12 Customer Support Canned Responses That Sound Human

Canned responses cut the time you spend on repeat questions, but a robotic one can annoy customers more than a slow reply. Write each template in a natural voice and leave a few blanks for the details that make it personal. Here are 12 you can copy today.

What makes a canned response work

• Use the customer's name. One blank at the start changes the tone.
• Answer first, apologise second. People want the fix before the sympathy.
• Keep it short. Three to five sentences beat a wall of text.
• Add one specific detail. An order number or date shows a human read it.

Greetings

1. First reply

Hi [name], thanks for reaching out. I'm looking into this now and will get back to you by [time].

2. Need more information

Thanks, [name]. To fix this quickly, could you send me [detail]? Once I have it I'll sort this out right away.

Delays and bad news

3. Running late

Hi [name], thanks for your patience. This is taking longer than expected and I now expect it to be resolved by [date].

4. Cannot do that

I'm sorry, [name], we can't [request]. What I can do is [alternative]. Would that work for you?

5. Known issue

Thanks for flagging this. It's a known issue and our team is working on it. I'll message you the moment it's fixed.

Billing and refunds

6. Refund approved

Good news, [name]: your refund of [amount] has been approved and should arrive within [days] business days.

7. Refund declined

Thanks for your patience, [name]. This order falls outside our refund policy because [reason]. I'd be glad to [alternative].

8. Duplicate charge

You're right, [name], you were charged twice. I've started the reversal of [amount], which usually takes [days] days.

Closing the conversation

9. Issue resolved

Glad we got that sorted, [name]. If anything else comes up, just reply here.

10. No reply from customer

Hi [name], I haven't heard back so I'll close this for now. Reply anytime and I'll reopen it.

11. Feedback request

Thanks for your patience today, [name]. If you have a minute, I'd love to hear how we did.

12. Hand-off

I've passed this to [team], who handle [topic]. They'll contact you by [time], and I've shared everything so you won't need to repeat yourself.

Use them without retyping

Pasting from a document still costs seconds every time. A text expander lets you type a short trigger such as /refund and get the whole reply, with the name and date filled in. Read our guide to choosing a text expander Chrome extension, or see the recruiter email templates for the same idea in hiring.

Related guides

• Recruiter Email Templates: Outreach, Rejection and Follow-Up
• Text Expander Chrome Extension: What to Look For (2026)