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Send an apology with a small credit, not words alone

Oct 10
3 min read

Updated: Oct 11

Katsushika Hokusai's woodblock print Fine Wind, Clear Morning, showing a red Mount Fuji
Fine Wind, Clear Morning, from Katsushika Hokusai's Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji (c.1831). After a bad day comes a clear morning. After a service failure, give a clear apology with real value.

After a bad experience, customers believe what you give more than what you say.


The study. Economists studied about 1.5 million Uber riders in the US whose rides arrived late in 2017. One hour after the ride, riders got different apology emails at random, and some emails had a $5 coupon.


The finding. An apology without a coupon did not change later spending. An apology with a $5 coupon raised net spending in the next 7 days by about 1.5%. Apologies that promised to do better could backfire.

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