The Right Words to Say to the Customer Who Asks for Something Unreasonable

‘I wish we could do that …’

when to use it: With a customer who is trying to negotiate a better price or one who is asking for an unreasonable allowance for an error.

why? Instead of creating an adversarial scenario, these words actually compliment a customer for his intelligence. Do they always work? No. But they work frequently enough to remember. — Rick Segel, Retail Business for Dummies