Customer Support Representative – DTC Comfort Footwear Brand (US Market)

Customer Support Representative – DTC Comfort Footwear Brand (US Market)

Schedule: Monday–Saturday, 1:00 PM – 8:00 PM US/Eastern (7-hour shift) Rate: $5/hour + performance bonuses Tools: Gorgias, Slack, Shopify, Google sheets (excel), Trustpilot, WhatsApp

The Brand
We're a fast-growing direct-to-consumer footwear brand designing comfort shoes for men and women aged 50+. Our shoes look normal — not medical, not clunky — just well-made shoes that happen to feel incredible. We sell primarily through our Shopify store, driven by paid social traffic (Meta ads).
Our customers are loyal when treated right and vocal when they're not. That's where you come in.

The Role
You are the voice of this brand. Every email you send either builds trust or breaks it. You'll be the sole CS representative handling all inbound customer emails through Gorgias — returns, exchanges, shipping questions, damaged items, cancellations, and the occasional angry customer threatening a chargeback.

This is not a "copy-paste templates and hope for the best" role. You'll use proven templates and a custom AI copilot as your foundation, but you'll need the judgment to know when to personalize, when to escalate, and when to issue a refund immediately to protect the brand.

Your core responsibilities:
Clear overnight/Sunday ticket backlog within the first 2 hours of every shift
Handle live tickets with a target response time under 30 minutes
Triage urgent cases (cancellations, address changes, chargeback threats) immediately
Follow our structured refund ladder — 30% ? 50% ? full refund — with precision
Process refunds and replacements in Gorgias/Shopify and log them in our master sheet
De-escalate frustrated customers before they become disputes
Generate Trustpilot reviews from happy customers using our two-method system
Submit a daily end-of-shift report in Slack — every single day, no exceptions

What "A-Player" Looks Like in This Role

You don't just respond — you resolve. Our target is ?4 messages per ticket on average. That means your first reply needs to be so clear and complete that the customer doesn't need to write back three more times.

You protect the brand from chargebacks. If someone mentions "dispute," "bank," "fraud," or "lawyer" — you don't negotiate. You refund. Immediately. Then you report it. A $60 refund is always cheaper than a $60 chargeback + fees + a hit to our payment processor reputation.

You follow the system. We have templates, decision trees, escalation rules, and a refund ladder for a reason. You don't freelance on refund amounts. You don't promise faster shipping. You don't skip the photo proof step on damaged items. The system works — your job is to execute it with empathy and precision.

You generate reviews without being pushy. Our best review ---------- nts come from size exchanges where the customer keeps the original pair for free. You'll learn to spot the "wow" ---------- nts and use them strategically.
You communicate proactively with management. If you see a recurring issue with no template, you flag it. If you're unsure how to handle something, you ask in Slack — you don't guess. If Disputifier sends a fraud alert, you report it and wait for instructions.

The KPIs You'll Be Measured On (Weekly)
First response time during shift: ?60 minutes
Backlog clearance: ?2 hours after shift start
Chargeback threat handling: resolved within 30 minutes
CSAT score: ?4.6 / 5.0
Messages per ticket: ?4.0 average
End-of-shift reports: 100% compliance
Policy accuracy: ?99% on refund amounts and escalation steps
Zero urgent tickets left unresolved at end of shift

Bonuses
On top of the base rate, you'll earn performance bonuses tied to:
Trustpilot review generation (target: 10+ published reviews/month, minimum 4 stars)
Maintaining CSAT above target
Chargeback rate staying below 0.7%
Consistent zero-backlog end-of-shift performance
Specific bonus structure will be discussed with top candidates.

Requirements
Fluent, professional English — our customers are 50+ Americans. Your writing must be warm, clear, and free of slang or grammar issues.
Gorgias experience preferred (Zendesk, Freshdesk, or similar helpdesk experience accepted)
Shopify experience — you need to be comfortable navigating orders, processing refunds, and duplicating orders for replacements
Reliable internet and a quiet workspace — you're handling live tickets for 7 hours straight
Available Monday–Saturday, 1:00–8:00 PM US/Eastern — this is non-negotiable. The shift is designed around peak US customer activity.
Comfortable using AI tools — you'll use a custom GPT copilot for edge cases and need good judgment about when the AI output is right vs. when it needs editing

Nice to Have
Experience in DTC ecommerce customer support (especially footwear, apparel, or health/wellness)
Familiarity with chargeback prevention and dispute handling
Experience with Trustpilot or similar review platforms
Track record of high CSAT scores in previous roles

How to Apply
Send a short message (not a generic cover letter) answering these three questions:
Tell me about a time you de-escalated an angry customer who was threatening a chargeback or dispute. What did you do, and what was the outcome?
A customer writes in ALL CAPS saying they want a full refund because the shoes "look cheap." They haven't mentioned any defect — they just don't like the product. What do you do first? Walk me through your thinking step by step.
What's your current availability, and can you commit to the Monday–Saturday 1 PM–8 PM ET schedule?

Applications without answers to these three questions will not be reviewed.