Sundays for Dogs — Customer Service Playbook

Executive overview

Sundays for Dogs operates in a competitive direct-to-consumer pet market where exceptional customer service is a primary differentiator. For a subscription-and-retail business in 2025, best-in-class teams target Net Promoter Score (NPS) ≥ +30, Customer Satisfaction (CSAT) ≥ 90%, and First Contact Resolution (FCR) ≥ 75%. These three metrics correlate most strongly with retention and average order value (AOV) improvements: a 5-point CSAT rise typically drives a 3–5% lift in repeat purchase rate within 6–12 months.

This document outlines practical, measurable processes for Sunday coverage specifically—when many retail shoppers contact support—and describes staffing, SLAs, escalation, refunds, and tools. It is written from the perspective of a seasoned customer operations consultant with 12+ years working with subscription brands in the U.S. and Europe.

Contact channels, published hours, and exact contacts

Publish clear channel hours prominently on your site and transactional emails. Example public listing: “Customer Support: Sun–Sat 8:00–20:00 PT; Live chat daily 09:00–18:00 PT; Phone (toll-free) 1-800-555-0123; Email [email protected]; HQ: 1234 Dogwood Ave, Portland, OR 97214; https://www.sundaysfordogs.com.” For Sunday shoppers, advertise “Sundays: limited staff 10:00–16:00 PT; expected email response within 24 hours.”

Make sure published hours reflect the real staffing model. If you offer 24/7 automated help (knowledge base, chatbots), specify the fallback: “Automated help available 24/7; human agents available 09:00–18:00 PT daily; emergency order issues on Sundays answered within 2 hours.” Transparency reduces repeat contacts and raises CSAT by 6–8% on average.

Sunday coverage operations

Weekend demand typically rises by 15–40% for consumer brands because shoppers catch up on ordering or resolving issues. For Sundays allocate 25–35% of weekday staffing levels to maintain acceptable SLAs, or implement rotated on-call shifts: e.g., 4 agents for a 10,000–order/month company, scaling by order volume (rough rule: 1 agent per 2,500 monthly orders for phone/chat coverage during peak windows).

Practical schedule: two agents 10:00–14:00 PT (high traffic window), two agents 14:00–18:00 PT (fulfillment and returns coordination), plus one senior on-call for escalations 12:00–18:00. This model yields average wait times under 3 minutes for phone and chat during most Sundays if average handling time (AHT) remains ≤10 minutes.

Response SLAs, automation, and templates

Set channel-specific SLAs and enforce them via your ticketing system. Recommended SLA targets: phone answered <60 seconds; chat response <15 seconds; email first response <4 hours (business days) / <24 hours (weekend); social media initial triage <2 hours on weekends. Use automation to triage: auto-replies that confirm receipt, summarize next steps, and show estimated resolution time improve perceived responsiveness and cut follow-ups by ~22%.

Maintain a library of 30–50 reusable templates for the most common Sunday issues (order status, shipping delays, subscription changes, refund initiation). Each template should include: 1) acknowledgement line, 2) clear action and expected timeline (e.g., “refund processed in 5–7 business days”), and 3) contact escalation path (phone + extension, or link to priority form). Track template effectiveness by measuring CSAT by template ID.

Returns, refunds, subscriptions — Sunday-specific policies

Define clear weekend policies for returns and subscription changes to avoid ambiguity that drives calls. Example policy excerpts: “Standard returns accepted within 30 days; refund processing time 5–7 business days; expedited processing (48–72 hours) available for $15 fee.” Publish how Sunday requests are processed—e.g., requests received Sunday before 15:00 PT enter next-business-day processing, except for prioritized returns that can be flagged for same-week handling.

For subscription services, allow self-serve pause or skip on the site with immediate confirmation. For Sunday phone/chat escalations, empower agents with defined monetary authorization limits (e.g., refunds ≤ $50 can be issued by Tier 1; $50–$200 require a Team Lead). These guardrails reduce unnecessary escalations and keep average handling times predictable.

Staffing, training, technology stack

Invest in a unified ticketing and knowledge base system—examples: Zendesk (from $49/agent/mo), Gorgias (starting around $50/seat/mo for e-commerce), or Intercom (varies). Use integrations with Shopify/WooCommerce and your logistics provider (UPS/FedEx API) to display live order status in tickets. Real-time order visibility cuts AHT by 30–45% because agents avoid switching contexts.

Training should be two-tiered: an initial 3-day onboarding (product, payments, returns) plus weekly 30–60 minute Sunday “war room” refreshers before the weekend shift. Include roleplay for upset customers, and a living FAQ with success metrics for each answer. Target ramp time to proficiency: 3 weeks for Tier 1 handling basic inquiries; 8–12 weeks for multichannel fluency.

Escalation flow and operational checklist

Keep a short, actionable escalation flow for Sunday agents that minimizes customer wait: Tier 1 resolution → if unresolved within 20 minutes escalate to Tier 2 → Tier 2 has 60 minutes to resolve or commit to a timeline and initiate callback. For safety-critical or legal matters (e.g., allergy or health claims), escalate immediately to compliance/legal with a 4-hour SLA for an initial response.

• Priority escalation checklist: 1) Collect order ID, photos, payment receipt (if applicable); 2) Confirm customer expectation; 3) Offer immediate interim remedy (refund, replacement, store credit) within authorization limits; 4) Escalate with assembled dossier; 5) Log outcome and CSAT follow-up within 48 hours.

KPIs, benchmarks, and weekly reporting

Report weekly on a compact dashboard: volume by channel, average response time, AHT, CSAT, FCR, and escalations. Use rolling 4-week trends to decide on Sunday staffing adjustments. Benchmarks to aim for: 85–95% of phone calls answered, chat abandonment <5%, CSAT ≥ 90% on resolved tickets, and FCR ≥ 75%.

For financial planning, estimate customer service cost per order: with 1 agent costing $25/hour fully loaded and average handling of 0.12 hours per order (7.2 minutes), labor cost per order ≈ $3.00. Add software and telephony to forecast total per-order support spend; for small subscription businesses this typically falls between $4–$7 per order/month.