[Customer service & support]() / [Use cases]() / [Returns and exchanges]() [How it works]() [What you get]() [Scope]() [Start a review]() [Customer service & support]()[Delivery & returns]() # Guide returns and exchanges to the right outcome. Each return ends in the right outcome for the order, an exchange, credit or refund, with the warehouse and your books agreeing. [Start with a support review]() [How it works]() Return reasons feed the next fix ## Sound familiar? - Agents check the policy, then the order, then stock, before they can answer. - A refund goes out before the parcel is back. - Customers who wanted a different size get a refund because that’s easiest. Every refund that could have been an exchange is a sale you gave back, and every refund before the parcel returns is a risk. ## What changes. ShowTodayWith the engine Eligibility Checked by hand against the policy Checked against the policy version in force, with the date Options A refund by default Exchange, credit or refund, by what’s in stock and the policy Warehouse A label and a hope A return the warehouse expects, with a reason Refund Issued when the agent remembers Issued once, when the return arrives ## How it works. 6 steps, 4 stages. - AI**2** - Rules and automation**3** - Your team**1** - Approval 1. 1 Ask 1. AI ### Understand what the customer wants A different size, a different product or their money back, in their own words. - Gorgias 2. 2 Check 1. Rules and automation ### Check the order, the window and the policy Delivery date, item condition rules and the policy version in force. - Shopify 3. 3 Offer 1. AI ### Offer the options that fit An exchange, credit or refund, with what’s in stock. 2. Your team Approval ### Decide outside the policy Late returns and goodwill go to a person, with the facts attached. 4. 4 Settle 1. Rules and automation ### Send the label and tell the warehouse The return is expected, with a reason code. - ShipBob - Shopify 2. Rules and automation ### Refund or credit when it arrives One refund, issued once, after the return is received. Return reasons feed the next fix ## What you get. Real work, every week. Return requests Policy RET-13 · 30 days - O-8390 · Trail pantToo long · size 32 in stock **$110**Exchange - O-8402 · Canvas field jacketDay 26 · inside the window **$168**Refund on receipt - O-8377 · Merino crewDay 41 · outside the window **$98**Team decides Every request, with the policy version it was judged on. Only the late ones reach your team. Return path · O-8402 - Eligible: day 26 of 30 - Label sent - Warehouse expects the parcel - Parcel received Refund follows - Refund issued once A return is done once the parcel and the refund agree, which is later than the label. Fernway Outfitters Today · 10:20 am Want the 32 instead? We have the 32 in stock. Reply “exchange” and we’ll send it with a return label for the 34, or choose a refund of $110 once the 34 is back with us. Trail pantSize 32 · in stock Exchange for the 32 Offered because the size is in stock The exchange offer, sent when the size is in stock. ## How you’ll know it’s working. 1. Time from request to outcome How long the customer waits for a decision and a label. 2. Returns kept as exchange or credit The value you kept, on top of faster refunds. 3. Refunds issued before the return arrived A direct measure of risk you’re carrying. Baselines agreed before we build. ## Works with what you have. Commerce - Shopify Fulfillment - ShipBob - AfterShip Support - Gorgias - Zendesk We configure first Shopify’s returns tools or your returns portal already handle labels and receipt. We set the policy, the exchange options and the messages there first. We build when Eligibility depends on rules the portal can’t hold, or the exchange, the warehouse and the refund don’t agree. ## 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 - Eligibility rules from your current policy - Exchange and credit options that check stock - A return the warehouse expects, with a reason code - Refund-on-receipt with no double refunds ### We start from - Helpdesk, Shopify and returns portal access - Your returns policy and its versions - Warehouse receiving data - A month of return requests ### From your team Owner CX lead, with the fulfillment lead Involves - Customer service - Fulfillment - Finance ## Questions teams ask. Will the AI approve returns outside our policy? No. It applies the policy version in force, and anything outside it goes to a person with the facts attached. You set the limits. Do exchanges need a separate process? The same path. An exchange order is created and the return is expected. Nothing is refunded until the return arrives, unless you choose otherwise. 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 the fulfillment lead. 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**Recover delayed and lost shipments before customers chase]() - **Returns and exchanges**You’re here Works with - [**Knowledge upkeep**Keep every answer current when policies and products change]() - [**Order changes**Change or cancel orders before the warehouse picks]() ## Send every return to the right outcome. 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/returns-exchanges/]() [Contact Keating & Co](mailto:nelson@thekeating.co) · [Agent guidance](https://www.thekeating.co/llms.txt)