Customer service scripts: Use these to handle any problems smoothly

Fortunately, this doesn’t happen often. But, especially during peak seasons, mistakes can and do occur — whether the wrong item was received, it arrived too late or damaged, or the customer just isn’t happy despite everything running smoothly.

As a buyer yourself, you’ve likely experienced an occasion retail mishap and had to contact customer service to get it straightened out. How were you treated, how was the matter resolved? Hopefully, you were able to arrive at a solution in a quick and courteous manner. And that’s what you want to do for your own customers.

But what should you say? And how can you make your customer service as efficient as possible so it takes up less of your time?

To help with this, here are scripts for the top issues that can occur so all you have to do is fill in the blanks, copy and paste, and hit send!

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Script 1: When a customer receives the wrong item

Hey [first name],

We are very sorry for the mix-up and any inconvenience it has caused! We do our best to get our orders right 100% of the time. But unfortunately, mistakes can sometimes occur. We will get the correct item shipped out to you asap and make sure to send it priority.

Please accept our apologies again and let us know if there’s anything else we can assist you with.

Thanks.

Kind regards,

[your name]

Script 2: When an item arrives damaged 

Hey [first name],

We are very sorry your order arrived damaged! We do our best to package our products securely with the highest quality packaging materials. But unfortunately, sometimes things do still get damaged during the shipping process.

We will get a replacement item shipped out to you asap and make sure to send it priority.

Please accept our apologies again!

Thank you.

Kind regards,

[your name]

Script 3: When an item hasn’t arrived yet 

Version 1: If the customer did NOT pay for expedited shipping (This is 99% of cases – for example, if a customer ordered via UseGearBubble where all shipping is standard)

Hey [first name],

We are sorry your order is taking so long to arrive! Your order has shipped, however, and is currently in-transit with USPS so you should receive it within the next few days.

Here is the tracking number: [insert USPS tracking number]

According to it, your order is due to arrive on [insert the new estimated arrival date]. Please accept our apologies again for the inconvenience and let us know if there’s anything else we can do to assist you.

Thanks.

Kind regards,

[your name]

Version 2: If the customer DID paid for expedited shipping (This would be if they purchased an item on your Shopify store, for example)

Hey [first name],

We are sorry your order is taking so long to arrive! Your order has shipped, however, and is currently in-transit with USPS so you should receive it within the next few days. I have also gone ahead and refunded your expedited shipping costs since the expected delivery date has passed.

Here is the tracking number: [insert USPS tracking number]

According to it, your order is due to arrive on [insert the new estimated arrival date]. Please accept our apologies again for the inconvenience and let us know if there’s anything else we can do to assist you.

Thanks.

Kind regards,

[your name]

Script 4: When a customer just isn’t satisfied 

Hey [first name],

We’re sorry that you weren’t completely satisfied with your purchase! If the item arrived not as described or was damaged in any way, then we would be happy to get you a replacement sent out asap.

If you could please let us know more about why you were not satisfied, we will do our best to address your concerns. Or, if you would like to proceed with a refund, then of course we can do that for you right away.

We strive to create top-of-the-line products that our customers love, and we want you to be satisfied with everything you purchase from us.

Please let us know how you would like to proceed and our apologies again that you weren’t completely satisfied.

Thanks.

Kind regards,

[your name]

In general, you want to try to save as many sales as you can. So if customers ask for refunds, first see if there’s a way to address their issues another way, namely by either sending them replacements if their items arrive damaged or not as described, or providing them with USPS tracking numbers and estimated delivery dates if they’re concerned about their orders’ whereabouts.

Hopefully this helps!