NSK AI
Solutions · Retail and commerce
Plate IV
NSK·SOL·04

The refund decided once

A decision reached in one exchange, with the reason written down.

Fig. 1 — Interior of the Katz drug store, Kansas City. National Archives, public domain.
Plate IV
NSK·SOL·04
The problem

Returns are decided three times: by a bot that cannot see the order, an agent who cannot see the policy, and a supervisor who cannot see either.

Customers tell the story again at every step, and the eventual answer is inconsistent enough to be worth arguing with.

The strip drifts.

The strip drifts. Point at a case to hold it and read the decision.

Case
Damaged in transit
Refund in full
decided in 2.1s
Case
Wrong size, worn
Exchange offered
decided in 1.8s
Case
Outside window
Refused, reason cited
decided in 1.4s
Case
Item not received
Refund in full
decided in 2.4s
Case
Change of mind, sealed
Refund in full
decided in 1.6s
Case
Faulty after 40 days
Repair or replace
decided in 2.9s
Case
Duplicate order
Refund in full
decided in 1.2s
Case
Missing part
Part dispatched
decided in 2.2s
Case
Damaged in transit
Refund in full
decided in 2.1s
Case
Wrong size, worn
Exchange offered
decided in 1.8s
Case
Outside window
Refused, reason cited
decided in 1.4s
Case
Item not received
Refund in full
decided in 2.4s
Case
Change of mind, sealed
Refund in full
decided in 1.6s
Case
Faulty after 40 days
Repair or replace
decided in 2.9s
Case
Duplicate order
Refund in full
decided in 1.2s
Case
Missing part
Part dispatched
decided in 2.2s
Where it applies
Three places the same decision path is used.
01
Returns and refunds

One exchange, one decision, and the policy clause that produced it written into the record.

02
Order exceptions

Late, short and damaged deliveries resolved against the carrier and payment systems rather than described back to the customer.

03
Policy questions

Staff and customers get the same reading of the same policy, with its version attached.

Fig. 2 — Joseph Street, Lagos: shopfronts and the Royal Cinema. Public domain.
A worked example
Cases a week
96,000
Decided in one exchange
78%
Overturned on appeal
2.1%
Cost per case
−44%
Policy exceptions
escalated, never guessed
Figures from one deployment, quoted with the client’s permission. Yours will differ.
Notes on compliance
01

Consumer protection rules applied as written policy, not as model judgement.

02

Every refusal carries a reason code the customer can read.

03

Decisions reviewable for six years, with the policy version attached.

Deployment
Week 1–2
Policy written as rules the system can cite
Week 3–5
Order, payment and logistics systems connected
Week 6–8
Live on one category, supervised
Week 9
Rolled out by category, appeal rate watched
The other plates

Bring us the case you have not been able to close.

We will tell you which part of it is a model problem and which part is not.