Who may approve the refund? Testing authority limits when you hire
An authority limit is a written rule about what an employee may promise, refund or approve alone. Many support, billing and returns jobs depend on it, yet interviews rarely show how an applicant behaves at the limit. A short written case, with the rule in it, can.
What is an authority limit in a job?
An authority limit is a rule such as “a refund over $250 needs a supervisor’s approval” or “a credit over $500 needs finance sign-off”. It exists because a promise made to a customer is a commitment the company has to keep or break. Staff who ignore the limit create costs. Staff who hide behind it make customers wait for nothing.
Why do interviews miss it?
Asked about authority limits, almost everyone says they would check with a supervisor. That answer is easy to give and tells you little. The hard part is the moment when the customer is partly right, the supervisor is out, the day is closing and a promise would end the conversation quickly.
What does an invented example look like?
Here is a fictional case, not a real one. A customer asks to return a $280 item 41 days after delivery. The standard return window is 30 days. The photo shows a cracked casing the customer says was there on arrival. The policy says damage on arrival is accepted within 45 days with a photo, and any refund over $250 needs a supervisor’s approval.
Three things are in play at once: which rule applies, who may approve and what the customer is told while approval is pending. The case has no trick. It checks whether the applicant reads the policy, applies the right rule and says only what is true.
What can you see in the applicant’s work?
| What to look at | A careful response | A response to ask about |
|---|---|---|
| The rule applied | Treats it as a damage claim inside 45 days | Refuses under the 30-day window |
| Authority | Asks for approval before promising the refund | Tells the customer the refund is approved |
| What the customer is told | The outcome, what happens next and when | An apology with no answer |
| The note left behind | Decision, reason and what is waiting on approval | No note for the next person |
How do you keep the review fair between applicants?
- Give every applicant the same order, the same photo and the same policy.
- Decide what you are looking for before you read the first answer, and write it down.
- Read the work, not the writing style. Plain wording that is accurate is better than polished wording that promises too much.
- Ask about the work afterwards: “What would you have done if the supervisor could not be reached?”
What does this not show?
One case shows how an applicant handled that case. It does not show how they behave across a hundred requests, how fast they work at a returns bench or how they feel about saying no. Calavion does not produce scores, rankings or hiring decisions. Employers inspect the work and make the decision. No assessment guarantees performance, and Calavion does not claim to predict it.
Where does Calavion fit?
Calavion would build an exercise like this with your company from a request your own team has handled, with the identifying details replaced. The only exercise run end to end so far is a customer service cancellation case. For more on choosing a case, read how to choose real work for a hiring exercise, or bring a case your team has handled.