The Problem
Before automation, return requests were handled entirely by humans — staff checked order IDs in spreadsheets, compared return reasons against policy case by case, and approved or rejected based on individual judgment, leaving customers waiting hours or a full day for a response.
Each request took 8–12 minutes end to end. For a business handling 30–50 returns a day, that meant 4–8 hours of daily manual work, inconsistent decisions across team members, and high operational overhead for a repetitive task.
How It Works
Customers submit a return through a simple online form. The order is verified automatically against the store's records, and AI evaluates return eligibility against store policy.
The decision is logged instantly to a Google Sheets audit trail, and the customer is notified by email — all orchestrated by Make.com in the background, with no staff intervention for standard cases. Delays, manual checks and subjective judgment are removed from the loop.
Impact
- Return decisions in under 30 seconds — days of queue time become minutes
- ~130–160 hours saved per month — the equivalent of freeing one full-time support resource
- 100% policy-aligned decisions — consistent enforcement removes subjective, case-by-case judgment and reduces disputes
- Every decision logged — a complete audit trail, with staff freed for genuinely complex cases
