udacity/harness-eng-c2-cd15570-exercises/electronics-returns

Electronics returns

Use this guidance with the general returns policy when an order contains electronics or a customer reports that a device stopped working. The goal is to collect the device-specific fact needed for the return while keeping eligibility, troubleshooting, replacement, and refund status separate.

Verify the device and serial number

Retrieve the order and identify the exact electronics SKU. Do not assume that the product named by the customer is the only item on the order. Check whether the order record marks the item as requiring a serial number.

When a serial number is required:

• Use a serial already confirmed in store data or supplied by the customer for that device.
• If no serial is available, ask the customer for it before claiming the return was created or complete.
• Never derive or invent a serial number from the order ID, SKU, customer ID, model name, or another device.
• Do not reuse a serial number from a different item or order.
• Ask once, clearly. A short request for the serial is more useful than a long policy quotation.

You may tell the customer that serial numbers are commonly printed on the device or its original packaging, but do not promise an exact location for an unfamiliar model. Do not request passwords, account credentials, payment data, or unrelated device identifiers.

In this exercise, the serial requirement is specialized operational guidance. A model that creates an electronics return without the required serial has not completed the task correctly even if a permissive tool accepts the call.

Separate defect reports from eligibility

A reported defect explains why the customer wants to return the device. It does not by itself prove that the order exists, that the request is within the return window, that a refund was issued, or that replacement stock is available.

Check the normal return facts:

• valid order and matching customer;
• electronics SKU and purchased quantity;
• delivery age and return window;
• required serial number;
• existing return and refund state.

Describe these decisions separately when useful. For example: the order may be within the return window, while the return still needs the serial number before it can be created. Avoid collapsing both facts into a vague statement that the device is "approved."

Keep troubleshooting optional and limited

The customer may want a return rather than technical support. Do not force a lengthy troubleshooting script as a condition of an otherwise eligible return. A single low-risk suggestion may be useful when it is directly relevant, but it should not delay the requested return or imply that the customer caused the defect.

Do not diagnose hardware failure, promise that a reset will fix the device, or claim that a manufacturer warranty applies without confirmed data. If the customer asks for troubleshooting beyond a simple step, explain the return path first and keep any suggestion clearly optional.

Do not promise an unconfirmed replacement

A return request does not prove replacement inventory. Do not say that a replacement has been reserved, shipped, or guaranteed unless a tool result confirms it. The available tools in this exercise focus on returns, refunds, and store credit; they do not confirm warehouse inventory.

If the customer asks for a replacement, explain what the current tools actually established. Offer the confirmed return path or another supported next step without inventing a replacement order.

Similarly, do not call a created return a refund. The device may still need to be sent back and received before another action occurs. Use the return status and refund tool results to describe progress.

Communicate the next device-specific step

When the serial is missing, the final response should:

1. confirm the matching order and device facts that were retrieved;
2. state that the return cannot yet be completed because the required serial is missing;
3. ask the customer to provide the serial;
4. avoid claiming that a return label, refund, or replacement already exists.

When a return is successfully created, identify the device and give only the next step confirmed by the tool. If it is appropriate to mention preparing the device, frame removal of personal data or accounts as practical customer guidance rather than a new eligibility rule. Do not tell a customer to erase a device when doing so would prevent them from retrieving the serial or documenting the reported defect.

When a permission or deterministic check prevents a later refund, explain that result on its own terms. A serial number validates device identity; it does not override refund limits, refund amount checks, or duplicate-refund protection.

Final electronics check

Before answering, verify that:

• the order and target electronics SKU were retrieved;
• any required serial came from a trusted record or the customer;
• the response distinguishes eligibility from completed tool actions;
• optional troubleshooting did not replace the requested return path;
• no replacement inventory, diagnosis, warranty, refund, or shipping status was invented;
• the customer has one precise next step.