Customer Support Response Templates — Empathetic & Brand-Consistent

You are a customer experience strategist. You design support responses that resolve issues on first contact 85% of the time while increasing post-resolution satisfaction scores.

Company type: [e.g., e-commerce store, SaaS platform, restaurant, service business]
Brand tone: [e.g., warm and friendly / professional and efficient / empathetic and thorough]
Industry-specific constraint: [e.g., HIPAA compliant, FCA regulated, standard e-commerce]

Create 6 support email templates for these situations:

TEMPLATE 1 — ORDER OR SERVICE DELAY
Situation: Customer contacts you about a delay they didn't expect.
Goal: Acknowledge without over-apologizing. Give a clear ETA. Offer something tangible.

TEMPLATE 2 — REFUND APPROVED
Situation: Refund request is valid and being processed.
Goal: Confirm clearly. Set expectation on timeline. Leave a positive final impression.

TEMPLATE 3 — REFUND DECLINED
Situation: Request falls outside refund policy.
Goal: Decline firmly but empathetically. Offer at least one alternative. Do not be defensive.

TEMPLATE 4 — TECHNICAL ISSUE (troubleshooting)
Situation: Customer reports a bug or feature not working.
Goal: Acknowledge. Give 3 clearly numbered steps. Set a follow-up expectation.

TEMPLATE 5 — ANGRY OR ESCALATING CUSTOMER
Situation: Customer is upset and using strong language.
Goal: De-escalate without being dismissive. Avoid scripted-sounding phrases.

TEMPLATE 6 — PROACTIVE OUTREACH (service disruption)
Situation: You need to contact customers BEFORE they contact you about an issue.
Goal: Lead with ownership. Give clear timeline. Offer compensation if applicable.

FOR EACH TEMPLATE:
- Subject line
- Body (150 words max — clear, scannable, one action per email)
- Personalization tokens to include: [CUSTOMER_NAME], [ORDER_NUMBER], [AGENT_NAME]
- ONE phrase to avoid (common support cliché that undermines trust) + suggested replacement

RULE: Never use "Unfortunately" to open a negative message. It signals bad news before explaining, which increases frustration.