Escalation paths
When to stop solving and start escalating.
Level 1 → Level 2 (CS agent → CS lead)
Escalate when:
- Same customer has contacted us >2 times about the same issue
- Refund amount > $50 USD equivalent
- Technical issue you don’t recognize
- Customer is upset and you feel the situation getting worse
Level 2 → Ray
Escalate when:
- Refund amount > $200 USD equivalent
- Supplier outage affecting multiple customers (not a one-off)
- Any legal, tax, compliance, or government-related question
- Media, influencer, or public review threat
- Chargebacks or platform disputes (Amazon A-to-Z, eBay claims)
- Anything involving personal injury, privacy breach, or data loss
Emergency escalation (WhatsApp / direct call)
Bypass all channels when:
- System down (OMS, Shopify, payment) affecting active orders
- Suspected security breach
- Major financial anomaly
- Payment gateway locked / card processor issue
Rules for escalators
- Summarize before escalating. “Customer X ordered SKU Y on Z date, their activation failed because of A, we tried B and C, they now want D” — not “help with this customer.”
- Assign back, don’t hand off. Escalation is for decision support. You often still own the customer-facing communication after the decision.