Customer says
“I started giving my golden the new joint supplement on Monday and by Wednesday she was throwing up after every meal.”
Pet food · supplements · prescription
Adverse-reaction claims route to your vet team in 60 seconds. Prescription orders gate at the start.
Pet returns have a unique safety boundary: adverse reactions on dogs and cats need a vet-team route, not a CS triage. Eturns handles routine pet returns (size, allergy, refusal-to-eat, packaging) with normal flow, and treats anything implying a pet's health as a routed escalation — never a triage.
Adverse-reaction vet routePrescription gateRecall flowRefusal to eatAllergy claim handling
Free plan included · 5-minute install · no credit card
The problem
Why generic returns apps mis-handle pet health claims
A customer says 'my dog vomited after eating this food.' This is not a returns conversation — it's a vet-relevant escalation. Generic AIs try to triage: 'how much did they eat,' 'are they better now,' 'have you considered switching brands.' Wrong on every count. Eturns recognizes adverse-reaction-on-pet language and hands off to your vet team within 60 seconds. Routine pet returns (the dog won't eat the new flavor, the harness doesn't fit) flow through the normal path with full breath.
How a real claim flows
One conversation, three roles played: customer, AI, your team.
AI handles
Recognizes adverse-reaction-on-pet language. Sends a brief acknowledgment ('I'm so sorry — let me get you to our vet team right away'), hands off with order + product details, stops engaging.
Outcome
Customer reaches a human within minutes. Vet team makes the call on next steps. AI never debated ingredients or offered medical guidance.
60sfrom adverse-reaction-on-pet to vet-team hand-off
What the AI knows
6 defect categories tuned for pet.
Each category controls which photo the AI requests, which department the case routes to, and which SLA the customer hears. Turn any of them off in your merchant dashboard.
Adverse reaction in pet (vet-team route)
adverse_reactionCustomer reports vomiting, diarrhea, lethargy, allergic skin reaction, behavioral changes. AI hands off to your vet team within 60 seconds. Never asks 'how much did they eat,' never debates ingredients.
Prescription / Rx pet medication
prescription_gateVet Rx food, controlled supplements, prescription medications. AI runs prescription verification at the start of any return on these SKUs and routes returns through your pharmacy queue.
Active recall / batch withdrawal
recall_flowIf a SKU is on an active recall, AI auto-approves the return without further questions, routes to fulfillment with the recall reference, and ensures the customer receives the recall notice.
Fit issue (harness, collar, apparel)
fit_harness_collarStandard size return. AI offers exchange first (same item, different size), refund last.
Pet refused product
refusal_to_eatDog or cat won't eat the food. AI honors merchant's standard taste-test policy (typically 50%+ unused = exchange to a different flavor; otherwise no return).
Expired or near-expiry product
expiry_violationPast best-before. Auto-approves replacement.
Where it routes
Specialist destinations, not a generic CS queue.
Eturns ships with 14 routing destinations beyond CS. The pet disclosure profile uses these:
| Department | Triggered when | SLA the customer hears |
|---|---|---|
legal | Adverse reaction in pet — joint vet + legal team review | Hand-off within 1 hour with order + product context |
warranty | Recall, expiry violation, packaging defect | Replacement same-day during active recalls |
fulfillment | Fit / size exchange, taste-test exchange | Same-day exchange shipping |
Disclosure profile
Standard with mandatory pet-safety overlay
Pet safety overlay treats anything implying health impact as a routed escalation, not a triage. AI never asks 'how much did they eat,' never speculates on ingredients, never offers medical advice. The overlay is also active during recall windows — AI proactively offers a return to customers who bought the recalled SKU.
Who this is for
If your store sells any of these, the pet profile fits you.
- Pet food + treats DTC brands
- Pet supplement + wellness brands
- Veterinary Rx pet retailers
- Pet apparel, harness, and lifestyle brands
Questions pet merchants actually ask
Frequently asked.
What about minor 'my dog didn't like it' returns?
Standard taste-test policy applies. AI offers an exchange to a different flavor first, refund only when exchange isn't viable. Most pet-food merchants have ~50% unused thresholds for taste-test returns; the AI honors yours.
How does the recall flow work?
When you flag a SKU as recalled in the dashboard, the AI auto-approves returns on that SKU + proactively reaches out to customers who bought it (if you enable that). Refunds or replacements happen with no friction.
Does it handle prescription Rx pet meds?
Yes — verifies the vet's authorization on the order, routes returns through your pharmacy queue, and never fulfills a return that would re-stock controlled meds.
Ready to give pet the returns flow it deserves?
Install Eturns from the Shopify App Store. Free plan included. Setup takes 5 minutes — the AI auto-detects pet from your products and policies.