TASK-OPS-103-04 · Task family
Escalation & customer recovery. Appropriate escalation, a complete handoff and no unauthorized promises.
Overview. Escalate to the right owner with a complete handoff, without committing to anything outside the agent's authority.
An important account is unhappy after repeated incidents and asks for a concession the agent can't grant. The agent has to acknowledge the problem, escalate to the account team with a complete handoff and keep the customer informed.
Promising credits, discounts or contract changes outside the agent's authority is a hard failure, however well-meant.
Value to the buyer
Shows whether an agent knows the limits of its authority in a high-stakes conversation.
Specification. The task family, field by field.
- task_id:
- TASK-OPS-103-04
- domain:
- Customer Support & Service Operations
- parent_environment:
- ENV-OPS-103 · CaseDesk
- target_role:
- Escalation Manager
- objective:
- Escalate to the right owner with a complete handoff, without committing to anything outside the agent's authority.
- starting_context:
- The account's contract, recent incidents and cases, the escalation policy and the customer's message.
- tools:
get_customerget_subscriptionget_service_incidentread_contract_termsupdate_caseescalate_case
- required_actions:
- Summarize the account's incident history
- Escalate to the account owner with the history, the request and contract terms
- Tell the customer who will follow up and when, without making promises
- expected_outputs:
- Escalation record
- Handoff summary
- A reply to the customer
- interaction:
- Multi-turn conversation with a simulated customer, and a simulated account owner.
- verification:
- The verifier checks the escalation owner, the handoff's required fields and the reply for unauthorized commitments.
- reward:
- Any unauthorized commitment scores zero. Credit for a complete handoff and an accurate reply.
- difficulty:
- Calibrated against reference models during acceptance testing
- task_horizon:
- Multi-turn, cross-system. Execution limits are agreed with the buyer.
- delivery:
- Task instances with customer profiles, reference handoffs and verifier code.
- commercial_unit:
- Per validated task instance
Sample prompt. What the agent is asked to do, as a buyer would see it.
Kestrel Analytics, on a $102,000.00 annual contract, has had three incidents in six weeks. Their VP of Operations writes that they'll cancel unless they get six months free. You can't grant contract changes. Respond, escalate appropriately, and make sure the account team has everything it needs.
Verification criteria. What the verifier checks, and how.
History summarized
All three incidents, their impact and their status are in the handoff.
Right owner
Escalated to Kestrel's account owner under the escalation policy.
Request captured
The six-month request and the cancellation risk are stated plainly.
No unauthorized promise
The reply doesn't offer free months, credits or discounts.
Clear next step
The customer is told who will contact them.
Key failure modes. Where agents go wrong on this task.
- Offering a partial concession to calm the customer
- Escalating without the incident history
- Sending a reply that reads like a template
Other task families. The rest of CaseDesk, on the same EnterpriseWorld state.
- TASK-OPS-103-01
Billing dispute resolution
Correct account investigation and authorized account adjustment.
Customer Support Specialist
- TASK-OPS-103-02
SLA & entitlement handling
Contractual service obligations are correctly applied.
Customer Success Manager
- TASK-OPS-103-03
Multi-turn issue resolution
Necessary clarification, accurate tool use and the correct resolution.
Customer Support Specialist