Lacoste Responds to False Coupon Code

Apparently, Lacoste had trouble with a fake coupon cope that was circulated online. Here's the CEO's email to one customer. What do you think of the response?

Dear Jason,

On July 12th, we became aware that an incredible LACOSTE discount code
was making the rounds in social media - a discount code that was not
authorized by LACOSTE. The code was deactivated by the company that
manages our website and fulfills our orders since they determined that the
discount code was procured by fraud, and they decided to cancel all
unshipped orders. You may receive an email notification to that effect
today, and we want to make sure you understand why.

Regardless of whether or not the code was authorized, the cancellation
of your order was not what we wanted, and we're very frustrated with the
situation - though not as much as you probably are.

Although we cannot undo the cancelled orders in our partner's system,
LACOSTE has every intention of honoring the single order you placed with
us. As a result, we would like to offer you a new (and fully
authorized!) $50 discount valid on any single order over $50. Below,
you'll see a unique code that's valid at http://shop.lacoste.com/ between
now and August 31st. Note that it can only be used once, so please
safeguard it.

Your unique code is: [omitted]

Thank you for your understanding and patience, and we apologize for any
inconvenience this has caused you. If you have any further questions or
concerns, please contact me directly at steve@lacoste-usa.com.

Best regards,

Steve Birkhold, President and CEO
LACOSTE USA

Discussion Starters:

• What principles of communicating bad news does Steve Birkhold use in his email?
• What is your assessment of the email? If you were the customer who received this, how would you feel?