E-commerce Customer Support Ticket Workflow

Send the auto-response or first human reply from Gorgias / Zendesk / Re:amaze within the team's first-response SLA (most DTC teams target 1-4 business hours). Use the appropriate macro by ticket tag — order status, return, sizing, defect — rather than a generic greeting.

Shopify, Amazon (FBA vs. FBM), eBay, Walmart Marketplace, and Etsy each have different policy windows and refund mechanics. Amazon Buyer-Seller Messaging has its own communication rules; never request reviews or share off-platform contact info on Amazon tickets.

Pull the order from Shopify admin or Seller Central. Record the order ID exactly as the platform formats it (Shopify #1234, Amazon 111-1234567-1234567) so downstream macros and refund tools resolve cleanly.

Apply the helpdesk tag set used by your trend reports — WISMO, return, refund, defect, sizing, address-change, cancellation, fraud-suspected. Consistent tagging is what makes the monthly returns-rate and root-cause review actionable.

Confirm fulfillment status in ShipStation / ShipBob / Seller Central, scan tracking events from the carrier (UPS, FedEx, USPS, DHL), and note any delivery exceptions. For Amazon FBM tickets, late shipment rate and VTR are at stake — do not let tracking gaps go unaddressed.

Repeat-customer LTV and prior return / refund pattern affect the resolution lane. A first-order customer with a defect gets a different playbook than a serial returner; flag fraud-suspect patterns (multiple chargebacks, mismatched billing/shipping geos) for the fraud queue.

Escalate when the ticket is a chargeback, an Amazon A-to-z claim, an FTC / regulator complaint, a safety / injury report, a media or legal threat, or when the resolution exceeds the agent's refund/credit authority. Otherwise resolve in-lane.

Use the helpdesk macro library — refund, replacement, store credit, RMA, address correction. Personalize the variables; never send a macro with unfilled merge tags. Check the macro's Klaviyo / brand-voice review date to ensure it still reflects current policy.

Process refunds in Shopify or Seller Central within agent authority limits. For returns, generate the RMA in Loop / AfterShip / Returnly with the correct return reason code — reason codes feed the per-SKU returns dashboard and the product team's defect review.

Reply with the specific action taken, expected refund-settlement window (3-10 business days for most card processors, longer for ACH), and tracking for any replacement shipment. Do not close the ticket until the customer confirms or 48 hours pass with no objection.

Internal note must capture root cause (carrier damage, sizing, defect, address error, customer error), refund amount, and any inventory adjustment. This is the audit trail for chargeback rebuttals and the source data for the monthly trend review.

Chargebacks go to the disputes queue (Stripe / Shopify Payments / PayPal — note the rebuttal deadline, often 7-14 days from notification). Amazon A-to-z claims go to the Seller Central response within 48 hours or the claim auto-grants. Safety and regulator complaints route to leadership / legal.

Attach proof of delivery (signed tracking, photo-on-delivery), order details, customer communication history, IP/AVS match for fraud disputes, and any RMA / return tracking. Missing tracking proof is the single most common reason chargebacks are lost.

For non-chargeback escalations, give the customer a realistic window (typically 2-5 business days for supervisor review). Avoid promising a specific outcome; promise a specific next-contact time and then meet it.

Close the loop with the customer once the dispute or escalation resolves. For chargebacks, communicate the result and any policy implications (e.g., account flagged for future orders) per your fraud playbook.

Fire the Gorgias / Zendesk CSAT request 24 hours after ticket close. Do not bundle with an Amazon review request — that violates Amazon's communication policy and risks an account-health warning.

If three or more tickets cite the same SKU + reason code in 30 days, raise it to the merchandiser. Returns rates creeping from 3% to 12% on a single SKU is a classic missed-signal that the per-ticket agent never sees in isolation.

If the resolution exposed a missing macro, an out-of-date policy line, or a help-center article that misled the customer, update it now. The CX manager reviews macro change-log weekly.