Receiving products and services that don’t meet your expectations can occur, and you might want to request a refund when it happens.
Knowing how to ask for a refund might be hard. Therefore, here is some insight into how you can go about requesting a refund.
Here are some tactful ways on how to ask for a refund when you’re unhappy with a product or service.
How to ask for a refund tactfully: When buying a product
Products bought online or from a store can have some defects. You also may have paid an excessive amount of money for them. You can use these email templates to help you request and get a refund.
01An email template for an overpayment
Dear Ms. Alexandra,
I would like to inform you about an overpayment that I made for a cake purchased on the 12th of August 2020 at your downtown bakery.
I presume that I did not check how much you gave me in return for the amount of money I gave you. I was in such a hurry to get home that I didn’t look at the change I received for the cake.
I would like to request a refund of $100 dollars for the excess amount of money I paid. Attached to this email, you will find a receipt as proof that a mistake was made. You can also check with your database to ascertain my overpayment.
I urgently need that amount of money by the 18th of August 2020 so that I can buy my medication. I hope that you consider my request seriously and handle it within the shortest time possible; please not that I have no other sources of income.
In addition, I would love to continue enjoying your sweet cakes every month with my friends and family. Therefore, this kind gesture would be highly appreciated, and I will be sure to recommend your bakery to everyone I know.
Photo by Mathieu Turle under unsplash license
02An email template for a refund of a deposit
Dear Mr. Cornwell,
I am writing about a purchase I made for two bike chains, which was placed on the 8th of March 2020. Your company was supposed to deliver this order on the 20th of March. I would like to bring to your attention that I canceled the order before the expected delivery date.
The quality of the bike parts sold at your company have always pleased me. I started doing business with your company over 10 years ago.
However, my mechanic brought to my attention that my current chains need some greasing to make my bike work again, and I do not need the two new bike chains.
This turn of events has led me to request a refund of the $600 dollars I paid for the initial order. Attached, you will find some of the transaction-related documents needed as proof of my request. I hope you can see this situation from my point of view.
I apologize for the inconvenience that I may have caused for your company. I promise to be more cautious next time before making a purchase from your company.
This is about the lighting systems that I procured from your company on October 3, 2020; they were meant to last for a decade of uninterrupted use (according to the user manual).
The systems were carefully delivered and perfectly installed in my house by your hard-working technical team on October 5, 2020.
However, I am disappointed by the performance of the lighting system after just 10 days in my house. Unfortunately, they keep going off after an hour of uninterrupted lighting, and then, they become very dim.
Your technical team tried to rectify the situation three days ago, and they came back day after day with different solutions. There has been no solution found for this issue.
Due to this, I am forced to request a refund of $50,000 dollars. Attached, you will find the delivery notice and the documents provided at the time of the transaction.
I hope you understand my situation and consider my request before the end of October 2020.
I will continue buying products from your company despite experiencing this hiccup. I value your products and services. Therefore, it would be so disappointing to lose them due to a lack of understanding from your company.
Photo by rupixen.com on unsplash
How to ask for a refund tactfully: When receiving a service
You might receive poor services from a company and not know how to ask for a refund. You can use these tactful email template examples if you are in this type of situation.
04An email template for a poor service
Dear Mrs. Chloe,
I am writing about the customer service that I received at your wine store on the 28th of February 2020 at around 2 PM.
I had a very disappointing experience with your assistant who attended to my request. I did not appreciate how she handled the situation after I tried talking to her.
I bought three bottles of wine, but one of them broke as she tried to pack them into a box. This resulted in an injury to my right arm.
Then, she insisted that I would not get my money back because of an issue with the in-store system. I ended up going home with only two of the wine bottles alongside an injury to my arm.
I would like a refund of $150 dollars to replace the broken wine bottle and compensate for the trouble I had to experience in your company’s store.
It is my humble request that you please try to improve the customer service offered in the store. Our experience as customers in your store needs to be better.
I am a frequent customer. I love your wine products because they are original, flavorful, and good quality. I would like to continue buying them from your store if possible.
Photo by Helena Lopes from Pexels under CC0 license
05An email template for a refund of a tuition fee from a college
Dear Mr. John,
I am writing to request a refund of the tuition fees I paid for my 2nd-semester of the 2020/2021 academic year. This request is due to the fact that I had to cancel my second semester classes in combination with unavoidable circumstances.
I will not be able to focus on my studies due to the problems caused by my chemotherapy. This is why I need some time to heal before I can get back to doing serious amount of work.
The fees that I paid amount to $10,000. If it is possible from your end, I would like to receive the refund by June 1, 2020. I would not like to pressure you, but I have to use this money to cover my chemotherapy.
It would be greatly appreciated if the college could accept my request and handle the refund as soon as possible.
Photo by Victoria Dupont on reshot
06An email template for a denied refund request
Dear Ms. Jane Doh,
I am writing about the denial of my refund request by your company. The request was regarding the purchase of 10 computer systems, which was made on the 8th of July 2020.
I kindly requested a refund just two days after the computers were delivered to my store; they stopped functioning, and I even tried getting your technical team to resolve the issue before asking for the refund.
Now, I cannot understand why my request was denied; all of your products come with a two-year warranty period. It would be very kind of you to revisit my request and reconsider the reasons for my claim.
I would like to insist on the refund of the deposit that I paid, which was done while placing my order. The total amount was of the refund request is $20,000 dollar. I paid this amount using my credit card, and it is absolutely necessary that I get this money back.
I would like to ask kindly that you arrange for an early payment of the refund amount, done at the earliest time possible. The agreement and warranty are still valid.
Photo by bongkarn thanyakij from Pexels
Conclusion
Asking for a refund might be hard, especially when you lack the right words to convince the other party.
Using the examples listed above on how to ask for a refund, you can be sure to have your request accepted.
Go ahead, you can try sending any of these email examples, and you can happily expect a positive response to your request. Don’t worry, you will get your money back!
