Are brands really sorry—or just sorry enough to keep you shopping?

The Apology Coupon is a blisteringly sharp exposé of how modern corporations have transformed failure into a monetized feedback loop. When companies screw up, they don’t fix the problem—they offer 15% off your next disappointment. Delayed deliveries, crashed apps, missing refunds, broken promises: the new default isn’t accountability, it’s a discount code.

From fake empathy emails and store credit shams to parasocial apology campaigns and the weaponization of “free shipping,” this book reveals how businesses use compensation not as restitution, but as distraction. With biting wit and obsessive detail, it dissects the industries—retail, tech, airlines, telecoms—where customer failure has been baked into the business model, then patched over with coupons designed to shut you up, not make things right.

The Apology Coupon lays bare how loyalty has been replaced by manipulation, how complaint channels double as monetization funnels, and why that store credit isn’t compensation—it’s a leash. More than a critique, this is a manifesto for consumers who are done settling for hollow apologies wrapped in promo codes.

If you’ve ever waited on hold only to get a chatbot’s half-hearted “oops,” or felt weirdly grateful for a voucher that doesn’t actually fix what went wrong, this book will not only resonate—it will give you the language to push back.