Formal letter of apology example. How to write a letter of apology

Regardless of content, style business letter should be of a friendly, partner nature, which would combine natural ethical standards human relations and the interests of the case, the importance of their own official position was not emphasized.
All correspondence can be divided into:
Formal letters - prepared on behalf of an enterprise, a company to another company and which are of an official nature.
Informal letters - consist after an official acquaintance, after the establishment of partnerships by workers of the same level (for example, a sales manager of one company similar to the manager of another company) with a proposal for a personal meeting to discuss business issues and exchange information.
The letter should begin with an appeal. The problem of choosing a treatment is quite delicate. The most common requests are the following:

Dear /a (name and patronymic)!
Dear Mr. (Madam) ...!
Dear sirs (colleagues)!
Dear sir!
Glibokoshanovny (name and patronymic)!
Dear Sir...
In modern business correspondence It is customary to indicate the addressee's title or indicate his profession.
High-ranking Mr. Minister!
Dear (Honorable) Professor!
Dear teacher!
Honorable Mr. Rector!

We should not forget that in the Ukrainian language, addresses are used in the form of the vocative case. Lack of address can be interpreted as an insult to the addressee and a violation of business correspondence etiquette.

Appeal.
It is very important to carefully consider the initial phrase of the letter, on which a lot can depend, because it is he who must convince the addressee of the legality of writing the letter. If this is a letter in response to a request, an invitation, a letter of gratitude, then in the very first sentence it would be appropriate to politely express gratitude.

We express our sincere gratitude for...
Thank you for your letter with tips and recommendations for...
First of all, let me thank you for...
This letter is a manifestation of our gratitude for...
Please accept our sincere (sincere) gratitude for...
We are sincerely grateful to you for...
Let me express my gratitude...
We are grateful to you for the invitation...
Thanks for the opportunity...

In your confirmation letter, you should use the following initial phrases:

We gratefully acknowledge receipt of the letter - replies...
We officially confirm our consent to...
To confirm our preliminary agreement (telephone conversation), we inform...
We confirm receipt of your telegram...
We received your letter notifying us of... and are sincerely grateful to you.

Common introductory phrases in business letters refer to a previous letter, telephone conversation, event, meeting:

In response to your letter dated (date)...
In response to your request dated (date)...
In accordance with the clause of the concluded agreement.
According to the contract (agreement)...,
Referring to the advertisement in the newspaper (magazine), we ask you...

You often have to make requests to sponsors, clients, and partners. There are many typical statements used to express them:

Please let us know about...
We will be grateful if you confirm your participation in...
We would like to ask you for a small donation to the fund...
We ask you to pay your bills urgently.
First of all, please let us know...
We would be very grateful if you could communicate your decision as soon as possible.
Sorry for the additional trouble, but would you be so kind as to give detailed written explanations regarding...
We ask you to carefully study our proposals and give a final answer.

In the business world, for various reasons (for example, you were several days late in responding, you were unable to complete an order on time, you received a complaint from customers, you were late for a meeting with a client), sometimes situations arise when you need to apologize, ask for forgiveness for the troubles you were to the addressee. In this case, the letter should begin like this:

We apologize for the unfortunate misunderstanding that happened...
We sincerely apologize for the delay in response.
We apologize for our inability to complete your order in a timely manner...
We would like to apologize for the unnecessary trouble we have caused you.
Sorry, it's very inconvenient for us that...
We sincerely apologize for your lateness to the meeting yesterday.
We apologize for the inconvenience caused to you through no fault of ours.
We apologize for the unnecessary worries about...

In psychologically complex reminder letters, it is necessary to politely, tactfully, delicately, unobtrusively indicate that the due date for payment of the invoice has expired.
Such letters should begin like this:

We consider it our duty to once again remind you of...
Sorry to bother you again, but we have not received any response to your email dated (date).
Sorry, but we want to remind you to pay your invoice for... We think this is just a misunderstanding.
It is very inconvenient for us that we have to remind you about...
We are forced to remind you that we still have not received a paid invoice from you.
We consider it necessary to remind you...
Let me remind you that...

