Damaged or defective item email
When something arrives broken, the customer has already had the bad experience — the reply decides whether they also have a bad process. Default to trusting them, ship the fix immediately, and keep any proof requirement to a single photo.
Subject: Re: your damaged [item] — replacement on the way
Hi [first name], I'm sorry your [item] arrived damaged — that's frustrating, and you shouldn't have to work to get it fixed. Here's what happens now: Your replacement: shipping [today/date] with [shipping speed], at no charge. You'll get tracking within [timeframe]. The damaged one: [disposition, e.g. "no need to send it back — dispose of it however is easiest" / "use the prepaid return label attached; drop it at any [carrier] point"]. [If a photo is genuinely required:] So I can file this with our carrier, could you reply with one photo of the damage? The replacement ships either way — the photo just helps us claim it back. If the replacement arrives with any problem at all, reply here and I'll escalate it personally. [your name]
Replace every [bracketed] placeholder before sending — the brackets are there so an unfilled field is impossible to miss.
How to use this template well
- Ship the replacement before the return arrives, or skip the return entirely for low-value items. Holding the fix hostage to logistics punishes the customer for your defect.
- If you need a photo, decouple it from the remedy: "the replacement ships either way" removes the interrogation feel.
- Cover the return completely — prepaid label, any drop-off point. Every step of effort you add gets remembered longer than the defect.
Related templates
Shipping delay emailTell them before they ask, with the new date and their options if it doesn't hold.Refund approval emailConfirm the amount, the card, and the arrival window — the three things they'll ask otherwise.Apology email to an unhappy customerDe-escalate by restating their complaint accurately before defending anything.
Your team's replies, one snippet away.
Repliqo turns templates like this one into shared snippets your whole team inserts in two keystrokes — with variables that fill in the customer's name automatically.