Equipment return after cancellation
How do we chase unreturned modems, routers and set-top boxes after a cancellation on a clock, and apply or waive the non-return fee on the record?
Treat every piece of equipment as a return with an owner, a window and a fee rule. When a service cancels, Callvu lists the equipment on loan from the BSS (each device by type, serial and the line or service it served), tells the customer what to return, how (a prepaid label, a kit, a store drop, a technician pickup) and by when with the non-return fee for each item, chases on the window's clock with reminders in the customer's channels, classifies each item on receipt (returned and matched, returned damaged, wrong device, not returned), verifies the serial against the record and the condition against the policy, applies the fee or releases it by rule where the outcome is clear, routes a disputed fee, a lost-in-transit claim or a hardship to the billing desk in the Decision Desk, and writes each item's outcome and any fee or waiver to the BSS, the system of record, and billing.
In scopeComplex: multi-party handoffsCallvu moves: chase and verify, classify, decide, write back
Last updated November 7, 2026.
The problem today
The customer returned the router to a store that never scanned it, and fought a non-return fee for three months.
The equipment a customer sends back after cancelling is where small money becomes big complaints: a gateway worth a modest amount, a fee for not returning it, and a dispute over whether it was returned at all. The customer has a receipt from a store or a tracking number; the carrier's records show nothing; the fee goes to collections. Or the customer never knew what to return, and a set-top box sits in a closet for a year.
Equipment on loan is a list in the BSS with serials; the return has a disclosed method and window; the non-return fee is a disclosed amount per item; the receipt is a scan against the serial. The FCC's rules require the fee to be clear on the bill and the state rules require the terms to be disclosed and the fee to match them. Every item is a case with a clock, and the customer should know exactly what, how and when.
A return chased by item with the serial verified on receipt is a fee that is right and rarely needed.
How it runs
From the requestto the system of record.
A service cancels or a line with loaned equipment ends (through the cancellation process or an upgrade that replaces equipment). Callvu opens the return case with the equipment list.
- Customer
- Receives the list and the instructions, returns the items by the method chosen, and sees each item's status.
- Returns center and stores
- Receive and scan the items against the serials.
- Billing desk
- Decides disputed fees, transit losses and hardships in the Decision Desk.
- Callvu
- Lists, instructs, chases on the clock, classifies and verifies on receipt, applies or waives by rule, routes and writes.
Chase and verify the list and the instructions
The equipment on loan is listed from the BSS by type and serial with the service it served, the items owned by the customer are excluded, and the customer receives the list with the return method options (a prepaid label with the carrier's packaging, a kit shipped to them, a store drop with a scanned receipt, a technician pickup where offered), the window, and the non-return fee for each item as disclosed in the agreement; the customer chooses the method and receives the label or the kit.
Chase on the clock
Reminders go through the customer's channels on the window's schedule with the items still outstanding and the days left, the shipment is tracked where a label was used, and a store drop is confirmed by the scan; the case shows each item's status to the customer and the billing team.
Classify and verify on receipt
Each received item is scanned and classified: returned and matched to the serial, returned with damage beyond normal wear, a wrong device (another customer's or another model), or not returned at the window's end; the condition is checked against the policy's standard and the match against the record; a matched return releases the item by rule, and the fee applies by rule at the window's end for an item not returned.
Decide and write back
A disputed fee with a receipt or a tracking number, a shipment lost in transit under the carrier's label, a wrong device with a plausible mix-up, a damage finding the customer contests, or a hardship goes to the billing desk in the Decision Desk with the evidence and only the allowed outcomes: waive with the reason, apply as disclosed, apply a reduced fee for damage per the policy, or investigate the transit claim; each item's outcome, any fee or waiver and the evidence are written to the BSS, the system of record, and billing, with the customer told per item.
Where it ends: Every item was listed with its method, window and fee, chased on the clock, verified by serial on receipt, and the fee applied or waived on evidence with the record showing each item's outcome. The Decision Trace shows the list, each item's classification and any decision; the Audit Trace shows the instructions, the reminders, the scans and the writes with time.
Runtime enforcement
What is enforcedwhile the work runs.
The regulations preloaded in Callvu Studio and the bank's own policies, applied as steps that run, not lines in a binder. A step that breaks a rule does not run, so a completed run was compliant.
The handoff
Between the front doorand the back office.
The front door
The list and the instructions in the customer's channels after cancellation; the customer chooses the method and sees each item's status.
The back office
The returns center and the stores scan; the billing desk decides only disputes, transit losses and hardships.
The Decision Desk
- A disputed fee with evidence, a transit loss, a plausible wrong-device mix-up, a contested damage finding or a hardship goes to the billing desk in the Decision Desk with the evidence and only waive with the reason, apply as disclosed, apply the reduced fee, or investigate the transit claim.
Proof
In scope.Proof at scale, not one process at a time.
The kind of process Callvu runs in production for customers in this industry. Ask for a reference on this exact process. The results below are the industry's published proof; each claim code links to its record on agents.callvu.com.
More than 1,000 processes are live across Callvu customers.
Across Callvu customers
AT&T runs close to 100 processes on Callvu, used by 55,000 agents.
Questions
What buyers ask next,answered plainly.
How does the customer know what to return?
They receive the list of loaned items by type and serial with the return methods, the window and the fee per item, and choose the method with the label or the kit provided.
What counts as proof of return?
The returns center's or the store's scan against the serial, a tracking record under the carrier's label, or a store receipt; evidence bars the fee or sends the dispute to the billing desk.
When is the non-return fee charged?
By rule at the end of the disclosed window for an item not returned, after the reminders, with the customer told per item; a dispute with evidence goes to the billing desk.
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