Sometimes delicacy doesn't work desired results, then you should be categorical and decisive.
This can be done like this:

Despite repeated reminders and measures taken, your debt has not been paid off, instead it continues to grow.
We consider it necessary to warn you of our intention to terminate the contract.
Due to the fact that you, despite our urgent request to repay the debt, have still not sent a paid check, we are forced to suspend the execution of all your orders.
All our attempts to force you to pay the debt were in vain, so we are filing a lawsuit.

The category of complex letters includes refusal letters. If you cannot give a positive answer, then you should say “no” in a reasoned, correct, and friendly manner. If you follow these tips, the recipient will understand that you had no other choice.
Formulate your refusal like this:

We have studied the project you proposed in detail, and we regret to inform you that we do not have the slightest opportunity...
Unfortunately, we cannot accept your offer.
We are very sorry, but we cannot satisfy your request for some reasons.
It's a pity, but given the complicated situation, we cannot support your project.
We sincerely regret, but the current situation does not allow us...
Sorry, but we cannot agree to...

Completing the letter
The choice of concluding sentences is also very important and depends primarily on the content of the letter. You can repeat the gratitude expressed at the beginning of the letter, or simply thank you for your help, since the word “thank you” is the most common word of every decent merchant, entrepreneur, banker, every business person.

Let me thank you again...
We would like to once again express our sincere gratitude.
Thanks for the help.
Once again we thank you and hope that...
Thanks for...

An appropriate and useful end to the letter is the assurance of the addressee as psychological reinforcement of everything expressed in the letter:
We assure you that you can fully count on our support.
We will be glad to cooperate with you.
We would be glad to cooperate with you and will wait for your response.
We will call you to arrange a mutually convenient time to meet.

A fairly common form of finitude in business letters is an expression of hope and expectation:

We hope that our offer will interest you.
We hope that the agreement will be mutually beneficial.
We believe that we will be useful to you in the future.
We look forward to close and mutually beneficial cooperation.
We hope to establish close contacts between our institutions.
We hope to receive your response as soon as possible.

The final request in the letter may be:

We ask you to carefully read...
We ask you to inform (call) urgently.

Of course, it would be polite if at the end of the letter you repeat your apologies for the inconvenience, delay in payment or lateness:

Once again we apologize for the inconvenience caused.
Once again we apologize for this unfortunate mistake.
We sincerely apologize for...

We should not forget about the farewell phrase. The following forms are most often used in letters:

Sincerely...
With gratitude and respect...
Best regards and Best wishes...
We wish you success!

If you want to succeed, make sure that your letter is impeccable in both content and form. Letters should be printed on well-executed letterhead that is " business card"of your organization, company. Design and printing qualities are those details that will contribute to the creation good impression about you and your activities. Therefore, only high-quality paper should be used to produce letterheads. The design of the envelope must also correspond to letterhead; it must be sized in such a way that there is no need to compose the letter more than twice.

Business letters should not be too long. You should present your thoughts clearly, to the point, and concisely.
An important condition for the success of writing is logic and consistency of presentation. The logical consistency of the presentation is achieved through a clear division of the text into paragraphs. When expressing an opinion, you should select linguistic means that comply with the norms of the literary language and are understandable to the addressee. You need to make sure that everything in the letter is appropriate. Therefore, to the level of serious business communication You can’t go out without learning the etiquette of this area.
Remember Golden Rule conducting business correspondence: politeness, correctness, tact, reasoning.

Perhaps you made a mistake and want to make things right... Keep it up! Even if the mistake was not intentional, an apology letter is good way start fixing it, or help someone feel better. If you want to make sure that your apology is effective and doesn't cause more pain, then follow some of the tips below. To write a great apology, start with the first point.

Steps

Part 1

Indicate what you are writing about in the letter. This good idea start by indicating that this is a letter of apology. This will help the reader to emotionally prepare himself to read the entire letter to the end. You don't have to keep him guessing about why you're writing at all and what you want to say.

• Write something like: “I wanted to write to you to apologize.”

