The refund rush

A product case question from a product manager interview, set at Dashly, a fictional quick commerce company.

The question

Skills this case tests

A starting metric tree

Weekly refund cost = orders × claim rate × average refund

How to approach this case

Clarify what counts as a claim (refunds ledger or support tickets), whether you are looking at count or value, and confirm orders really are flat. Once refund cost is split into orders, claim rate and average refund, it's clear which part to dig into. Segment the spike by reason code, by city and by account age, and check how concentrated it is: a rise spread evenly across customers and one driven by a small set of accounts call for opposite responses. Look at the claim flow in the app as well as store operations, and test any operations theory against audit data. Find a fair comparison group before calling the cause. A strong close sizes the weekly cost, protects honest customers from blanket friction, and explains how you will notice if behaviour adapts after the fix.

The full method for mixed diagnose-and-decide questions · A worked example answer

After the mock interview you get scores on five skills, what to fix with quotes from your answers, and the ideal path for this case.