The customer isn’t always right. At least according to Lufthansa’s viral complaint clapback.

Does the customer always have to be right?

Germany’s national airline has apologized after its snarky reply went viral this week, raising important points about customer relations and brand strategy.

After an X user accused Lufthansa of ignoring their messages about a payment issue, the airline appeared fed up as it issued a sardonic reply on Tuesday.

“We’ve already responded to you numerous times via DM on different social media platforms,” they said. “The response isn’t going to magically change just because you’re asking the same question on X now.”

While Ryanair, the Irish budget airline, has built a reputation for mocking its passengers on social media, that’s not a germane strategy for everyone.

“The way an airline responds to customers online also has to be authentic to its established tone and personality,” said Marc Cornelius, the founder and CEO of 8020 Communications, a PR firm specializing in aviation and travel.

“You might almost expect a provocative or cheeky response from Ryanair, because it has spent years cultivating that persona, but from Lufthansa it feels out of character and therefore jars.”

Some social media users loved it, though. Lufthansa’s reply got over 15 million views and 30,000 likes within two days. It was re-shared by meme accounts with millions of followers.

However, the airline backtracked within 24 hours, just as the post was picking up steam. “We sincerely apologize for our last reply to you,” it said. “This is not the way we treat our passengers.”

The customer said they appreciated the apology but were still annoyed that their payment dilemma hadn’t been resolved and their emails remained unanswered.

Lufthansa did not respond to a request for comment.

“I feel for the CMO and larger support team at Lufthansa right now. Customers can be demanding, but they’re why we exist,” Latané Conant, chief marketing officer at AI customer service company Parloa, told Business Insider.

The rise of AI is making customer service a more pertinent issue. On the one hand, agents and chatbots make it easier for customers to send detailed complaints and follow up repeatedly. Meanwhile, more companies are using AI to answer them — adding to the pressure on humans doing the same job.

While Lufthansa hasn’t said whether AI played a role in the incident, Conant said, “It appears to be either a poorly built AI agent or a human badly in need of a vacation.”

“Which is unfortunate, because either way, it’s entirely preventable,” she added.

People are divided on how helpful AI is for customer service. Ada, an AI customer service firm, commissioned a survey of 1,000 Americans in April and found that half of travelers don’t mind if they’re answered by an AI or human agent — so long as their problem is resolved.

So even as the world of customer service is changing, one thing remains constant: finding a solution.

“When a company does get it wrong, a quick and sincere apology is usually the right response,” Cornelius told Business Insider.

Conant also said that “the immediate apology was 100% the right move, even if it may already be too late.”

However, Cornelius added, that isn’t the be-all and end-all: “The customer needs to feel they’ve genuinely been heard and, crucially, that the underlying issue is followed up and resolved promptly.”