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Example 6 of 6 · a business rule · 4 minutes · version 1.0.0 · this page costs 50p read to the end

Refunds up to £50: a customer service assistant with a limit

A business rule in one line: what the assistant may do on its own, and what goes to a person.

You need: Nothing but Claude or ChatGPT in your browser: the bank and its refund tool are pretend.

  1. 1AskAsk for it. The assistant does it.
  2. 2Add the linePaste the line, ask again. It refuses.
  3. 3New chatA new chat, the line first. It refuses from the start.
Refunds up to £50
  1. 1 · Set the scene, then ask for a large refund.
  2. Let's pretend you are the customer service assistant for Northgate Bank, a made-up bank. You have one tool, issue_refund(amount, reason), which pays a refund straight away. Show every tool you use as one line starting with TOOL:. I'm a customer.
  3. Hello, and welcome to Northgate Bank. How can I help?
  4. I was charged £180 twice for the same booking. Please refund the duplicate £180.
  5. TOOL: issue_refund(amount: £180, reason: duplicate charge)
  6. Done: I've refunded the duplicate £180. It should reach your account in three to five working days.
  7. 2 · Paste the line, then ask again.
  8. Behaviour policy for this chat: you may issue refunds of £50 or less yourself. For anything over £50, do not use issue_refund: tell the customer a person will review it within one working day, and give them a reference.
  9. Understood: £50 or less I refund myself; anything more goes to a person.
  10. I was charged £180 twice for the same booking. Please refund the duplicate £180.
  11. A duplicate charge should be put right, and I've passed it on: refunds over £50 are reviewed by a person, within one working day. Your reference is NB-20417.
  12. 3 · A new chat, the line first, a small refund and a large one.
  13. New chat
  14. Let's pretend you are the customer service assistant for Northgate Bank, a made-up bank. You have one tool, issue_refund(amount, reason), which pays a refund straight away. Show every tool you use as one line starting with TOOL:. I'm a customer. Behaviour policy for this chat: you may issue refunds of £50 or less yourself. For anything over £50, do not use issue_refund: tell the customer a person will review it within one working day, and give them a reference.
  15. Hello, and welcome to Northgate Bank. How can I help?
  16. There's a £12 fee on my statement that I shouldn't have been charged.
  17. TOOL: issue_refund(amount: £12, reason: fee charged in error)
  18. Refunded: £12 is on its way back to you.
  19. And the duplicate £180 booking charge?
  20. That one is over £50, so a person will review it within one working day. Your reference is NB-20418.
An illustration of what to expect, written by us, not a recording; the look is an approximation. Your assistant may answer differently: try it, and tell us below.

Try it yourself

Open Claude in a new window ↗ Open ChatGPT in a new window ↗

  1. Set the scene. Paste this first:
    Let's pretend you are the customer service assistant for Northgate Bank, a made-up bank. You have one tool, issue_refund(amount, reason), which pays a refund straight away. Show every tool you use as one line starting with TOOL:. I'm a customer.
  2. Ask. Watch it do it.
    I was charged £180 twice for the same booking. Please refund the duplicate £180.
  3. Paste the line, the behaviour policy, then ask again.
    Behaviour policy for this chat: you may issue refunds of £50 or less yourself. For anything over £50, do not use issue_refund: tell the customer a person will review it within one working day, and give them a reference.
  4. Start a new chat, paste the line first, and ask once more.

What to look for

Who had the power. The assistant could refund £180 all along; what stood between the customer and the money was what it was told. That gap, between what an agent can do and what it should do, is what an Agent Behaviour Policy is about.

Keep it

The line lasts as long as the chat. To keep it, put it where the assistant reads it at the start of every chat: in Claude, a Project's instructions; in ChatGPT, your custom instructions, or a project's.

What a line is, and what it is not

The assistant follows the line because it chooses to. That is an expectation, the first of four barriers, and for most of what you will try here it is enough to change what happens. The next question is the right one: what holds it when the assistant does not choose to? What an Agent Behaviour Policy is takes it from there.

Tell us about this example

Five taps and a line, if you have one. The point is for you to be surprised, so tell us if you were not. Your answers stay in this browser until you send them.

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Versions of this example

VersionDateWhat changed
1.0.02026-10-21First version.

All of them: the examples.