When to override your agent on a refund (and when not to)

The platform's return policy is deliberately simple: damaged, defective, misprinted or lost orders get a replacement or refund within 14 days; change-of-mind doesn't, because every item is printed on demand for that one buyer. Simple policy, simple automation — the engine applies it cleanly in the overwhelming majority of cases. This playbook is about the remainder.

When to let the agent decide. Photo shows a cracked frame or a misprint: approve-and-replace is the obvious call, and the engine makes it. Tracking shows the parcel lost: same. These cases have evidence, a policy line, and one right answer. Overriding here just adds latency to an outcome that was never in doubt.

When to step in. The cases worth your judgment share a trait: the policy answer and the right answer might differ.

• The borderline photo. Damage that might be a production flaw or might be a doorstep accident. Policy says maybe; your read of the buyer says more than the pixels do.
• The loyal customer, out of window. Day 16, third-time buyer, polite request. Policy says no. A store is allowed to be generous — that's a brand decision, and brand decisions are yours.
• The pattern. Same buyer, third "damaged" claim. The engine flags repetition, but deciding someone is acting in bad faith is a human accusation and should cost a human a moment of thought.

Set the dial honestly. Your guardrails decide which refunds reach you at all. If you approve everything the agent queues without reading it, lower the threshold and reclaim the time. If you keep editing its calls, raise it. The queue should contain decisions you actually make — otherwise it's theater.

The agent's job is consistency. Yours is mercy, suspicion, and taste — the parts that don't compress into policy.