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Ask the school cafeteria to fix a double lunch charge

Practice: Keeping the AI to your sources. About 5 minutes.

About this exercise

Your kid's school lunch account was charged twice. Email the cafeteria office in under 70 words, plain text: the right child's name and student ID, the date and the duplicate amount in the first sentence, then ask for the duplicate to go back to the lunch account (not a refund check). Don't mention your other child's account, which is fine. Write a prompt that gets you exactly that.

Common mistakes when you ask AI for this

  • Trusting the AI to count words. AI is bad at counting. Ask for "under 70 words" and it often lands well over. Try: Cap each part instead: "3 sentences, each under 18 words."
  • Burying the details. The AI opens with "I hope you're doing well" and the ID shows up later. Try: Add: "First sentence: Sophie Russo, ID 40817, charged $3.25 twice on Nov 4."
  • Asking for the wrong fix. The AI asks for a refund, which the district only gives to students leaving. Try: Add: "Ask for it to be credited back to her lunch account."
  • Mentioning the other account. The AI flags Lucas's two Nov 4 charges as suspicious too. Try: Add: "Don't mention Lucas; his charges are right."
  • Ignoring where it will be pasted. AI loves bold and headings, which show up as stray ** and # symbols in the email. Try: Name the place and the format: "For the email. Plain text, no bold or headings."

What a strong prompt includes

  • Puts the details first
  • Asks for an account credit
  • Leaves out the other child
  • Names the date and amount
  • Sets a word limit

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