1. Point out your mistake. Now that you have indicated that you are apologizing, say what exactly you are asking for forgiveness for and why it was a mistake. Be very precise and descriptive. By being open about it, you can ensure that you understand what you have done.

   • For example, write something like this: “What happened last weekend was terribly inappropriate, disrespectful, and selfish of me. After I proposed to Jessica, I turned all the attention to myself. I tried to steal yours important point, and it was wrong."

2. Admit how much you hurt them. Admit that you offended them and that you understand how humiliating it was. Good point Also note that you never had any intention of offending them.

   • Write something like this: “Jacob told me that what happened not only ruined your feelings about the wedding, but made your honeymoon less enjoyable than it could have been. I hope you understand that this was not intentional on my part. I wish I could go back and remember only the good things, but I ruined everything with my selfish behavior. I just took those good memories away from you. Although I don’t know what you really are, I understand that what I did was the worst thing I could have done.”

3. Express your gratitude. If you want, although it is not necessary, you can highlight all the good things that have been done to you in the past. This will show that you really value them and that you actually feel bad about what you did.

   • Write something like: “This is especially terrible for me after how warmly you welcomed me into the family. Not only have you shown great love for my brother, but you have also given me support and kindness that I could never have expected. By hurting you like this, it just taints everything you've done for me, and I hate myself for it."

4. Take responsibility. This is the most important part of an apology, but also the hardest. Even if a person has made some mistake, it is not worth admitting it in a letter. You need to openly and unconditionally accept your responsibility for what you did. You may have had your reasons for doing what you did, but that shouldn't stop you from admitting that you hurt someone.

   • For example, write something like this: “I would like to explain why I did this, but I have no excuse. My intentions, although good, are not important here. I take full responsibility for my selfish behavior and for the pain I caused you."
   • Instead of making excuses for your actions, you should carefully explain your reasons. You can explain why you made a particular choice if you think it is necessary or that it would improve the situation. This should only be done if you think that by doing so you can win over the person you have offended.

5. Offer a solution that will lead to change. It's not enough to just say you're sorry. You need to find a way to solve the problem in the future, which can actually be the impetus for an apology. This is even better than writing that this will not happen again. When you offer a plan for change and a description of how you will do it, you show the person that you actually want to improve the situation.

   • Write something like: “Just apologizing is not enough. You deserve better. When you get home, Jessica and I would love to host a welcome home party for you. This will be the final party after all the celebrations, and will be 100% dedicated to your love with my brother. If you don’t want to, then that’s okay, I just want to find a way to create those very wonderful memories which I took from you."

6. Indicate in your letter that you have a desire to have more a good relationship in future. Don't demand forgiveness right away. Thus, you make demands on the person you offended, and it doesn’t matter whether you did it on purpose or not. It is worth expressing your present desire, which will help you interact better with each other in the future.

   • Write something like: “I don’t expect your forgiveness, although I sincerely hope for it.” What I want to say is that I really hope that everything will work out for us. I would like you to feel comfortable, or even good, when we are together. I want to earn back the relationship that we had. And I hope in the future, we could forget about the past and create many happy moments together.”

   Part 2

   The right apology

   1. Don't promise to change unless you are 100% sure you can achieve it. It is very important. If you think you might make the same mistake again, or if the behavior is part of your personality or habits, don't promise to change. Most likely, you will repeat what happened, and no one will believe your future apology.

      Be careful in your choice of words. Apologizing is an art. We, by nature, do not want to do this, and we constantly struggle with it. Therefore, in order to apologize correctly, you need to choose the right words. Some words and phrases may sound like an apology, but in fact, they only make the situation worse because they show that you are not really sorry. You may be reluctant to use such words, so be careful when writing such a letter. Here are some examples:

      • “Mistakes were made...”
      • Sentences with “if”: “I’m sorry if I offended you...”, “I’m sorry if you feel bad...”
      • “I’m sorry you feel this way...”

   2. Be sincere and be yourself. When you apologize, there should be sincerity and truth in your words. If you can't, then you should wait until you actually repent and feel sorry for what you did. When apologizing, you should avoid formal style and stereotypes. You don't need to just copy a letter from the Internet. Your letter should reflect the specifics of the situation so that the person you are addressing understands that you are aware of your guilt and why it is bad.

