How to Write an Apology Email to Customers [2025]

You know what they say, “It’s only those who do nothing that make no mistakes.” As a marketer, sooner or later, you may find yourself in a situation where you have to find the right words to make up for what you or your company did, whether it’s poor wording in your recent newsletter, a non-existent offer, or a technical error on your website.

Keep on reading to discover the main principles of writing a professional apology email — we’ll show you how to make sure you sound sincere and convince your customers to give you a second chance. You’ll also see some of the most impactful and charismatic apology email examples from bigger brands.

What is an apology email?

An apology email is a message you send to subscribers after something went wrong in the previous email or with your resource in general. In it, you can either speak on behalf of your company or personally — if you are the key person behind all the brand’s communications.

Here are the examples of the cases when you may want to send an apology email:

• expired offers;
• broken links;
• technical issues that render your site hard or impossible to use;
• emails sent to the wrong audience segment;
• problematic or false content in the email.

Apology emails are generally not considered promotional emails. While promotional emails focus on marketing and sales to drive engagement and revenue, apology emails are meant to address an issue, acknowledge a mistake, and rebuild trust with customers.

However, some apology emails can include a promotional element, such as a discount, freebie, or special offer to make amends. In such cases, they may have a slight promotional aspect but still primarily serve as customer relationship management rather than in-your-face marketing.

In most cases, these emails are not legally binding, but they can have legal and reputational implications depending on their wording and context. That’s why in highly regulated industries, such as finance or healthcare, apology emails may need legal approval to ensure they don’t violate compliance rules.

Why should you send apology emails?

In the case of a faux pas, you might be tempted to act as if nothing happened and focus on moving on, but where’s the guarantee your customers feel just as nonchalant about it? For all you know, your mistake may have caused real confusion or frustration and made them waste their time trying to make sense of your faulty communication.

Here’s what you can win by sending out genuine apology emails:

• Restored trust and credibility. Customers appreciate honesty and don’t like being taken for a ride. If you demonstrate the willingness to work on your mistakes and improve, they’ll be more likely to give your brand a second chance.
• Improved customer retention. Ignoring a mistake can frustrate customers, leading them to leave negative reviews or switch to competitors. A sincere apology along with a make-up gift can outweigh a singular bad experience and diminish its impact.
• Proactive customer care. An apology email reassures customers that you’re aware of the issue and working on a solution. This makes them feel valued and reassured — they know that you’re in control and that they can just lay back and wait until it’s all sorted.
• Reputation management. Considering that bad word of mouth online spreads like wildfire, it’s better to own up to your mistakes and take responsibility instead of trying to sweep it under the rug. A well-crafted apology can control the narrative and prevent further damage to your brand image.
• New sales opportunities. Handled correctly, an apology email can even strengthen customer relationships. Including a goodwill gesture, like a discount or bonus, can turn frustrated customers into curious and loyal ones.

The list can go on, but the biggest argument in favor of apology emails is the fact that they’re practically risk-free, unlike radio silence, which can bring grave consequences.

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Best practices for writing apology emails to customers

A well-crafted apology email should be sincere, professional, and solution-oriented to rebuild trust and maintain customer relationships. The following practices will help you get there.

Apologize honestly and clearly

You may want to start with a direct acknowledgment of the issue and avoid vague or defensive language.

Acknowledge the customer’s experience

It’s important to show empathy and understanding of how the issue affected your devoted customer base.

Explain what went wrong

To make your apology more impactful, briefly explain what happened without shifting blame or overwhelming the reader with details.

Offer a solution or compensation

Next, offer a goodwill gesture to make up for the discomfort your customers experienced.

Reassure your audience

Your customers may want to know what steps you’re taking to prevent the issue from happening again.

Close with a CTA

Make sure to end on a positive note and motivate your readers to give your brand or service another try.

Things to avoid when writing apology emails

A well-crafted apology email can rebuild trust and strengthen customer relationships, while a poorly written one can make things even worse — here’s how to make sure you don’t slip on that thin ice.

