Manish ChowdharyFounder & CEO pioneering AI-driven ecommerce logistics

They Used 40% of the Product—Then Returned It

15 Sept 2026 · 2 min

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1:41

In this short interview, Speaker A prompts Speaker B to recount a real‑world incident involving a high‑brand hand sanitizer. Speaker B explains that the brand required the company to measure the remaining liquid in returned bottles to prevent abuse. A wholesale partner had been using the sanitizer in its restaurant, then sent the bottles back after consuming roughly 40% of the product. B emphasizes that robust return‑policy communication, clear red‑flag indicators, and structured processes are essential to protect inventory, achieve cost savings, and avoid penalizing all customers for the actions of a few. The conversation concludes with the lesson that policies should not punish the broader customer base for isolated misuse.

You have a perfect example of the point that Gabrielle made, because at one point your team was tasked by measuring the amount of liquid in the hand sanitizer bottles. You know, do you want to share what happened and how that policy, you know, which was designed, backfired?
Yeah, no, absolutely. So I think just like Gabrielle was speaking about, all brands are going Going to have some sort of quality control when it comes to their returns. I think it's all about the communication with either your team or your three PL or your distribution partner, or whoever that's going to be in regards to what that's going to look like when the returns come back in. In this current example, it's it's a very high name, high brand hand sanitizer that was asking us to make sure that the hand sanitizer was actually measured when it was returned to make sure that they weren't abusing it or anything of the sort. We actually found out that it was a wholesale partner that was using it for their restaurant and then sending returns. back after they had used about 40% of that bottle. But I think when it comes to any sort of kind of quality control for those returns, you just need to make sure that there are red flags and there are processes in place where those goods can be returned back into inventory so that way you are having a cost savings measure, but then you're also being able to send that product back out to the public if it is something that's recyclable.
So the lesson is, uh, don't penalize everyone for the mistakes of few. Without a doubt.