[Customer service & support]() / [Use cases]() / [Delivery recovery]() [How it works]() [What you get]() [Scope]() [Start a review]() [Customer service & support]()[Delivery & returns]() # Recover delayed and lost shipments before customers chase. A stalled shipment becomes a case with a date, a remedy and an owner, before the customer has to ask. [Start with a support review]() [How it works]() REC-209 Owner: CX lead Olive M has had no scan for four days. Order O-8452 · Canvas field jacket, Olive M Promised Delivery two days ago Remedy chosen Replacement, by policy · Olive M in stock Replacement O-8452-R1 shipped, stock reserved Carrier claim Logistics, linked, not blocking Closes when The replacement is delivered The recovery case: the promise, the remedy and who owns each part. Your CX lead works from it. ## Sound familiar? - Tracking says “in transit” for a week, and nobody owns what happens next. - Customers write in before you do, and each gets a copied apology. - Replacement, refund or wait: it depends who picks up the ticket. A late shipment is a small problem. A customer chasing it three times is an expensive one. ## What changes. ShowTodayWith the engine Trigger A customer writes in A stalled scan opens the case Owner Whoever picks up the ticket A named owner and a next deadline Remedy Decided case by case Chosen by policy, with the unclear ones sent to a person Closing The email is sent Closed on delivery, or an agreed alternative ## How it works. 7 steps, 4 stages. - AI**2** - Rules and automation**4** - Your team**1** - Approval 1. 1 Detect 1. Rules and automation ### Spot the stall A missed scan or promise opens a case, and duplicate events are ignored. - AfterShip - Shopify 2. AI ### Reconcile the scan history Turns messy carrier notes into what’s actually known. - AfterShip 2. 2 Decide 1. Rules and automation ### Apply the remedy policy Replacement, refund or wait, by order value, stock and what the customer chose. 2. Your team Approval ### Decide the unclear ones Logistics reads carrier facts nobody can infer from silence. Finance or a rule authorizes compensation. 3. 3 Remedy 1. Rules and automation ### Ship one replacement, once Stock is reserved and one replacement goes out per case, even if the carrier posts the event twice. - Shopify - ShipBob 2. AI ### Tell the customer, case by case Writes the update with the new date and what to do if the first parcel turns up. 4. 4 Close 1. Rules and automation ### Close on delivery The case stays open until delivery or an agreed alternative is confirmed. Closed cases refine the thresholds ## What you get. Real work, every week. Fernway Outfitters Day 6 · 9:15 am Your Olive jacket is late. A replacement is on its way. Your jacket hasn’t moved at the carrier’s hub for four days, so we’ve sent a replacement today. You don’t need to do anything. If the first one turns up, we’ll send a free return label. Canvas field jacketOlive · M · replacement O-8452-R1 Track replacement Sent after the replacement order was accepted The update the customer gets before they’ve asked, with the new date and what to do next. Recovery cases This week - REC-209Olive M · no scan for 4 days **Same day**Replaced - REC-211Navy L · marked delivered, not received **1 day**Refunded - REC-214Sand S · address returned by the carrier **Open**Waiting on customer Time to an actual remedy, case by case. Open cases show whose move it is. REC-209 · what the record holds - Promised delivery date - Last scan and carrier - Customer told, and when - Remedy chosen: wait, replace or refund - Next deadline - Delivery confirmed Closes the case What every case records, so the promise, the notice and the decision can be shown later. ## How you’ll know it’s working. 1. Time to an actual remedy Days from the first stall to a replacement, refund or delivery, not to an email. 2. Customer follow-ups per exception How often the customer still had to chase. 3. Replacement and refund cost per case Set against a matched group of earlier cases, so you can see whether recovery pays for itself. Baselines agreed before we build. ## Works with what you have. Fulfillment - AfterShip - ShipBob Commerce - Shopify Support - Gorgias - Zendesk We configure first As of October 2026, AfterShip’s exception agent investigates stalled shipments and drafts the update for a person to approve. We set that up first. We build when The remedy, the replacement order and the customer’s choice have to be joined, and nobody owns a case from the first stall to delivery. ## What a first build includes. Built in your accounts, around your team. Scope, fee and baseline agreed before we start. 1. 1 Design 2. 2 Build 3. 3 Run it, or hand it over [Start with a review]() [Scope this build]() ### We build - Stall and missed-promise rules, set from your carrier history - A recovery case with a promised date, a remedy and an owner - Replacement and refund paths that can’t run twice - Customer updates written for each case - A remedy ledger on time, follow-ups and cost ### We start from - Tracking or carrier platform access - Shopify and warehouse access - Your remedy and shipping-promise policy - A month of delivery contacts ### From your team Owner CX lead, with logistics Involves - Customer service - Logistics - Fulfillment - Finance ## Questions teams ask. Doesn’t AfterShip already do this? Its exception agent investigates and drafts an email that a person approves. Replacing the order, refunding and closing the case on delivery are separate jobs. We configure AfterShip first and connect the rest only where you need it. Does the FTC’s mail order rule matter here? For covered US orders it can. The rule expects a reasonable basis for the shipment time you promise, and a notice and a choice if it will be late. It applies to the shipping time you promised, so each case records the promised ship date, any delay notice and the customer’s decision. That’s a record, not legal advice. Will proactive messages create more contacts? Sometimes, so we measure it. A message goes out only when there’s a new date or a decision for the customer, not on every scan. Who owns it once it’s running? You do. It’s built in your accounts, documented, with training for the people who run it. Ownership usually sits with your CX lead, with logistics. We can keep running it with you, or step back. How do we start? Usually with a support review: two to four weeks, a fixed fee credited to the build, and a plan that’s yours. If the job is already clear, we can scope the build directly. ## Part of your support engine. One of 12 use cases, in 6 parts. [See the whole support engine]() 1. [Order changes **2**]() 2. [Delivery & returns **2**]() 3. [Product help **2**]() 4. [Knowledge **2**]() 5. [Quality & proof **2**]() 6. [People & coverage **2**]() In delivery & returns - **Delivery recovery**You’re here - [**Returns and exchanges**Guide returns and exchanges to the right outcome]() Works with - [**Order status**Resolve “where is my order” with a status customers can trust]() - [**Verified resolution**Check that AI and agents actually finished the job]() See it at work - [**In the Fernway launch**Day 6: Olive M stalled at a carrier hub]() ## Fix it before they ask. Start with a support review. [Start with a support review]() [**Talk it through first**15 minutes]() We reply within one business day. --- Source: [https://www.thekeating.co/use-cases/delivery-recovery/]() [Contact Keating & Co](mailto:nelson@thekeating.co) · [Agent guidance](https://www.thekeating.co/llms.txt)