Apology Letters

Committing a mistake lands one in trouble, but not accepting it and not apologizing for it might add to one's troubles. Some of us are not good at apologizing verbally or certain situations are such that verbal apologies are not accepted. In such cases, writing an apology letter is helpful. An apology letter allows the person to apologize for his/her mistake, and it is usually filed in the records of the organization, institution, etc. Not only in formal situations, but these letters are very useful in informal situations as well. When your loved one is upset with you, owing to some wrongful act or mistake of yours, you can write a letter and apologize for the same. The effect of writing a letter to apologize to your loved one is much more than just uttering the word 'sorry'. Furthermore, he/she might not pick up your call or listen to you. Thus, you can apologize in writing.

This letter, as mentioned above is written in formal and informal situations. In informal letters, there is no particular writing style, salutation, format, etc. The language is casual and there is no restriction in terms of content of the letter. In case of formal apology letters, the format and content of the letter has to be precise, and the letter should be written carefully as this letter would be in records for official purposes. Any misleading content, or content which can be altered later, would prove problematic for the person who is apologizing.

Body of the letter:

The body of the letter remains the same for formal or informal apology letters. The format varies but the matter that goes into it remains the same.

1. The first paragraph of the letter states clear the apology and the reason of apology in brief - 'This is to apologize on behalf of our Customer Service Desk for the inconvenience caused to you in replacement of the product'. This is a simple sentence that states the purpose of the letter clearly and the reason of apology.

2. In the second paragraph, elaborate on the reason. In the above case, the person who seeks an apology would elaborate on what caused delay or problems in replacement of the product, and thus caused inconvenience to the reader. The reader would thus get to know that the event occurred due to some situations, which were probably out of your control.

3. In the third paragraph, mention what steps have you taken to rectify the mistake. In the above case, offering a discount in fee or offering the product free would be helpful. A simple example of this is - When one orders a Pizza at Pizza Hut and his/her order is delayed, they offer a complimentary dish from their side, and do not charge the customer for it to apologize for the delay. This is not a very big issue, and so no written apology comes into picture. However, offering something to apologize helps them in retaining the customer.

4. At the end, apologize again and close the letter.

There are many benefits of writing an apology letter:

1. It can solve problems that would lead to big disasters
2. It helps in maintaining the relationship - formal or informal
3. It makes you look like a responsible and matured individual or organization, who is well aware of his/her acts or mistakes
4. It gives you a chance to put forth your side of the story, when the other party or person is not willing to listen to you
5. This letter represents your ethics and values
6. The person or organization affected by your acts or mistakes thinks of forgiving you, after reading your apology letter
7. It helps you stay away from any legal action by apologizing and making an offer or practice that covers the loss or inconvenience caused to the other party

While writing this letter is important and helps in maintaining your rapport, it would also put you in trouble if written spontaneously. Whenever there is some problem or you/your organization has been blamed for something, you first need to study the scenario correctly, and find out whether you are really at fault or you are being blamed for no mistake. Apologizing without being guilty might put you in big trouble.

Read the sample apology letters given in the links below, and draft your letter carefully.

• Apology Letter to Boss
• Customer Apology Letter
• Professional Apology Letter
• Apology Letter Example
• Brother Apology Letter
• Personal Apology Letter
• Behavior Apology Letter
• Stealing Apology Letter

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