Support

Write an apology and compensation offer after extended downtime

A scenario prompt for the follow-up email after an outage is resolved, once you know the real scope and can commit to a real number.

Works with Claude / GPT2,350 uses 4.6

The prompt

support-apology-compensation-downtime
Your SaaS-connected WordPress plugin (license and API service) was down for
6 hours yesterday, affecting all active customers on paid plans. The incident is
now fully resolved.

INCIDENT FACTS: [root cause was a failed database migration during a routine
deploy; all paid customers affected during the window; no data was lost; fix
verified, monitoring added to catch this class of failure before it reaches
customers again]

Write the post-incident email to all affected customers, as the person who owns
the incident writeup.

Requirements:
- State plainly what happened and how long it lasted, in the first two
  sentences. No burying the duration in paragraph three.
- Give the real root cause in plain language (a failed deploy step), not a vague
  "we experienced technical difficulties."
- State exactly one concrete step taken to prevent recurrence (the specific
  monitoring added), not a general "we're taking this seriously."
- Offer a specific, calculable compensation (for example, one month free, or a
  prorated credit for the downtime), not "let us know if you were affected and
  we'll see what we can do." Vague compensation offers generate more tickets than
  they resolve.
- Do not over-apologize past two sentences: state it, own it, fix it,
  compensate, move on.
- Keep it under 150 words.

Replace the INCIDENT FACTS block with your real incident details before running
this.

Vague compensation, “let us know and we’ll see what we can do,” creates more support tickets than a specific credit does, since every customer now has to ask for something instead of just receiving it. State the fix that was actually made, not a general promise to do better, specificity is what makes an apology land.