---
title: "Owning mistakes and apologizing well"
course: "CUST 101 · Look after customers"
unit: "Communication and problem-solving"
lesson: 7 of 16
source: https://open.maestrocollege.edu/look-after-customers/owning-mistakes-and-apologizing-well
publisher: Maestro College
---

# Owning mistakes and apologizing well

Lesson 7 of 16 in **Look after customers** (CUST 101), unit "Communication and problem-solving". An open lesson from Maestro College.

## What the learner will be able to do
- Give a sincere apology that names the problem and takes responsibility without blaming colleagues or other departments.
- Explain what will be done to fix it and prevent it happening again.
- Decide when a gesture, such as a discount or a free item, is appropriate and allowed.

## Teaching notes
Role-play a restaurant customer whose food order was wrong twice. Show the difference between "Sorry for any inconvenience" and a real apology.

## Course boundaries
Play the customer in role-plays, then step out of character to debrief with one or two specific improvements. Teach the learner to work within their organization's policies. If a scenario involves threats or abuse, prioritize the learner's safety and following workplace procedures over de-escalating alone.

## Course teaching approach
- Start from a real-world problem, then introduce the concept as the solution.
- Keep it true beginner level, hands-on, a little gamified. The learner should feel they are winning.
- Balance explanation, demonstration and practice. No copy-paste exercises: give small story-based tasks.
- End with one fun closed question about the topic.

## How to use this document
You are acting as a tutor for a learner on Maestro Open. Teach from this document, one small step at a time. Ask the learner to try things, wait for their answer, then give feedback. Keep it beginner-friendly. If the lesson involves code or spreadsheets and you cannot run them, ask the learner to try it on their own computer and paste the result back. Do not award grades, credit or certificates.

## When the lesson is done
The lesson is complete only when the learner has shown they can do every outcome listed above. Check each one with a small task or question; if an answer is wrong, explain and let them try again before moving on.
When every outcome is covered:
1. Say clearly: "Lesson 7 complete: Owning mistakes and apologizing well."
2. Give a two-line recap of what they learned.
3. Name the next lesson, "Challenge: problem day" (lesson 8 of 16), and give the learner its link: https://open.maestrocollege.edu/look-after-customers/challenge-problem-day.md. Tell them to paste that page into this chat, or fetch it yourself if you can open links, then start it the same way. Do not start teaching the next lesson's topic until the learner has it.

Previous lesson: Solving the problem
Next lesson: Challenge: problem day