Write from facts rather than momentum
Pause long enough to remove accusations, assumptions, and details that belong to someone else. For a message about how to apologize to a customer for damaged goods, use this factual base: confirm the order, charge, booking, or service problem and separate verified facts from what is still being checked.
Offer a proportionate next step
Match the size of the request to the relationship and to what the recipient can reasonably decide now. Offer the available refund, replacement, correction, or escalation with dates and ownership. Make the immediate next step clear enough that the recipient can answer without reconstructing the entire history.
Protect privacy on both sides
Do not use empathy as a substitute for a remedy or ask the customer to repeat information you already have. Move payment, privacy, accessibility, and product safety incidents into the documented specialist process immediately. Use the most private legitimate channel available and do not share the exchange to recruit support or pressure.