Use casesServices

E-commerce return inspection

Every returned parcel is opened at the returns station and checked against the order by eye, while the refund is due within fourteen days of the item reaching the return carrier.

With the systemEach return matched to its order and listing photos, its condition described, dates checked; the inspector decides.

Who decides
Returns inspector

Return form · app · 4 November 2026

Return request · Bluetooth speaker

Reason: I changed my mind. All parts are in the box, in the original packaging.

→ charging cable not in the box (photo 2)

Illustrative The document as it arrives. In red, what the system marks for your expert.

1. The work

Today

  1. MatchThe returns inspector opens the parcel and compares the item with the order on screen: model, color, serial number, and every part on the list.
  2. ConditionThey judge by eye whether the item was used beyond trying it out, damaged, opened where its seal matters, or swapped, and photograph it; photos and notes vary by inspector and shift.
  3. CheckDates are looked up by hand: delivery, the withdrawal notice, and the handover to the return carrier; and whether the item is one your list says cannot be returned once its seal is opened.
  4. DecideThe inspector accepts the refund, sends it for a partial refund, or rejects the return under your written return policy; every day in the queue counts against the refund deadline.

With the system

  1. MatchThe vision-language model reads the station's photos of the item, its box, and its labels, and compares them with the listing photos and the order: model, color, serial number, and the parts list.SLM
  2. ConditionThe same model describes the condition in your categories: signs of use, damage, missing parts, an opened seal where the item has one, or an item that does not match the order, each with its photo.SLM
  3. CheckYour written checks, run as code, date the withdrawal notice, the return, and the refund deadline, and mark items on your exception list.Your rule
  4. DecideThe returns inspector looks at the flagged photos and decides, as before, under your written return policy; a dispute goes to customer relations.Person decides

What lands on the desk

The inspector sees the item already matched with its order and listing, every finding tied to its photo, and the dates and the refund deadline worked out. The judgment on wear and the refund stays with the inspector, under your written policy.

The returns inspector decides every return under your written return policy: refund, partial refund where the policy and the law allow it, or rejection; customer relations handles every dispute. The model describes and compares; it never decides a refund and never accuses a customer.

FIG. 1 · Return inspection noteIllustrative
Returns station 3 · reason given: changed my mindBluetooth speaker, blue

VLM · item against the order

  • metModel and color match the order and listingphoto 1
  • metSerial on the device matches the orderphoto 2
  • flaggedCharging cable missing from the parts listphoto 2 · parts list
  • flaggedScuffs on the base, beyond trying it outphoto 3

Code · dates and exceptions

  • metWithdrawal notice within fourteen days of deliveryday 9
  • metHanded to the return carrier within fourteen days of the noticeday 3
  • Refund deadline11 days left
  • metNot on your exception list

VLM · inspection note

Item matches the order. Charging cable missing and scuffs on the base (photos 2 and 3). Return policy §4.2: a missing accessory goes to the inspector, who chooses between a partial refund and asking the customer for the part.

  • SLM
  • Code

Why a person decidesWhether the wear goes beyond normal use, and the refund, are the inspector's; a dispute goes to customer relations.

DecidesReturns inspector

2. The system

For your technical team — skip it if you like.

How it works

In

  • Station photos of the item, box, labels
  • The listing photos
  • The order: model, color, serial, parts

  1. VLM · reads the item, box, and labels

    Return photo reader

    Fine-tuned on your returns photos and product range

    Reads

    • Everything under In

    Out

    • Model, color, and serial read
    • Matched or not with the order
    • Parts present against the parts list

  2. Code · calculates

    Withdrawal and order checks

    Your written return rules and the regulation's dates, as code

    Reads

    • Delivery date from the carrier
    • Withdrawal notice date
    • Handover to the return carrier

    Out

    • Notice within fourteen days of delivery
    • Item sent within fourteen days of notice
    • Refund due date
    • Item on your exception list or not

  3. SLM · reasons

    Condition and inspection note

    The same model, in your condition categories and note format

    Reads

    • The photos and the match
    • Your return policy

    Out

    • Signs of use, damage, missing parts
    • Seal opened, where the item has one
    • An inspection note with the policy clause

  4. Decision

    Returns inspector

    Reads

    • The note and the flagged photos

    Out

    • Accepts, sends for partial refund, or rejects
    • A dispute goes to customer relations

None: the item sits at one station, the order and carrier dates come with the return's barcode scan through a plain lookup, and plain code checks the dates; there is nothing to gather from other systems and nothing to act on.

How the models are trained and tested

Your expert writes the test first. A step the test does not need is skipped, and we say why.

Show the training steps

Vision-language model (VLM)

  1. Test set

    300–600 past returns photographed and graded by your senior inspectors before training: match with the order, condition category, missing parts, seal state.

  2. Dataset

    Past returns photos with the inspector's outcome, the listing photos, and the orders; names and addresses on labels masked, and no people in the photos.

  3. Continued pre-training (CPT)Skipped

    Skipped: reading labels and describing condition need no field language the base model lacks.

  4. Supervised fine-tuning (SFT)

    On photo, order, and inspection-note sets from your own product range and condition categories.

  5. Reinforcement learning (RL)Skipped

    Skipped: matching and describing are taught by fine-tuning, and no further reward is needed.

  6. Retrieval

    Retrieval supplies your return policy and your exception list for each product category, so a change needs no retraining; dates come from the code checks, never from the model.

3. Value and conditions

Where the time goes, and what your institution will measure.

Where the value comes from

  1. Refunds made inside the fourteen days.
  2. The same decision for the same item across inspectors and shifts.
  3. Fewer refunds for swapped or incomplete items, and fewer disputes.

What your institution measures

  • Time from arrival to decision
  • Refunds made after the deadline
  • Disputes per returns handled
  • Decisions reversed by customer relations
  • Returns inspected per inspector hour

Measured in the Decision Blueprint

Today's time from arrival to decision and the decisions customer relations reverses, from your returns log, set the baseline; your institution sets the target.

Conditions

The rules, the data, and the known error, with its guard.

  • The consumer may withdraw within fourteen days of receiving the goods; a notice inside the period is enough, the item goes back within fourteen days of the notice, and the seller refunds within fourteen days of the item reaching the return carrier it named (Mesafeli Sözleşmeler Yönetmeliği arts. 9, 11, 12, and 13).
  • The consumer is not liable for changes from normal use during the withdrawal period (Law 6502 art. 48; the regulation's art. 13): whether wear goes beyond it is the inspector's call, and a deduction is made only where your written policy, approved by your legal owners, allows it.
  • Some goods have no right of withdrawal, among them goods whose protective seal or packaging was opened after delivery and that are unsuitable for return for health and hygiene reasons (art. 15): your legal owners set the exception list, and the model only says whether a seal is opened.
  • A defective item is not a withdrawal: it follows the defect route (Law 6502 art. 11). A swapped item goes to the inspector and customer relations, never as an accusation by the system; names and addresses on labels are masked, and no people are photographed.

Start here

We take a month of returns with your warehouse team, time each from arrival to decision, collect the photos and outcomes per inspector, and test the photo reader on your own returns before anything is built.

Who builds it Every engagement is led by an engineer who has built machine-learning models that real decisions run on since 2012, and language models and agentic systems in production since 2024. About eqlx

Request a Decision BlueprintWhat the Decision Blueprint covers

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  2. The engineer checks whether it fits, and what it would needA model, a small language model, an agent, or none
  3. A proposed first step, or an honest “not a fit”A technical conversation with the engineer
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https://eqlx.ai/use-cases/return-inspection · Printed copy; the website is the current version.