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Escalation to engineering reply templates

"Escalated" means little to a customer unless you say what it means. Tell them who has the issue now, what you need from them, and when you'll be back in touch.

Replace the text in [brackets] before sending.

Templates

Handing it to engineers

Email

Subject: Re: [original subject]: passed to our engineering team

Hi [Customer name],

I've gone as far as I can with this from the support side, so I've handed it to our engineering team with everything you sent me: [summary: the steps to reproduce, screenshots, your account ID].

What to expect: an engineer will look into the cause, which can take [realistic range] for an issue like this. I'll stay your point of contact, so you don't need to explain anything again.

I'll update you by [date] with what they've found, even if it's not fixed yet.

[Agent name]

Progress update

Email

Subject: Update on [short issue description]

Hi [Customer name],

A quick update as promised. Our engineers have [found the cause / narrowed it down to (area) / are still investigating].

[If known: the fix is being tested and should be out by (date).] [If not: it's taking longer than I hoped because (honest reason).]

Next update from me: [date]. If anything changes on your side in the meantime, reply here and I'll pass it straight on.

[Agent name]

Chat: setting expectations

Chat

I've checked everything I can from here, and this needs an engineer to look at it. I've passed it on with all the details from this chat. It won't be fixed in the next few minutes, but I'll email you an update by [date].

Tips

  • Summarise for the customer what you passed on, so they know they won't be asked again.
  • Give a date for the next update rather than a date for the fix.
  • Stay the single point of contact; don't let engineers start a new thread with the customer unannounced.
  • Write the internal escalation note well; a clear repro is the fastest way to a fix.

Avoid

  • Telling the customer "it's with engineering" and then going silent.
  • Promising a fix date engineering hasn't agreed to.
  • Internal jargon like ticket priorities or team names the customer doesn't know.

More templates

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