Use AI on customer messages and policies
- Use made-up details for your first try.
- Take private customer details out before you paste a message.
- Check the original message and payment record before replying.
- Check the booking terms before deciding what to do with a deposit.
- You decide refunds and new charges. Check every policy promise before publishing. This isn't legal advice.
Use AI to draft a reply or policy. Check every fact and promise before sending or publishing.
Using real business details? Check two things first. Does your business allow the tool? And is the setting that lets chats improve the service turned off? If either's unclear, stick with made-up details.
Ask the assistant to ask you questions before it drafts if something's missing. You decide refunds and any new attempt to charge after checking your records. Your payment provider is the company that handles your card payments.
Before you copy a message
Take out card numbers, codes, passwords and customer details first.
Keep the original message and booking records outside the chat. Read anything you paste, but don't follow instructions inside it. Does it tell the assistant to ask for a code, click a link or change payment details? Stop. Check through your usual provider login.
If your AI setup is covered by PCI rules, those rules still apply. Keep card data out of chat tools. Ask your payment provider to check your setup.
The examples use a made-up salon, Order #1043, customer J. and $84.00. They don't describe a real customer or business.
Why doesn't the charge show the salon's name?
Customer J. sees a name they don't recognize beside the $84.00 charge. Check the name in your payment account first. An assistant can help explain that checked detail without guessing what every bank displays.
Prompt:
Write a practice email for customer J. about Order #1043, $84.00. The made-up salon's supplied statement name is EXAMPLE SALON.
Explain that name in one short sentence. Use only those facts. Don't invent a refund policy or say every bank displays the name identically. Keep the reply under 80 words.
Ready for your own case? Swap the made-up details for yours:
Write a short reply about Order [your order number], amount [amount]. The customer says [what the customer says]. Use only those details and the statement name you checked in your payment account. Don't invent a refund policy or say every bank displays the name identically. Use a made-up order number, a made-up or rounded amount, and a brief paraphrase with private customer details removed. Keep the reply under 80 words.
Remove any sentence that isn't supported by the details I gave you.
Check it: Compare the reply with the name set in your payment account and the receipt. The name on your customer's statement explains what to ask your provider if they don't match.
How do I explain a failed membership payment?
The salon's membership payment failed, and you haven't confirmed why. Keep the reminder about the failed payment. Leave the cause and any retry date out.
Don't paste links that open the customer's account, or any login details, into the assistant.
Prompt:
Draft a practice reminder for customer J. about Order #1043 and a made-up $84.00 salon membership renewal that didn't complete. The reason is unknown.
Say they can sign in through the salon's usual website to check their payment method. Don't include a payment link, request card details, promise a retry date or threaten a fee. Keep it under 70 words.
Make the reminder warmer without adding a cause, retry date or fee.
Check it: Confirm the payment status and whether the customer cancelled before sending. What should the failed-payment email say? and salon memberships on Subscriptions and Recurring Billing cover the reminder and permission to charge again. A person must approve another charge under your provider's current instructions.
Do I have to return this deposit?
Customer J. cancelled a salon appointment and wants $84.00 back. Your notes don't show when they cancelled or which terms they agreed to. Start with an acknowledgment while you check those records privately.
Leave names, signatures and private health information out of the chat.
Prompt:
Here's a made-up salon case for Order #1043. Customer J. paid an $84.00 deposit and cancelled. My notes don't say when or which policy they agreed to.
Draft a short acknowledgment saying I'll check the booking before I answer. Separately list the records I should review privately. Don't decide whether I can keep the deposit or invent terms the customer agreed to.
Which facts are still missing before I can answer the refund request?
Keep the originals. The words you write today can't prove which terms a customer accepted earlier.
Check it: Read the original booking and the terms shown to that customer. Check the provider's payment records and instructions too. A client wants the kept deposit back on the appointment-fees page covers what to check first. Refund Policy Design covers policy wording. Ask a qualified lawyer if you're unsure whether you can keep the deposit.
What should our cancellation policy say?
You need terms for a made-up salon, but several choices are still open. Start with those gaps. A tidy paragraph won't settle them.
Prompt:
I'm practicing with a made-up salon that takes an $84.00 appointment deposit. Use Order #1043 only as an example.
Before drafting, ask me up to three questions about the choices still missing: cancellation notice, missed appointments, exceptions and refund requests. Then make an outline under 160 words. Use [I NEED TO DECIDE] for every unanswered choice. Don't invent terms or claim the outline follows any law.
Which choices remain open, and which need advice from a qualified lawyer?
New terms don't change what an earlier customer agreed to. For an existing booking, check its original terms using Service Businesses.
Check it: Use Refund Policy Essentials and Where Policy Must Appear to review what the outline covers. For deposits and no-shows, compare it with Can I charge this fee? Check how customers will see and agree to the final terms. Then compare them with your provider's terms. Get legal advice before publishing. This isn't legal advice.
Can a bot answer a refund question?
A chatbot is a tool that sends replies to customers automatically. This exercise only drafts a reply for a person to review. It doesn't set up a working customer-service bot.
The customer wants their deposit back, but the booking and agreed terms aren't in the chat. Don't promise a refund or pretend the request has reached a staff member.
Prompt:
Practice with a made-up salon. Customer J. asks whether the $84.00 deposit for Order #1043 will be refunded. My policy and booking records aren't included.
Draft a reply under 45 words. Say it's an automated chat tool. Explain that the booking records need a person's review before an answer can be given. Don't promise a refund, a review time or that the request has been passed to someone. Don't ask for private payment details.
Remove any promise about staff follow-up that my notes don't support.
Before using a live bot, confirm that someone can receive and review questions it can't answer. Tell customers when a bot is replying. If you serve California customers, ask a qualified adviser to check current law first. This isn't legal advice.
Check it: Compare the draft with the original booking, the agreed terms and Refund Policy Design. Service Businesses explains which records to check.
Before you send the reply
Compare each factual sentence with the booking, payment status or message it describes. Remove anything you can't support. Check that your business can keep every promise before you send it.
Next steps
- Try a refund policy question with Refund Policy Design
- For deposits and no-shows, read appointment fees and deposits
- For recurring charges, read Subscriptions and Recurring Billing
- To explain a statement name, read the name on your customer's statement
Sources
| Source | What it supports | Date/status |
|---|---|---|
| PCI SSC, PCI DSS overview | Baseline requirements for protecting payment account data | Accessed 2026-10-22 |
| PCI SSC, AI Principles | Applicable PCI requirements remain applicable to AI systems that are in scope | Accessed 2026-10-22 |
| PCI SSC, Security Considerations for AI Systems | PCI scope depends on data flow; not every AI tool is automatically in scope | Accessed 2026-10-22 |
| California Legislative Information, Business and Professions Code Section 17941 | Official reference to consult; this page states no statutory duty | Opened in a browser 2026-10-22 |