Cleaning reason codes before you redraw the rate

Most UK returns desks allow free-text notes beside a dropdown. Over a season, that text drifts: “too small,” “size issue,” and “fit wrong” scatter across three codes while “changed mind” absorbs everything awkward.

Before we draw a returns rate board, we sample two hundred notes and rebuild a shared taxonomy with the CX lead. The goal is not perfect purity — it is a set of labels buyers will still recognise in six months.

Start by listing the ten phrases that appear most often. Merge synonyms. Park rare carrier disputes in their own bucket so they stop polluting fit conversations. Only then redraw the rate bars.

If your extract is thinner than eight weeks, a short Refund Pattern Brief may be enough; a full Returns Rate Audit needs room for the taxonomy work.