💼 Business
Customer Support Reply Playbook (Tone, Policy, Next Step)
Turn a messy ticket into a reply: diagnose, empathize without groveling, policy-safe options, and a clear next step. Includes an internal note.
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Prompt
Act as a support lead writing the reply a tired customer will actually finish reading. Diagnose first. Empathize without groveling. Stay inside policy. Give one next step with a time. Inputs: - Ticket: [Ticket] - Customer: [Customer] - Policy: [Policy] - Tone target: [Tone] - Channel: [Channel] - Severity: [Severity] - What is already true: [Facts] - Must not: [Must not] Generate: 1. Diagnosis: What happened, in causal order. What we know vs. what we must not assume. Which policy clauses apply. What the customer wants vs. what we can do. Risk (chargeback, public post, churn) as a judgment labeled as such. 2. Internal note (not for the customer): 6-10 lines for the ticket. Suggested tags. Refund or credit math using only dates and amounts in Inputs (show the arithmetic). Who else should see this (billing, fraud). If the story could be abuse or a billing-system double-charge, say how to verify before sending. 3. Empathy without groveling: One sentence that names the friction. Ban: "I'm so sorry for the inconvenience," "your business is important to us," "we take this very seriously," exclamation piles, blame the customer. 4. Customer reply (recommended): Paste-ready. Channel-appropriate. Structure: - Name the issue in their terms. - What you found (only What is already true). - What you can do, with the policy translated into plain language. - Options if more than one exists, with a default. - One next step, owner (us vs. them), and time window. - Sign-off. Do not promise same-day cash if Policy forbids it. Do not narrate internal tools. Match [Tone]. 5. Alt tones: A shorter chat version (6-10 lines). A firmer version if they escalate. Same facts. 6. If they push: 4 likely follow-ups (still angry, wants cash today, threatens chargeback, says they never used the product). A policy-safe reply line for each. When to offer a supervisor, and when not to invent one. 7. Prevent repeat: One process or product note (receipts, charge copy, webhook) if the ticket implies a real defect. Constraints: - Policy is law for this reply. If Policy and the customer's demand conflict, name the conflict internally and stay inside Policy in the customer-facing text. - Do not invent refund amounts, posting speeds, or laws. If unused-time math needs a missing date, ask rather than guess. - No fake ticket IDs, no "as a valued customer," no "rest assured." - Do not admit legal fault. Do not blame a teammate by name. - One next step. If two things will happen (credit plus email confirmation), give the sequence and the longer clock. - Honor Must not from Inputs.
Instructions
Replace every [bracket] with your details before running. Works on ChatGPT, Claude, and Gemini.
Examples
Example Input
Ticket: charged twice for a $49/mo plan. Angry. Wants the extra charge refunded today in cash back to the card. Message: "This is the second time I have been double charged. I want my money back TODAY. This is ridiculous." Customer: Jordan, $49/mo plan, plan started Aug 1 Policy: refund unused time; no cash same-day; credit posts in 5-7 days Tone target: Calm, direct, slightly warm Channel: Email Severity: Billing What is already true: two $49 charges posted; plan started Aug 1; today is Aug 24, 2026; no prior refund on this invoice Must not: promise same-day cash to card; admit legal fault; blame a named engineer; invent a ticket ID
Example Output
1. Diagnosis Causal order: plan started Aug 1 at $49/mo; two $49 charges posted; no prior refund on this invoice; today is Aug 24, 2026; Jordan wants the extra charge back today as cash to the card. Known: two $49 charges, start date, no prior refund, demand for same-day cash. Do not assume: which charge is the duplicate, fraud vs. billing-system retry, that this is "the second time" as a prior ticket we have on file, or that unused-time math equals a full $49. Policy: refund unused time; no cash same-day; credit posts in 5-7 days. Customer wants: extra $49 as same-day cash to the card. We can do: a credit for the duplicate once verified, posting in 5-7 days; unused-time refund on request with dates we have, not a same-day card cash-out. Conflict (internal): demand vs policy. Stay inside policy in the customer text. Risk (judgment, not a fact): chargeback is plausible given the tone; public post and churn are possible. Do not say that to Jordan. 2. Internal note (not for the customer) Tags: billing, duplicate-charge, refund-request, angry. Facts: Jordan, $49/mo, start Aug 1, two $49 charges posted, no prior refund, today Aug 24, 2026. Duplicate credit math: 2 x $49 = $98 posted. If one charge is the expected monthly and one is extra, credit the extra $49 after verification. Do not invent a different amount. Unused-time: start Aug 1, today Aug 24. Do not compute a leftover dollar figure without a period end date. If they want unused-time instead of (or after) the duplicate credit, ask billing for the period end before quoting a number. Verify before send: compare processor IDs on the two $49 posts; retry vs true duplicate; prior "second time" claim not in What is already true, so do not confirm a previous incident. Billing should see this; fraud only if processor flags a mismatch, not by default. Do not invent a ticket ID. Do not name an engineer. Do not admit legal fault. 3. Empathy without groveling Seeing two $49 charges on the same plan is a real mess, especially when you asked for this not to happen again. 4. Customer reply (recommended, email) Hi Jordan, You were charged twice for the $49/mo plan and you want the extra charge returned to your card today. What I can confirm: two $49 charges posted, the plan started Aug 1, and there is no prior refund on this invoice. Policy, in plain language: we refund unused time, and we do not send same-day cash to the card. A credit posts in 5-7 days. Default: I will have billing credit the extra $49 after we match the two posts, and that credit should show in 5-7 days. If you also want unused time reviewed, reply and we will do that next; I will not quote an unused-time dollar amount until billing has the period end date. Next step: we own it. Billing starts the $49 credit now. You should see it on the card in 5-7 days. I will email you when the credit is submitted. Thank you, [Support name] 5. Alt tones Chat (short): Jordan: two $49 charges on the monthly plan. I can confirm both posted, start date Aug 1, no prior refund on this invoice. We can credit the extra $49; it posts in 5-7 days, not same-day cash. I am sending that to billing now. If you want unused time reviewed too, say so and we will pull the period end date first. Firmer (escalate, same facts): We will credit the extra $49. Credits post in 5-7 days. We cannot send same-day cash to the card. Unused time is refundable once billing has the period end; I will not invent that number. If you want a supervisor, I can request one after the credit is submitted. I will not promise a different timeline than 5-7 days. 6. If they push Still angry: "The extra $49 is the one we can credit. I am not asking you to wait to start it; the wait is the 5-7 day post." Wants cash today: "Same-day cash to the card is not something we can do. The path we have is a $49 credit, 5-7 days." Chargeback: "You can dispute with the card issuer. If you do, we still process the $49 credit we already started, and we will not stack a second payout for the same charge." Never used the product: "Unused time is refundable. I need billing's period end date before I quote a leftover amount. I will not guess it." Supervisor: offer after the credit is submitted if they still want a person, or if they ask by name for one. Do not invent a supervisor or a ticket ID. 7. Prevent repeat If both $49 posts share a retry pattern, billing should block a second capture on the same invoice period and send one receipt line that shows a single $49, not two identical charges with no explanation.