Taking responsibility for a problem— Rehearsal the app

I recently read about a new iphone app that sounded interesting, Rehearsal the app This is what I saw at the top of their home page, even positioned before an explanation of their product:

The email issues we had Tuesday (3/2/2010) (Apple featured us on the front page of the App Store and we were overwhelmed) have now been fixed. Notifications are now flowing smoothly once again. Thank you for your patience – if you gave us a 1 star rating, we don’t blame you – it’s pretty frustrating to not have an app work the way you expect it. We hope you’ll work with Rehearsal, and reconsider your rating in the App Store. Thanks!
A special thanks to the server team at GoDaddy.com – they came to our rescue, and we so appreciate that.

I was so impressed by this message because it was the perfect way to address the issue. (My guess is that it would have been impossible to contact every user that encountered a problem.)

Let’s look at the elements that made this effort so effective:

Acknowledge the problem (with date included) The email issues we had Tuesday. 3/2/10
Fix the problem Have now been fixed. Notifications are now flowing smoothly once again
Be grateful thank you for your patience
Express empathy If you gave us a 1 star rating we don’t blame you-it is pretty frustrating to not have an app work in the way you expect it
Request future business We hope you’ll work with Rehearsal and reconsider your rating in the App Store.
Be grateful Thanks
Acknowledge those that helped a very classy shout out to the folks at go daddy with another note of appreciation
A special thanks to the server team at GoDaddy.com – they came to our rescue, and we so appreciate that.

All in all, a really great way to take responsibility for a problem. It gives me confidence in the company and their product.

Do you handle your problems as proactively?