After a service failure occurs, companies often use apology and compensation to make up for customer losses. However, customers may still find it difficult to calm down in this situation. Although service recovery research has a long history, previous studies lack the discussion of the comfort strategy after service recovery. Based on this, this paper explores the impact and mechanism of metaphorical ( with vs. without) comfort strategy of companies alter service recovery on customer forgiveness behavior intention. The results of four scenario simulation experiments show that metaphorical comfort strategy can better promote customer forgiveness behavior intention than comfort strategy without metaphors, and the degree of creative cognitive reappraisal and relief play a chain mediating role in it. At the same time, responsibility attribution and customer-enterprise relationship quality play a moderating role in its influence process. This paper enriches the theoretical research on the post-service recovery stage of enterprises, helps to deepen the relevant research on the sustained effect of service recovery, and provides guidance for enterprises to effectively optimize service recovery measures.