      Remove all expectations and assumptions from your writing. You don't want it to sound demanding, rude, and even more offensive. You also don't want to sound like an accuser in your apology. Don't make assumptions about how they are feeling or why they are upset. After all, this way you can show that you do not understand what exactly happened. When using certain words, it is better to maintain a modest tone and the impression that you are not in control of the situation, but the reader is. These are the types of words that will help you achieve forgiveness.

      Wait a day or two before sending it. If possible, wait a day or two before sending the letter. You will be able to re-read it in a less emotional state than you were before.

7118 Letter of apology

This service letter, which expresses a request to forgive for late execution of an order, being late for a meeting, accounting errors, violation of contract terms, etc.

So, having realized your guilt, you must definitely apologize and take all necessary measures to ensure that such unfortunate incidents do not happen again. For example:

Dear Sirs! in the concern of our concern.

We do not at all justify our inattention and goiters “we are contacting you to compensate you for the damage. We hope that you will continue to use our services in the future, and we will make every effort to avoid such unacceptable misunderstandings. Once again we ask for forgiveness from Soya.

TYPICAL turnover

Apologies for the delay in delivery of goods

1 Sorry for the delay in delivery of goods. It was our fault. Apologies for the trouble caused.

2 Your order dated (date), due to the fault of the office manager, did not reach our transport department on time. We apologize for the delay in the goods and assure you that in the future we will pay special attention to your orders.

3 employees who were responsible for fulfilling your order made a mistake, apologizing for the delay in delivery of goods

4 Our Production Department incorrectly planned the shipment schedule for the ordered goods and resulted in a delay. Please forgive us for the late fulfillment of your order

5 Due to production difficulties, we were unable to ship the goods you ordered on time and sincerely apologize to you for the delay

6 We have to ask your forgiveness for the late fulfillment of your order from (date)

7 We carefully reviewed all your orders and made sure that we made a mistake, for which we hope you will forgive us

8 Once again we apologize for the unnecessary trouble. We hope that this misunderstanding will have a negative impact on our future relations and you will continue to use the services of our company in the future

9 We assure you that in the future we will make every effort to avoid such unpleasant omissions

Apologies for late payment of bills

1 Due to negligence in accounting, your bills were not paid on time. Payment will be made. immediately Sorry for the delay

2 Your invoice dated (date) was incorrectly registered 8 by our accounting department and therefore remained unpaid. Apologies for this unfortunate error, which we will correct immediately

3 Unfortunately, the bank did not fulfill our order to transfer money to you in a timely manner. We sincerely apologize for the delay in payment

4 We are very sorry that your last bill remained unpaid for a long time. We sincerely apologize for this carelessness

5 Through personnel changes payment has been made in our accounting department. significantly late Please forgive us

6 The move of our accounting department to a new office caused a delay in payment of bills. We sincerely ask you to forgive us.

7 We apologize for the confusion in our accounting and promise to be more attentive in the future.

8 We sincerely apologize for the unfortunate mistake that occurred due to the negligence of our employee

9 Thank you for the reminder about the unpaid invoice dated (date) that was incorrectly registered. Please excuse us that the lack of clarity in the work of our employees made you worry once again (for causing you unnecessary trouble).

10 After the telephone call, we carefully looked through the lists of unpaid invoices and were convinced that we had made a mistake, for which, we hope, you will forgive us. We do not justify our disrespect at all, but we hope that you will continue to fulfill our orders.

