Sooner or later a customer writes that something you sold has stopped working. It may arrive as an e-mail to the owner, a message to a sales person or a phone call to whoever picked up. If your business has no routine for this, the claim is answered by mood: quickly when the person is free and the customer is friendly, slowly when neither is true.
That is unfair to customers and expensive for you. This article describes a short routine for a small company with no dedicated service department. It is about claims after delivery, a fault or a defect in something already sold. It is not about ordinary returns, which we cover separately.
One door, one owner
Choose a single place where claims arrive: a shared address such as claims@yourcompany.example, or a short form on your website. Tell the team that anything that looks like a claim is forwarded there the same day.
Then name one owner for the inbox. The owner does not have to solve every case. They make sure every case has a next step and a date. Name a deputy for holidays and sickness, and write both names on the page where the routine lives.
Record six facts at intake
When a claim arrives, the owner creates one line in a shared sheet. Six facts are enough to start:
- Customer and how to reach them.
- Product or order, with the order number if there is one.
- Date of delivery or installation. Most decisions depend on it.
- The fault, in the customer's words, plus what they already tried.
- Proof: photos, a short video, a serial number, an error message.
- What the customer asks for: repair, replacement, a refund or just advice.
If something is missing, ask for it in the first reply instead of asking one item at a time over a week. A simple reply template with a checklist of what you need saves many messages.
Set two time limits
Write down two numbers and keep them visible:
- First reply: the customer hears from a person that the claim was received and what happens next. One working day is realistic for most small teams.
- First decision: you say whether the claim is accepted, needs more information or is declined. Five working days is a reasonable starting point; use a different number if your products need it, but choose one.
A claim that passes either limit shows up in a weekly check by the owner. Silence is what turns a normal fault into a complaint.
Decide in a fixed order
Use the same four questions every time, so two similar claims get the same answer.
- Is it covered? Check the delivery date against your warranty terms and the customer's legal rights. In the UK, for example, the Consumer Rights Act 2015 gives consumers rights for goods that are faulty or not as described, and in the first six months a fault is generally presumed to have been there at delivery unless the seller can show otherwise. Rules differ between countries and between consumer and business customers, so read the official guidance for your market and ask a lawyer when a case is unclear.
- Which remedy fits? Repair, replacement, partial refund or full refund. Prefer the one that solves the customer's problem at a reasonable cost, and say why.
- Who approves? Give the owner a spending limit, for example up to a stated amount per case, and name who decides above it. This avoids a chain of messages for a small item.
- When does the customer hear back? Put the date in the sheet and in the reply.
Declining is sometimes correct, for example for damage caused by misuse. Do it in writing, state the reason plainly and tell the customer what other options exist. Never promise a remedy before the owner or approver has confirmed it.
Close the case properly
A claim is finished when the customer has the remedy and you have checked that it worked, not when you sent the parcel. Ask a short question a week later: is it solved? Record the cost, the time spent and the outcome. If money goes back to the customer, follow your existing rules for refunds and credit notes so the accounting is consistent.
Look for patterns once a month
Fifteen minutes at the end of the month is enough. Sort the sheet by product and by fault. Three claims about the same part from the same supplier is not coincidence; it is a conversation with the supplier, and perhaps a change in what you sell. The same logic is described in our article on a customer complaint log, where the monthly review is the part that changes behaviour.
Also watch the time columns. If the first reply regularly takes three days, the problem is the routine or the workload, not the individual claim.
Where AI can help, and where it cannot
An AI assistant can draft the reply that asks for the six facts, summarise a long e-mail thread into the intake line, or group last month's claims by fault so you see patterns faster. It can also help translate a customer's message.
It should not decide whether a claim is covered, promise a remedy or tell a customer what their legal rights are. It does not know your terms, your stock or the law in your country. A person approves every decision, and anything an assistant drafts is checked before it is sent. Do not paste customer data into a tool you have not approved for that purpose.
A first step
Create the shared inbox and the sheet with the six columns this week. Write the two time limits and the two names on one page and send it to the team. Then take the next claim that arrives and run it through the four questions. After one month, you will have a record that shows what actually goes wrong and how long it takes to put right.