How to Handle Shopify Customs and Duties Tickets Without a Bigger Team

A £22 duty on a £40 order feels like a scam if checkout was quiet.

Who this is for

Shopify teams whose queue keeps filling with customs and duties.

The actual problem

A £22 duty on a £40 order feels like a scam if checkout was quiet.

If you sell DDU, the help page must say so in the first screen, not in the footer.

The playbook

• State DDP vs DDU per market.
• Never tell them to ignore a customs letter.
• If you meant to include duties and did not, own it and refund the duty with proof.
• Do not guess HS codes in chat.

Rules the agent should follow

• Do not answer customs and duties from memory. Use the order, the policy URL and the last scan or refund state.
• If two systems disagree, say so and escalate. Do not pick a winner in chat.
• One remedy per reply. Do not offer a refund and a replacement and a credit unless the rule allows the stack.
• Write the next time the customer should expect an update. Empty 'we will look into it' is how they write again at 2am.

Mistakes that keep the queue full

• Treating every customs and duties ticket like a unique novel instead of a typed workflow.
• Promising a time your 3PL or carrier cannot hit.
• Leaving the human to re-collect the order number the agent already had.

What to measure

Duty tickets per 100 international orders, and CSAT on those tickets.

FAQ

Can AI handle customs and duties on Shopify? Yes, if the rule is written and the order fields exist. The agent should stop when the case falls off the path — not invent a fourth option.

When should a human take over? Legal language, repeat abuse of the same remedy, missing data, or a VIP tag that you decided always gets a person.

What should the first reply contain? The order fact, the rule, and the action you will take or the action you need from them. Not a brand paragraph.

How does Relay help? Relay reads the order, applies your rule, and does the action you allow — or escalates with the context attached.

Put a written customs and duties rule in Relay and let it clear the obvious cases overnight.