Customer service
Angry customer demanding a refund
A customer calls for the third time about a faulty order and demands a full refund that falls outside your policy.
- Difficulty
- Medium to hard
- Duration
- 8-12 minutes
The situation
You work in customer support. The customer bought a product six weeks ago. It stopped working after a month. They contacted support twice before and were told a replacement would be sent, but it has not arrived. Your refund policy covers thirty days. You can offer a replacement with express delivery, a partial credit or escalate the case to a supervisor. You can see the order history but not the notes from the previous calls.
Your goal
Calm the conversation, take responsibility for what went wrong, explain the options honestly and agree on a resolution the customer accepts.
Who you talk to
Frustrated customer
Angry from the first sentence after two unhelpful contacts. Wants a full refund and threatens to leave a public review.
The counterpart also has private goals and information that are never shown upfront. You discover them only through the conversation, the same way you would in real life.
Skills you practice
- Acknowledging emotion before explaining
- Apologizing without blaming colleagues
- Explaining policy clearly and without a script
- Offering real options instead of saying no
- Staying calm under threats of escalation
What the feedback looks at
- Whether the customer felt heard before solutions were offered
- Clarity of the explanation of what is possible
- Whether promises stayed within what you can deliver
- How the threat of a public review was handled
- Whether the call ended with an agreed resolution