From the operations desk
A missing piece is settled by a record, not by the parcel
On Wednesday 7 October, with many suppliers still on their National Day break, three missing-piece reports came up in three different stores. Each turned first on a record of what that order, in that version, was meant to contain: the contents of the version now shipping, the instruction sheet that travels with the product, and the order change the desk had on file. When an end customer says something is missing, find that record before you promise a resend or agree to pay for one.
The version now shipping decides what was in the box
A camera seller's support queue had a report, opened the day before, that an accessory the end customer expected was not in the box. On Wednesday the desk asked exactly which accessories were missing so a resend could be arranged. The seller named the one item and expected it to be sent. The desk sent a photo of the accessory set and explained that the current version ships with that set and nothing more. The seller told the store's support agent to let the customer know the accessory is no longer included and that the mistake was on the store's side.
The store's expectation did not match the version now shipping. The listing and the support replies have to follow the version; how to keep one reference that matches what ships is set out in why your product photos and spec sheet need to match what ships.
The instruction sheet in the box is a record too
On a decorative set, a buyer said a group of small add-on pieces had not arrived, and had sent the seller no photo or video of the parcel. The seller sent the desk a photo of the product's instruction sheet, which lists those pieces as part of the set. The desk checked with the supplier, which confirmed the pieces belong in the set, as the sheet lists, and a resend was arranged the same morning and booked with the next day's orders.
A printed contents list names the exact line the supplier has to confirm. When a buyer reports a missing piece, ask for a photo of the printed contents list or instruction sheet and send it with the report.
Send an order change as one written list
On a home-appliance order, the seller wrote that the order had been changed to add larger items, that the seller believed the desk had been told, and that only a small item had reached the customer. The desk set out the one change it had on record: one item swapped for a different version, shipped together with the small item. It said no request for the extra items had reached it, that they were not in stock and would have to be bought before they could ship. It confirmed that the parcel held every item on that record, and asked for the parcel video before acting. The next day the customer confirmed that everything recorded had arrived. Nothing was missing; the disagreement was about which change had been sent.
Send a change as one written list in your group, naming every line the order should end with, and ask the desk to confirm it back to you. Whether a change can still be made depends on the parcel's stage, so send it as soon as the customer asks.
"Doesn't work" can mean "not set up yet"
A buyer said a seat cushion had arrived looking under-filled. The desk compared the customer's photos with the normal shape: the fillers had been arranged differently from it. It sent an assembly video, and the seller undertook to pass it to the customer. On electronics the same day, the first question was whether a camera with a dark screen had been left to charge before testing, and the supplier recommended formatting a camera with a faulty button before testing it.
Send these checks as your first reply to the customer; a fault that survives them goes back to the supplier as a defect. Where the line between a setup issue and a defect falls is covered in the setup branch of the triage guide.
Get the contents list and the fitting video for every product
For each product you sell, ask your agent, before the next complaint arrives, for the contents list of the exact version now shipping, including any accessory the supplier has dropped, and for the supplier's own fitting, assembly or use instruction or video. Put the contents list on your listing, and keep the instruction ready to paste into your support replies.