Job store-returns-requests-sorted-by-written-rules · revised 12 October 2026
Sort return requests by your own rules: approve, ask for more, or send to you
Your written return rules turned into a decision table with ten reply drafts, proved on 30 requests, with every photo and damage claim going to a person.
You might be seeing
- Each return email needs you to re-read your policy
- You worry a rule will refuse someone who is inside their 14-day cancellation right
No passwords, keys, card details or admin invites needed to start.
What usually happened
Return decisions mix simple rules (window, final sale) with cases that need judgement (damage, repeat returners). A tool that applies all of them alone can send money out before anyone looks, or refuse someone who has a legal right to cancel. Without a written table nobody can test the rules.
Who it’s for: Owner of an online store who handles returns by email and does not want a bot to approve or refuse refunds on its own.
Usually starts when: Return emails are piling up, and you are afraid a tool will approve a refund on a damage claim before anyone has looked at the photo.
The result: Your return rules become a decision table with three results (approve the standard route, ask for more information, send to you) and ten reply drafts. It is proved on 30 requests, and every photo or damage case goes to a person.
Check whether this job fits
Answer these without sending files or logins. Nothing is submitted unless you choose to contact us.
What you get
- The decision table
- Ten reply drafts
- The answer key and the test file
- Test results
- Steps to re-run the test
Included
- One written return policy turned into a decision table
- Three results: standard route, ask for more information, send to you
- Ten reply drafts for the standard and ask-for-more cases
- A 30-request test file with an answer key marked by you
- The cases listed in the test: outside window, final sale, wrong item, damage with photo, change of mind inside 14 days, repeat returner, code misuse
Not included
- Refusing any request with no person reading it
- Issuing refunds or restocking
- Accusing a customer of fraud
- Legal advice on consumer rights
- Connecting to your returns app or store
- Real customer data
How we know it’s done
Agreed with you before work starts. Each check produces evidence you keep.
In the 30 requests, 100% of photo and damage cases (8 are planted) go to a person; 8 of 8 is a smoke test, at least 68% with 95% confidence.
Evidence: The results table beside your key.
None of the 4 planted change-of-mind requests inside the 14-day cancellation right gets a reply draft saying it is outside the window or final sale; each gets the standard route or is sent to you. One that does fails the whole test.
Evidence: The 4 planted change-of-mind cases and their results.
Of the 18 other requests, at least 16 match your hand-marked key (89%); the key for 15 of the 30 was held back from us until the run.
Evidence: The results table.
Each reply draft uses only wording in your policy and no draft accuses the customer of anything.
Evidence: The ten drafts marked against your policy.
Sign-off. You re-run the acceptance checks with the steps we hand over, read the results and sign off in writing. Payment follows sign-off.
If it fails. If an agreed check fails, you do not pay for this fixed scope. We hand over what we found and agree whether to stop or re-quote; no surprise work.
When it fits, and when we stop
It fits when
- You have a written return policy
- You can send 30 anonymised past requests, or accept 30 invented ones
- You hand-mark the answer key for the 30 requests, 15 of them held back from us; two people mark the same 20 to check the key
- A named person reads every request that is not on the standard route
We stop and tell you if
- You want the table to refuse requests with no person reading them
- You want refunds issued by the table
- Two people on your side mark the same 20 requests and agree on fewer than 17
- Your policy contradicts the legal right to cancel and you will not change it
What could go wrong
The job works on copies of files you send and returns files and a report. Nothing in your store or helpdesk is changed by us, so there is nothing to undo. Our copies of your files are deleted when the job ends.
Scroll the table sideways to read it all.
| Risk | How we handle it |
|---|---|
| A refund is approved or refused without a person looking at the evidence. | Photo and damage cases always go to a person, and the test checks every one does. |
| The table refuses someone inside their 14-day right to cancel. | The test includes change-of-mind cases inside 14 days, and none may get a reply saying it is outside the window or final sale. |
| A repeat-returner rule reads as an accusation. | The table only flags "send to you". It never drafts an accusation. |
A separate automated reviewer checks the work and the test results before hand-over. Your named person decides every request that is not on the standard route and approves the table. No human supervisor from us is included unless your agreement names one, and at launch the work is largely automated.
How we deliver
We arrange the work and independent review, then show you the result against the agreed checks. You keep authority over your systems.
- Agree the written policy, the three results and the hand-over cases
- Turn the policy into a table, one row per case
- Write the ten reply drafts for standard and ask-for-more cases
- Build the 30-request test file; you mark the key and hold half back
- Run the table against the key; a separate automated reviewer checks it
- Hand over table, drafts, key and results
This is a one-off job, not emergency cover or a subscription. We confirm eligibility, price, start window and delivery date in writing before you accept, and work starts only after the agreed inputs are in place. An enquiry creates no charge or booking.
Need to keep it working?
Discuss a monthly re-test of the table after you change your policy.
Ongoing work is separately scoped and quoted: no monitoring, response-time guarantee or automatic subscription is included in this job.
Explore an ongoing managed lane, or mention the responsibility you need in your enquiry.
What you can check
This is a new service. We have not delivered this job for a client yet.
Other ways to get this done
- Use your store's built-in return rules and approve each request yourself.
- Keep a one-page checklist beside your inbox and mark each request with it.
Questions
Will it decide refunds?
No. It sorts requests and drafts replies. A person decides anything with a photo, damage or doubt.
Does it work with my returns app?
It works from your written rules and does not connect to any app. You use the table beside the app.
Is this legal advice?
No. It applies rules you have written. Whether they meet consumer law is for your adviser.
Does a pass mean it will be right next month?
No. A pass describes items like the test sample on the day of the test. It is not a promise about future items, and it does not replace your own checking.
Send an enquiry
Send us
- Your written return policy, as a link or text
- How many return requests you handle a week
- Which return cases you always want to see yourself
- No customer data
Later, once you agree
- 30 anonymised past requests, or a note to invent them
- Your hand-marked answer key, with 15 requests sealed, and the second marking of 20 of them
- The name of the person who reviews requests
- Your current reply wording, if any
You keep your store, your helpdesk and every login. We work on the files you send through a secure route agreed after you say yes, and hand back files and a report. We never ask for store or helpdesk logins, and nothing goes live until your named person applies it.
Email fallback: open your mail app
If website submission is unavailable, review and send the fallback email yourself. An email fallback is not a website receipt. Or write to hello@syntheticindustry.ai with “store-returns-requests-sorted-by-written-rules” as the subject.