• No long-winded explanations. Customers don’t need a multipage issue breakdown — just a quick acknowledgment and fix. Show that you respect their time by being brief and using actionable wording.
• No blame shift or justifications. Even if the issue was caused by some external factor, it’s still on you as a company to recognize and address it before it affects your customers. That’s why it’s important to openly acknowledge your oversights and demonstrate appropriate levels of accountability.
• No unrealistic promises or false guarantees. Mention practical steps you’re taking to prevent similar issues from popping up in the future and show your readiness to improve — but don’t commit to any unrealistic goals that may bring more financial damage than customer loyalty in the long run.
• No downplaying the problem. Avoid phrasing that makes it sound like the customer is overreacting. Even if only a fraction of your audience was affected by the issue, it’s still worth acknowledging and apologizing for. This will leave a positive impression on the remaining customers, who will now have a real-life example of how mature and transparent your brand can be.

Keep in mind that informal apology emails are typically used for minor customer service issues.

For serious incidents, like data breaches or other safety issues, you will need to issue an official PR statement, which is typically drafted with legal and PR teams to protect your company from legal consequences while maintaining transparency.

To stay on the safe side, avoid absolute admissions of fault if there’s a legal risk. In such cases, stick to more neutral language like “We acknowledge the issue and are working on a solution.” If in doubt, it makes sense to speak to legal and PR professionals before sending apologies for major incidents.

Apology email subject line examples

When writing an apology email subject line, you want to be clear, sincere, and convincing to make sure the recipients don’t mistake it for “yet another promotional newsletter.” Below are some versatile templates that strike the perfect balance.

General apology email subject lines:

• We’re Sorry — Here’s How We’re Making It Right
• Yikes. We’ll Do Better Next Time
• We Messed Up. Let Us Fix It ❤️‍🩹
• Oops! Our Mistake, Won’t Happen Again
• We Dropped the Ball — Here’s What We’re Doing
• Hey [Name], We Owe You an Apology 🥺
• Oops, That Was Embarrassing
• Our Bad. Will You Forgive Us? ✌️
• Whoops! We Sent the Wrong Email

Service or product issues:

• We Apologize for the Delays — Here’s a Solution 💫
• Something Went Wrong — We’re Fixing It Now
• That Was a Bad Mixup. Let’s Try That Again
• You May Have Noticed Something Was Off
• Not the Experience You Deserved — Let’s Make It Right
• If You’re Mad At Us, We Understand
• An Update on the [Product] Issue & Our Apology
• Back on the Schedule. Thank You for Your Patience
• Sorry, We Were Too Excited to Introduce [Product]

Emphasis on the compensation or goodwill offer:

• We’re Sorry — Enjoy [Discount/Freebie], You Deserve It 💝
• Mistakes Have Been Made. Our Apology Gift to You
• Your Next Month of [Service] is On Us 🤝
• We Want to Make It Up to You — Here’s How
• Let’s Be Friends Again?
• Our Last Email Was Wrong. Thanks for Pointing It Out
• Wow, That Wasn’t Cool of Us. Let Us Try Again
• As a Token of Apology, Here’s a Special Discount 🎁
• Thanks for Sticking With Us. We Have Something For You

Ultimately, the tone of your subject line should match the vibe of the audience you’re addressing as well as the severity of the issue at hand.

Communicate with your customers across different channels

With SendPulse, you can reach your target audience by sending various types of messages through a communication channel they prefer — email campaigns, web push notifications, SMS, live chats, and chatbots for WhatsApp, Instagram, Facebook Messenger, or Telegram.

5 apology email examples to learn from

Finding the right words to make up for a mistake can be challenging, especially when your company’s reputation is at stake. The following apology email examples can serve as a source of inspiration, demonstrating that you don’t always have to take the most difficult road to arrive at your destination.

Framebridge

This minimalist apology email does a few things right. Firstly, the clean design conveys the seriousness of the message, positively standing out from the crowd of loaded, colorful promotions that tend to populate customers’ inboxes.

