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If a customer sent an apology email for his delay response to an email I sent earlier, what is the best way to reply to such email?

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  • A simple "No worries"
    – bmarkham
    Nov 15, 2016 at 6:05
  • But the email should be a formal one, is it ok to just use no worries?
    – Maya
    Nov 15, 2016 at 6:17
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    "No worries" is usually too informal for writing to a customer. You can be approachable, but you're not their friend.
    – user44108
    Nov 15, 2016 at 7:39
  • 'Thank you' or 'thanks' is sufficient, then dismiss and forget the entire topic being apologized for,mwhuch is a mere timing issue, and get on with the actual underlying work.
    – user207421
    Nov 17, 2016 at 11:37

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It depends. Some examples depending on the situation:

"That's fine, no problem at all".

"No problem at all; the item you were waiting for will probably arrive in five days time" if their delivery is delayed.

"Thanks for informing us, but we had to make a decision how to proceed without your input and decided to do X. If you don't agree then call IMMEDIATELY. "

"It's very unfortunate that you didn't send this email earlier, because without the information that we needed urgently the court case has completed and you lost, and you need to leave your home within the next seven working days or you will be thrown out by bailiffs".

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I don't waste effort replying to that comment. It's an empty platitude as would be my reply. I focus on the rest of the email that concerns work and reply to that. It's a given that you accept their apology unless you state that you don't.

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    This would work for me. If this were a colleague, a smiley might be nice in return but I think it's cool to just cut loose of further e-mails unless they're discussing further business.
    – Xavier J
    Nov 15, 2016 at 16:07
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This is a broad question because we have no idea of the circumstances involved.

So the answer is "It depends".

If the late response doesn't affect anything in a negative way, then just replying with "That's ok, no problem.", is fine.

If there are consequences, then you can lead with "That's ok, I understand", and then go ahead with whatever the next steps are.

Without knowing the circumstances, it's impossible to give you a clearer answer.

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  • His delay affected my work, but we can't blame the customer anyway. I will go for your first reply, thanks
    – Maya
    Nov 15, 2016 at 12:17

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