Do You Make an Excuse or Give an Apology? (Repost)

This is a repost since the previous post was still in draft form but that darn send button is to close to the preview button! I apologize for the inconvenience and I will do my best to not post a draft again. (See, I take my own advice in today's post.)

I always appreciate it when a company understands the difference between an excuse and an apology.

We have a pizza place in town that delivers a phenomenal pizza in about 45 minutes. A while back we ordered a pizza but after almost an hour and a half we started to wonder where the pizza could be. Right before we called them they called us to say that the pizza driver had been in an accident and they were making a new pizza for us and would deliver as soon as possible.

While disappointed we had to wait even longer, we understand that accidents happen (and were relieved to hear that the driver had not been hurt.) Our pizza eventually arrived and as the delivery person handed us our dinner she told us that it was on the house.

Now if there was ever a good excuse for a pizza being late it was this one, but I appreciate that the company wanted to make the situation right instead of making an excuse.

Excuses may explain why something has happened but they rarely satisfy a customer.

Whenever we need to make an excuse it should always be followed up with an apology and an action to make things right for the customer. Thank you, Upper Crust Pizza for knowing the difference.

So let me ask, does your team know the difference between making an excuse or giving an apology?

Forget customer service. It's all about the experience.