Apologize for a wrong item and let the customer keep it

About this exercise

You run Loomhouse, an online linen shop. Reply to Camille in plain text, under 85 words. First line exactly "Hi Camille," and last line exactly "Jo at Loomhouse". Apologize once, tell her to keep the wrong item, and say the right one ships free within 2 business days.

Common mistakes when you ask AI for this

• Asking for a return. The AI assumes a return is needed and adds a label step. Try: Say: "She keeps the green one. No return."
• Over-apologizing and sharing excuses. The AI says sorry in every sentence and adds the staffing excuse from the manager's comment. Try: Say: "Apologize once. Do not mention staffing or the warehouse."
• Generic greeting and sign-off. The AI writes 'Dear Camille' and 'Best regards'. Try: Give both lines exactly.
• Getting markdown back. AI adds bold and headings by default, which show up as stray symbols where this is pasted. Try: Say "plain text, no bold, no headings, no asterisks".
• Trusting the AI to count words. AI is bad at counting and usually runs long, so a vague "keep it short" lands well over the limit. Try: Cap each part instead of the total, for example "each line under 15 words".

What a strong prompt includes

• Asks for plain text
• Sets a length limit
• States the remedy
• Sets exact lines

Practice this now ↑

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