Then, the language clearly states what went wrong and asks for forgiveness without boring the reader with details. The brand also uses this apology email as an opportunity to express gratitude to its loyal subscribers, who surely won’t think much about this tiny slip-up. The email ends on a strong note, inviting the recipients to connect with the company and share their thoughts on how it can better meet their needs.

Liquid Death

This beverage brand is known for its provocative, boundary-pushing marketing, which sometimes features fictional characters like The Deep from Amazon Prime’s The Boys. In this case, the brand had to issue a formal “apology” after the virtual influencer “went overboard” with promoting the sparkling sugar-free soda. In this case, the apology serves as a clever trick aimed at making subscribers watch the controversial video in question to see what the fuss is about.

This is a sublime example of tongue-in-cheek marketing, which makes the brand practically immune to outside criticism. This type of reputation management ensures that when a real controversy hits, the brand will be ready to respond in an appropriate manner, without losing its charisma.

Flink

Since nearly instant grocery deliveries are the new norm, consumers have raised the bar, ready to submit a complaint over a minor delay. Naturally, even the most streamlined service is bound to run into staffing issues or stock shortages at some point, but it’s the way these companies handle such sensitive situations that deserves our attention.

Flink, a European grocery delivery service, takes a proactive approach when it fails to deliver on its promises. For every delayed order, it offers a freebie, incentivizing the frustrated customer to give the brand another chance. This apology email clearly states the discount use conditions to prevent any misunderstanding down the road. Finally, the deadline is there to motivate the customer to act on the offer without overthinking it.

Methodical Coffee

If the committed mistake is rather harmless, you can use it as a chance to have a good laugh with your audience and demonstrate the human side of your brand. This apology email to customers does a great job of doing so.

The brand fearlessly acknowledges its awkward oversight and doesn’t try to cover it up or pretend it never occurred. Instead, it tackles the issue head-on, explaining why it happened and thanking the readers for pointing it out. The email is written in an informal, relatable manner, making it more approachable and sympathetic.

Feather

For time-sensitive communications, there’s no need to sweat it when crafting an apology email. If you need to react immediately, focus on getting your wording right and leave fancy templates for later. Here’s what an impromptu professional apology email may look like — a clear yet highly personal message, with a real human behind it.

Sincerity paired with the right timing will beat highly curated but delayed emails at any time. By addressing urgent customer needs, you get a higher chance to leave a lasting good impression and retain their trust. Additionally, plain-text emails like this one are more likely to be taken seriously since they resemble ordinary peer-to-peer communication.

How to craft an impactful apology email with SendPulse

If you want your copywriting, design, and delivery to be on point, consider using SendPulse for your next email campaign. Our platform allows you to create stunning emails in minutes using customizable templates, the built-in AI writing assistant, and automation tools.

To get started, log in to or create a new account and open the “Email” tab. Upload your contacts and create a new campaign. For an apology email, you may want to choose a minimalist template with few distractions or create your own.

You can add your logo, images, and other branding elements as well as adjust the appearance of each block. It is possible to enhance the template with an image gallery, social buttons, dynamic content, or even an integrated checkout.

You can then set the timing for your campaign to make sure it’s delivered when your audience is most likely to pay attention. The automation features allow you to prepare such campaigns in advance and have them go out automatically once a certain condition is met. The built-in analytics tools will let you know how it’s performing and what can be improved.

The free-forever plan comes with 15,000 monthly emails. More feature-rich plans start at $10 a month and are highly flexible — you pay only for the sending volume you actually need.

That’s a wrap

Don’t stop there — take a look at the entire SendPulse toolkit and rethink the way you communicate with your audience across channels. With its CRM, chatbot builder, pop-ups, SMS service, website builder, and LMS, our platform allows you to launch and promote digital products, align your campaigns, and automate them without losing the personal touch. Besides, our 24/7 support always has your back, ensuring your projects run smoothly.

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