11 Once again we ask for forgiveness (apology) for the delay in payment and assure that in the future we will do everything possible to avoid such annoying omissions

Apologies for being late for a meeting, delay in response

1 We sincerely apologize for being late for the meeting yesterday

2 I am very sorry (sincerely sorry) that such a long-awaited and important meeting for me did not take place

3 I sincerely apologize (sorry) for making you waste your precious time

4 I was convinced that our meeting should have taken place on (date) Once again I apologize for the inconvenience caused and ask, if possible, to arrange a second meeting at a time convenient for you

5 I would be sincerely grateful if you agree to a second meeting. I apologize for causing you trouble.

6 I feel very bad for being late for a meeting.

7 I apologize (excuse me) for the delay in responding to your invitation to take part in International conference dedicated to the problem

8 I’m very sorry that I couldn’t respond to your invitation and thank you on time, but the point is that

9 We sincerely apologize for the delay in answering, what happened due to

Attention, this textbook has low recognition quality

Letter of apology

An apology letter is a type of business letter. It is drawn up if the author wishes to apologize for any inconvenience caused to the addressee through his fault.

In order for a letter to be favorably received by the addressee, it must be sincere and not contain false information. It is not recommended to introduce all kinds of reservations or subterfuges, as well as to shift the blame to a third party. Only a frank admission of guilt can preserve further goodwill towards its originator and, possibly, business contacts with him.

The best version of an apology letter looks like this:

When composing a letter, phrases such as “We apologize for...”, “Please accept our sincere apologies...”, “Allow me to offer you my apologies...” or “We sincerely regret that...” are used as standard.

It is recommended that the letter be drawn up on the letterhead of the originating company. The apology is signed by the head of the company or another responsible person, for example, a deputy, acting or head of a department.

Sample and example of an apology letter download (Size: 27.5 KiB | Downloads: 6,365)

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How to write an apology letter

There are many cases in our life when people make mistakes. Sometimes these mistakes can affect other people and it is not surprising that in this case, the blame will lie entirely with the offender. But we all live, work, that is, coexist together, so you will not have a place to hide. However, you always have a chance to apologize. Of course, you can follow the person and make excuses, but it is better to apologize in writing- send a letter.

No matter how serious your mistake was, the fact remains that you are responsible for what happened and you know it. Some may simply not have the courage to stand in front of those who have been offended and ask for forgiveness straight into their eyes, while others simply stand there silently. If you fall into any of those categories, then it's probably best if you let pen and paper do the work. Forget about the computer and printing out the letter: everyone knows that a sincere apology letter must be written by hand.

Here are some tips to help you write an apology letter for any occasion:

Be respectful

If you want to gain a person's respect, then you must take the first step. Start with a friendly greeting and make sure you spell her/his name correctly. Any, even the most insignificant mistake can ruin the entire letter and you may never have the opportunity to ask for an apology again.

Be sincere

If you are still hatching plans on how and where to hide so as not to apologize for what you did, then this means that you have no regrets at all! But if you do write this letter, then try to briefly and gently explain why everything turned out this way and not otherwise. Please note that you should not overdo it with excuses because if the recipient feels that you are overly defensive and making a lot of excuses, then it will look like you are not sorry at all.

Look to the future

Accept that what's done is done, so try to be clear about the prospects for improving the relationship. You can start by promising that the unpleasant incident will never happen again and asking them to forget about what happened. Understand that an apology may take time, especially if the offense is very strong. Still, a well-written and sincere apology letter can reduce hurt feelings and provide new opportunities for reconciliation.

Re-read the letter

Never send a letter immediately after you have finished it. Try to read it to yourself and listen to all the phrases - imagine that you are that offended person. Analyze whether you can immediately understand the meaning of your words and draw any conclusions if necessary. Try to understand how the recipient will feel when reading your message. Try to customize your message in such a way that it can hit the right notes and touch the right chords. Don't forget to check the text for grammatical and spelling errors.

There is nothing wrong with writing an apology letter, especially if you invest deep meaning in every word that was written in the message. If this doesn't fix things, it means he's too offended or, worse, just doesn't want to forgive you. Don't get upset and just give this person some time. All that matters is that you actually made an effort and took a step towards reconciliation.

Once the person accepts your apology, you can pat yourself on the back that the goal has been achieved, but at the same time make a promise to yourself that you will not repeat the same mistake in the future. Apology letters don't work as well when they are overused and tried to gain maximum benefit from their writing.

Etiquette letters

The leading publication for professionals

Category: Office work

Have you ever had to write letters in situations where you need to show attention, demonstrate participation, express gratitude, etc. Such letters include letters of gratitude, letters of congratulations, letters of apology, letters of condolences, letters of invitation. What do you know about the features of their design and content?

