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Returns survey template

Learn why items come back, and how the return felt

Four questions for the days after a refund: how easy the return was, the main reason for it, how it was handled and what would have made it easier. Send it by email or share the link, and Usertick reads every written answer for you.

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What this returns survey tells you

A returns survey asks customers about the return while the refund is fresh, so you hear both why the item came back and how much effort sending it back took. This template keeps it to four questions and under a minute: an effort score for the return, the main reason from a list of six with a write-in Other, a star rating for how it was handled and an open question.

It is written for an email sent once the refund is through, when the customer knows how the whole return went. Usertick sends it to a contact list now or on a date up to 30 days ahead, and the first question can be answered inside the email. The link also fits your own refund confirmation email or the returns page of your site.

Every written answer and typed Other reason is read as it arrives and filed under a category from your list, such as returns and refunds or product quality, with a type and an urgency. Results shows the effort score, the share of each return reason and the handling rating, each compared with the period before.

In an emailAs a linkOn your websiteAs a conversation
Questions
4
Time to answer
About a minute
Written for
An email once the refund is issued
Plans
Every plan, the free plan included

See it on every channel

The same template on your website, behind a link, in an email and as a conversation.

In an email

Send it from Usertick to a contact list, with the first question inside the email. A tap on an answer opens the rest of the survey with that answer already kept. Usertick sends 50 emails a month on the free plan, or connect your own sender.

The 4 questions, one by one

What each question asks, why it is there, what it shows you and what to change.

Question 1 of 4 · Customer effort

How easy was it to return your item?

Why ask it
A return that is hard to make costs you the next order even when the refund arrives. Effort on a 7-point scale shows whether labels, drop-off points and refund times work for customers.
What you learn
Results shows the average on the 1 to 7 scale, the share who found the return easy and a hard-to-easy bar, against the period before, so a new returns portal or carrier shows its effect.
Make it yours
Keep it first, since it can be answered inside the email with one tap.
Question 2 of 4 · Multiple choice

What was the main reason for your return?

Why ask it
The reason decides the fix. A size problem belongs to the product page, a damaged item to packing, a wrong item to the warehouse. One required answer per return gives every return a reason you can count.
What you learn
A donut shows the share and count of each reason, with typed Other answers listed, and over time as stacked shares. Select It didn't fit to see how hard those returns were and what those customers wrote.
Make it yours
Match the list to your products: a furniture store might replace It didn't fit with a reason about the room, and an electronics store might add one about a device it didn't work with.
Question 3 of 4 · Stars

How satisfied are you with how your return was handled?

Why ask it
Effort and satisfaction can differ. A return can be easy to send and still leave the customer unhappy about a slow refund or a support team that was hard to reach, and a separate rating catches that.
What you learn
Results shows the average rating, a bar per rating and the share who rated 4 or higher. Select a low rating to filter the page and see whether those customers also found the return hard.
Make it yours
On every plan, set an alert for when the average rating falls below a line over 7 days, posted to Slack or Microsoft Teams.
Question 4 of 4 · Text · Optional

What would have made the return easier?

Why ask it
Customers who just returned something know the exact step that slowed them down, such as printing a label without a printer or waiting two weeks for the money.
What you learn
Each answer appears with its sentiment and theme, filterable by theme, with up to 8 themes and their trends, so complaints about labels, drop-off and refund timing separate on their own.
Make it yours
Keep it optional, so a customer with an easy return can finish in three taps.

What the answers show

Results turns each question into numbers you can follow week by week.

How easy was it to return your item?

The average on its own scale and the share who found it easy, against the period before and by device.

What was the main reason for your return?

The share of each answer with its count. Select an answer to narrow the whole page to those people and read what else they said.

Every written answer, read for you

Each answer arrives with its category, theme, type and urgency, so the urgent ones reach your team first.

Use this template in four steps

From the template to the first answers.

  1. 1

    Open the template

    Sign up free and pick Returns and refunds in the template gallery. It opens in a matching style, ready to change.

  2. 2

    Make the questions yours

    Reword any question, change the options, and add logic or more questions.

  3. 3

    Choose where it runs

    Show it on your website, send it by email, share its link and QR code, or switch it to a conversation.

  4. 4

    Publish and read the answers

    Answers arrive in Results and the inbox as people send them, each written one read and filed by Usertick.

Tips for this survey

Small choices that keep people answering and the answers useful.

  1. 01

    Send it after the refund lands

    Usertick has no trigger for a refund event, so export the week's refunded orders, import them as a CSV list and send or schedule the survey from Usertick.

  2. 02

    Share reasons with merchandising

    Return reasons point at product pages and sizing as often as at the returns desk. Put the reason chart on a shared dashboard so buyers and merchandisers see it every week.

  3. 03

    Read damaged returns first

    Select It arrived damaged or faulty in Results, or filter the inbox by urgency, and give each response an owner so the packing or supplier problem gets fixed.

  4. 04

    Watch reasons after each change

    When you change size charts, photos or packaging, compare the share of each reason with the period before. A drop in It didn't match the description or photos tells you the new photos work.

Customer effort scoreE-commerce surveysEmail surveysReturns and refunds questions

More customer effort templates and questions

Templates like this one, and single questions from the library to add to it.

Templates

Browse all templates
Customer effortDid you find it?Find out whether shoppers found what they came for and what you don't stock yet. Show it after two minutes of browsing or on exit intent.
Customer effortIn-store pickupMeasure how easy buy online, pick up in store is, from the wait at the counter to getting the right order. Send it an hour after pickup.
Customer effortDiscount code experienceCheck that discount codes work the first time and learn where shoppers find them. Show it on the confirmation page when a code was used.
Customer effortTask effort reviewMeasure the effort and time a key task takes, and find the step that slows people down. Show it after someone finishes a long task, such as an import or their first report.

Questions from the library

Browse the question library
  1. Why did you return the item?Multiple choice · Returns and refunds
  2. How easy was the return?Customer effort · Returns and refunds
  3. How many days did the refund take?Ruler · Returns and refunds
  4. How likely are you to buy from us again?NPS · Ecommerce
  5. Was the checkout process easy?Yes / No · Ecommerce
  6. What stopped you from completing your order?Multiple choice · Ecommerce

Frequently asked questions

Once the refund is issued, when the customer has been through every step of the return. Usertick doesn't send on a refund event, so send it to a list of recent refunds from Usertick or put the link in your own refund email.

Yes. It is the one answer every return should have, and the write-in Other catches reasons the list misses. The open question at the end stays optional.

Filter Results to It didn't fit, read what those customers wrote, then check the size chart and fit notes on the products they bought. A size and fit survey sent a week after delivery catches the same problem before the return.

Yes. Print the survey's QR code at the returns counter or on the receipt. To compare store and online returns in Results, run one copy per place or add a question that names it.

Yes, on every plan. A workflow can create a Zendesk ticket for each low handling rating with the answers as an internal note. You can also post it to Slack or Microsoft Teams, or reach Freshdesk and Help Scout through a Zapier step.

Yes. Every template comes with every plan, the free plan included, and the free plan covers 150 responses a month across your surveys.

Yes. The template becomes your own survey, so reword any question, add or remove questions, and change the options and the logic. The gallery stays as it is.

Yes, from Starter. The template is written in US English. Add languages by hand or with AI translation, and each person sees the survey in their browser's language.

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