ActiveEdge

ActiveEdge was a PE-backed athletic apparel brand preparing for acquisition. Due diligence required a CX quality audit to validate their operations.

Their internal QA team reported “excellent” performance across all metrics. But the buyer's diligence firm flagged potential margin issues they couldn't explain. They needed independent third-party validation.

“Fit issues” were being resolved with full refunds + keep the item, instead of the policy-mandated exchange-only resolution.

The pattern began 8 months prior when the lead agent started doing this to boost CSAT scores. The rest of the team followed suit. No one flagged it because CSAT was up and return volume looked normal—items weren't being returned, so the return rate stayed low.