inconvenience
”in our experience” as far as we are concerned as far as we know in our experience
Pass the case to transferred to handed the matter over to given the affair to
Office house factory premises
Apologize please accept our most humble apologies sorry we apologize
Guarantee client satisfaction fine by you OK satisfactory
