{"id":"acct-late-fee-waiver-request-reply","audience":"accounting","category":"finance-work","track":"finance","technique":"tone","level":"beginner","title":"Reply to a late fee waiver request without promising the waiver","free":false,"task":"A customer asks for a late fee to be waived. Write a prompt for a plain-text email under 90 words that starts with \"Hi Tony,\" and ends with the line \"Accounts Receivable\". It has three lines starting \"Invoice:\", \"Late fee:\" and \"Balance:\" showing the math, says the waiver request has been passed to the AR manager for review, and asks for payment of the invoice by Nov 20. Never promise the waiver and don't mention the customer's comment about switching vendors. No bullets or numbering.","materialLabel":"Account notes and fee policy (attached to your prompt automatically)","material":"ACCOUNT NOTES - Delmar Auto Repair (contact: Tony Delmar), Nov 6, 2026\n\nInvoice INV-2260: $2,000.00, due Oct 20. Unpaid. 17 days past due.\nContract late fee: 1.5% of the overdue invoice amount, charged once per month overdue. One month's fee has been charged on Nov 1.\nPayment options: ACH details on the invoice or the payment link in the invoice email.\n\nTony's email (Nov 5): 'I'm asking you to waive the late fee since we've been customers for six years. If not, we may look at other vendors.'\n\nAR policy: late fee waivers must be approved by the AR manager. AR staff may not promise or deny a waiver. The AR manager is out until Nov 9 and will review then.","rules":[{"type":"plainText"},{"type":"maxWords","max":90},{"type":"maxBullets","max":0}],"promptHints":[{"label":"Names the reader","patterns":["tony","delmar"]},{"label":"Asks for the three lines","patterns":["invoice:","late fee:","balance:"]},{"label":"Says the waiver is under review","patterns":["ar manager","review"]},{"label":"Bans promises and threats talk","patterns":["(do not|don'?t).*(promise|vendors)"]},{"label":"Caps length","patterns":["\\d+\\s*words","plain"]}],"mistakes":[{"title":"Promising the waiver","why":"The AI says it will do what it can to waive the fee.","fix":"Add: \"No promise either way; say the request is with the AR manager.\"","checks":["r1","r2"]},{"title":"Responding to the threat","why":"The AI mentions that the company values his business or other vendors.","fix":"Add: \"Do not mention his comment about other vendors.\"","checks":["r2"]},{"title":"No fee math","why":"The AI says 'a small late fee applies'.","fix":"Add: \"Show 1.5% x $2,000.00 = $30.00 and the total.\"","checks":["r0"]},{"title":"Markdown extras","why":"The AI adds bold labels, headings and a closing note.","fix":"Say: \"Plain text, no bold. Output only the lines asked for.\"","checks":["plainText","maxBullets"]},{"title":"Trusting the AI to count words","why":"AI is bad at counting and runs past word limits.","fix":"Ask for fewer words than the real cap and keep each line short.","checks":["maxWords"]}],"hint":"A waiver request needs a neutral reply: show the fee, say who decides and ask for payment. Add the bans.","rubricLabels":["Starts with \"Hi Tony,\" and ends with the line \"Accounts Receivable\", with lines starting \"Invoice:\" ($2,000.00), \"Late fee:\" (1.5% x $2,000.00 = $30.00) and \"Balance:\" ($2,000.00 + $30.00 = $2,030.00)","Says the waiver request has been passed to the AR manager for review and asks for payment of the invoice by Nov 20","Doesn't promise or deny the waiver and never mentions Tony's comment about switching vendors or his six years as a customer"]}