The same thirty-odd questions, arriving forever

The questions where a wrong answer becomes a refund, a chargeback or a complaint.

• refund requestsA refund question is really about eligibility and timing. What to index, what the reply may promise, and where it has to reach a person.
• cancellationsCancellation content is hard to find on purpose. What it costs to answer plainly, how notice periods work, and what happens to data on the way out.
• pricing questionsPublished price versus the price for this buyer. Bands, ranges and from pricing, and why a firm number for unscoped work is the damaging failure.
• billing and invoicesInvoice copies, tax numbers, purchase order references. Nearly all of it is account specific, so the honest handling is process plus a clean handover.
• failed paymentsThe reason usually sits with the card issuer and is invisible to you. The useless reply, the useful one, and why card details never belong in a chat.
• quotes and estimatesWhat has to be known before a number is possible, how the scoping step works, and how to answer without stonewalling or inventing a figure.
• insurance and coverageWhether something is covered turns on the policy wording, so the assistant explains process and never adjudicates. Claims have to reach a person fast.
• deposits and no-show feesThe notice period, the charge, and why vague policy wording produces the complaint. Taking a card number in a conversation is out of scope.
• gift cards and vouchersExpiry, what it covers, and the one that has been lost. A balance belongs to an account, so publish the rule and route the rest.
• trade and wholesale accountsA business buyer on a retail site wants tiers, terms and a minimum. Publish the eligibility test, then hand the account opening to a person.
• changing a subscriptionChanging a plan is not leaving. What to publish about proration, effective dates and pauses, and why the assistant must never do the arithmetic.

Where it is, when it arrives, and what to do when it does not.

• order statusThe most asked question in retail support and the one a document-based assistant cannot answer. What it can do instead, and where handover sits.
• shipping and deliveryCut-off times, zones, timescales, public holidays and duties on international orders. The material exists on most sites, it is just buried.
• returns and exchangesWindow, condition, who pays postage, exclusions. Faulty and unwanted are two different processes with two different sets of rights.
• lost or damaged goodsThe claim window, the photographs needed, the carrier's role, and why this reaches a person sooner than almost anything else in support.
• stock availabilityWhat an assistant can say about ranges, restock patterns and alternatives, and the damage one confident wrong stock answer does.
• opening hoursHolidays, seasonal variation, last orders and multiple sites. Keeping one source of truth so the assistant and your map listing agree.
• location and parkingWhich entrance, where to park, the step free route, the nearest stop. Genuinely useful information that is almost never written down well.
• out of hoursThe difference between an emergency route and a message form, and why an honest wait time beats a promise you cannot keep.

Identity is the whole problem, and a chat window cannot verify it.

• password resetsAn assistant cannot reset anything. It can walk somebody through your real flow and name the step that usually breaks.
• account access problemsLocked out, wrong email, a colleague who left, no admin remaining. Identity cannot be checked in a widget, so explain, collect, hand over.
• data deletion requestsA deletion request is a request with a clock on it, not a question. The characteristic failure is silence, so it always has to reach a person.
• accessibility requestsTwo different things arrive as one message. A published accessibility statement answers the first. The second is a request, and it needs a person.
• security questionnairesA buyer-side question arriving in the wrong place. Answer only what you publish, and never let an assistant improvise a claim you then own.
• job and volunteer applicationsRecruitment lands in the support widget on almost every site. Where it should go, what must never be said about a live application, and why.

An assistant that cannot write to a diary can still remove every reason not to book.

• appointment bookingIt cannot write into a calendar. The job is removing every reason not to book, then handing over with the details already gathered.
• rescheduling and cancellingNotice periods and charges are answerable. A specific booking is not. Hiding the policy produces complaints, not fewer cancellations.
• waiting listsExpectation setting is the whole job: how the list is ordered, how contact is made, and whether a short notice cancellation can reach them.
• group bookingsNearly always a handover, and an expensive one to fumble. Collect the date, the numbers and the requirements before it reaches a person.
• first visit questionsWhat to wear, where to park, how long it takes, whether they can bring somebody. Cheap to answer and disproportionately valuable.

Where the answer is right for one version, one size or one configuration only.

• technical troubleshootingThe dominant failure is an answer taken from the wrong release. A refusal beats a confident step list for software nobody is running.
• setup and onboardingMost product material is written for somebody who already understands it. A first run guide has to be ordered, not merely complete.
• compatibility questionsAnswerable only if you publish a list. Inferring compatibility is the failure, and the price of a wrong yes is a return and a refund.
• warranty and repairsCustomers conflate a manufacturer warranty, an extended plan and their legal rights. Keep the three apart and never close the third.
• sizing and fitThe highest volume pre-purchase question in clothing and the biggest driver of returns. Quote the chart, never guess a size for a person.
• allergens and ingredientsThe hardest safety line in support. State published information, never confirm a dish is safe. The right setting is a refusal and a number.

The three conversations that decide whether somebody stays a customer.

• complaintsThe job is to route, not to resolve. Acknowledge without conceding, name the escalation route, and get it to a person fast.
• asking for a personThe design question at the centre of a support assistant. Offer early, offer once, collect what a reply needs, promise a time you can keep.
• service outagesThe assistant knows nothing about an incident unless your material says so. A status page it can read is the fix, and reassurance is the trap.
• age and eligibilityState the rule, never apply it to the person typing. Age limits, membership, residency and licence conditions, and where the handover sits.
• press and partnership enquiriesJournalists, charities and sellers all arrive where customers do. Different owners, different urgency, and one of them is working to a deadline.

If you only read two of these, read the one on asking for a person and the one on allergens. The first is the design decision at the centre of every support assistant. The second is the clearest example of a question where the right answer is to refuse and give a phone number.

41 question types covered so far.