Etiquette is a word of French origin, originally meaning “tag”, “label”. Etiquette is the rules of behavior of a cultured person, the most important tool for achieving communicative goals and at the same time a manifestation of a person’s general culture. The rules of etiquette are used taking into account the characteristics of a specific communication situation.

Writing Business Etiquette(speech etiquette) is a set of stable language phrases that help the author of a letter to remain polite and friendly in any situation. Etiquette phrases in correspondence include an introductory address (“Dear.”), a concluding phrase (“With respect.”), phrases in the text of a letter expressing hope for further cooperation, etc. Any business letter contains elements of an etiquette nature in its structure. But besides etiquette phrases that can be in any letter, there is a special type of letters that can be called etiquette.

“Etiquette letters” is a collective concept; it includes several types of letters drawn up not in production situations, but in situations where you need to show attention, demonstrate participation, express gratitude, etc.

Etiquette letters include letters of gratitude, letters of congratulations, letters of apology, letters of condolence, letters of invitation.

In general, etiquette letters are drawn up in the same way as business letters. As a rule, etiquette letters are drawn up on letterhead and signed by the head of the organization or other official, if this right is granted to him. In some cases, special forms can be used to write etiquette letters, for example, to compose letters of thanks(especially if these letters are a form of encouragement), to compose letters of congratulations or invitations.

If an etiquette letter is drawn up on letterhead, the same details are used as in any other business letter: addressee, date of the letter, registration number, signature, mark about the performer.

Etiquette letters always contain an introductory address to the addressee:

If the letter is addressed to the organization’s staff or a specific group of people, the appeal may be as follows:

When addressing VIPs (V.I.P. - very important person), the address “Dear. " A particularly important person is considered not only a high executive(member of the government, governor, mayor), but also an honored worker of science, art, a famous public figure, deputy, head of an organization.

Letters of apology

When should you apologize in writing?

In the event that you have offended a person or offended him in some way, even involuntarily.

What should an apology letter be like?

Sincere and frank. It must contain only the truth. Any reservations, subterfuges, explanations of reasons and circumstances are not appropriate here.

Sincere admission of your guilt best contributes to your complete forgiveness and the preservation of good relations between you in the future.

What to do if you are slandered, but you are not guilty of anything?

If you are accused unfairly, try to explain the situation without embellishment, which very often helps to clarify misunderstandings and restore the truth. When justifying yourself, be very careful if the honor and dignity of another person suffers. If you are sure of his actual guilt, it may be better to first clarify the relationship with him, giving him a chance to apologize himself, thereby restoring the truth and at least somehow saving his reputation.

When should you apologize for an insult?

You should take up writing only when you have finally calmed down, having put your nerves and mind in order. Otherwise, you will not be able to choose the right tone and the right words, and your apology letter will not achieve the desired goal.

The same applies to unfair accusations against you. Take up a letter with explanations only when the resentment has subsided.

An apology letter is a type of business letter. It is drawn up if the author wishes to apologize for any inconvenience caused to the addressee through his fault.

In order for a letter to be favorably received by the addressee, it must be sincere and not contain false information. It is not recommended to introduce all kinds of reservations or subterfuges, as well as to shift the blame to a third party. Only a frank admission of guilt can preserve further goodwill towards its originator and, possibly, business contacts with him.

Writing rules

The best version of an apology letter looks like this:

• expressing regret and deep concern about the current situation;
• sincere apology for the inconvenience caused;
• an explanation of the compiler’s further actions aimed at eliminating the problem and avoiding its recurrence in the future;
• a reminder of the great importance for the originator of the fact of further joint cooperation with the addressee.

When composing a letter, phrases such as “We apologize for...”, “Please accept our sincere apologies...”, “Allow me to offer you my apologies...” or “We sincerely regret that...” are used as standard.

It is recommended that the letter be drawn up on the letterhead of the originating company. The apology is signed by the head of the company or another responsible person, for example, a deputy, acting or department head.