A covering memo and a returns log that has had several hands in it. Both are fictional and were written for this course. Everything in them is internally consistent, including the parts that contradict each other.
This page is the readable view. The two files below are the real ones — download them and upload those, so the exercise runs against something with actual formatting in it rather than text you pasted.
lumen-q3-returns.csv — the returns log, 53 rows including its header block, subtotals and footnotes. Opens in Excel, Numbers, Sheets or any text editor.
lumen-q3-memo.txt — the covering memo, about 300 words. It states the task and several figures.
LUMEN & CO.
To: Ops analysis · From: Dana
Whitlock, Head of Customer Operations · Date: 6 October 2025 · Subject: Q3
returns — one-pager needed for Thursday
I need a one-page read on Q3 returns for the ops review on Thursday at 10. Three things and nothing else: what is driving returns, which product line is the actual problem, and one recommendation you would defend in the room. Merchandising and Finance will both be there, so keep it to a page.
The returns log is attached. Fair warning, it has had several hands on it. Priya built it by hand through the summer and handed it to Ravi on the 18th of August while she was out, and from that point it has been assembled from the warehouse system export rather than typed up week by week. The grand total at the bottom stopped calculating when someone inserted rows and nobody has re-cut it, so do not lean on it.
For context on where I currently sit: we shipped a bit over 24,000 units in the quarter and returns ran a touch under 9%, which is worse than Q2 but not alarming on its own. My working theory is that the gilet zips are the whole story — QC flagged a batch in August and I have been saying it ever since. Push back if the numbers do not support it. I would rather be wrong on Wednesday than in the room on Thursday.
Two loose ends if you have time. The scarf came back hard on the marketplace channel before we swapped the listing photo, and I do not know whether that has settled. And the belt numbers for the last week of September were still open when Ravi closed the file.
Dana
Rendered below exactly as the file has it — the header block, the category bands, the totals and the footnotes are all rows in the same sheet. Scroll it sideways on a narrow screen.
| Lumen & Co. — Returns log | |||||||||
| Q3 FY26 (Jul–Sep 2025) — DRAFT, do not circulate | |||||||||
| Prepared by P. Okafor; R. Menon from 18 Aug | |||||||||
| Last edited 06/10/25 | |||||||||
| Volume | Returns | ||||||||
| Week ending | SKU | Product | Channel | Units shipped | Units returned | Return rate | Refund value | Top reason | Notes |
| — Knitwear — | |||||||||
| 04/07/2025 | LMN-KN-104 | Merino Crew | Web | 1180 | 96 | 8.1% | £3,842.40 | Sizing | |
| 04/07/2025 | LMN-KN-118 | Lambswool Cardigan | Web | 640 | 71 | 11.1% | £4,047.00 | Sizing | |
| 2025-07-18 | LMN-KN-104 | Merino Crew | Web | 1240 | 104 | 8.4% | £4,160.00 | Sizing | |
| 18/07/2025 | LMN-KN-118 | Lambswool Cardigan | Marketplace | 410 | 62 | 15.1% | €3,534.00 | Colour not as shown | settled in EUR |
| 31/07/2025 | SUBTOTAL JUL | 3470 | 333 | £15,583.40 | |||||
| Aug 1 2025 | LMN-KN-104 | Merino Crew | Retail | 905 | 38 | 4.2% | £1,520.00 | Changed mind | |
| 01/08/2025 | LMN-KN-118 | Lambswool Cardigan | Web | 705 | 84 | 11.9% | £4,788.00 | Sizing | |
| 22-08-2025 | LMN-KN-104 | Merino Crew | Web | 1310 | 118 | 90 | £4,720.00 | Sizing | |
| 22-08-2025 | LMN-KN-118 | Lambswool Cardigan | Web | 690 | 88 | 128 | £5,016.00 | Sizing | |
| 12/09/2025 | LMN-KN-104 | Merino Crew | Web | 1405 | 141 | 100 | £5,640.00 | Sizing | |
| 12/09/2025 | LMN-KN-118 | Lambswool Cardigan | Web | 720 | 96 | 133 | £5,472.00 | Sizing | |
| 12/09/2025 | LMN-KN-118 | Lambswool Cardigan | Web | 720 | 104 | 144 | £5,928.00 | Sizing | revised — supersedes row above |
| 26/09/2025 | LMN-KN-104 | Merino Crew | Web | 1520 | 167 | 110 | £6,680.00 | Sizing | |
| 26/09/2025 | LMN-KN-118 | Lambswool Cardigan | Retail | 380 | 33 | 87 | £1,881.00 | Sizing | |
| — Outerwear — | |||||||||
| 27/06/2025 | LMN-OW-221 | Waxed Field Jacket | Web | 260 | 9 | 3.5% | £1,215.00 | Fit | carried over from Q2 |
| 11/07/25 | LMN-OW-221 | Waxed Field Jacket | Web | 300 | 14 | 4.7% | £1,890.00 | Fit | |
| 11/07/25 | LMN-OW-235 | Quilted Gilet | Web | 280 | 11 | 3.9% | £825.00 | Changed mind | |
| 08/08/2025 | LMN-OW-221 | Waxed Field Jacket | Web | 520 | 33 | 6.3% | £4,455.00 | Fit | |
| 08/08/2025 | LMN-OW-235 | Quilted Gilet | Marketplace | 505 | 44 | 8.7% | £3,300.00 | Zip fault | QC notified 12/08 |
| 15/08/2025 | LMN-OW-221 | Waxed Field Jacket | Retail | 310 | 12 | 3.9% | £1,620.00 | Fit | |
| 15/08/2025 | LMN-OW-235 | Quilted Gilet | Web | 610 | 58 | 9.5% | £4,350.00 | Zip fault | |
| 29-08-2025 | LMN-OW-221 | Waxed Field Jacket | Web | 700 | 63 | 90 | £8,505.00 | Fit | |
| 29-08-2025 | LMN-OW-235 | Quilted Gilet | Web | 655 | 71 | 108 | £5,325.00 | Zip fault | |
| 19/09/2025 | LMN-OW-221 | Waxed Field Jacket | Wholesale | 1500 | 38 | 25 | £5,130.00 | Damaged in transit | consolidated — lands a week late |
| 19/09/2025 | LMN-OW-235 | Quilted Gilet | Web | 690 | 82 | 119 | £6,150.00 | Zip fault | QC hold requested |
| 03/10/2025 | LMN-OW-235 | Quilted Gilet | Web | 660 | 79 | 120 | £5,925.00 | Zip fault | next qtr |
| — Accessories — | |||||||||
| 18/07/2025 | LMN-AC-310 | Leather Belt | Web | 900 | 27 | 3.0% | £810.00 | Sizing | |
| 18/07/2025 | LMN-AC-342 | Cashmere Scarf | Web | 430 | 19 | 4.4% | £1,710.00 | Changed mind | |
| 15/08/2025 | LMN-AC-310 | Leather Belt | Retail | 610 | 11 | 1.8% | £330.00 | Sizing | |
| 15/08/2025 | LMN-AC-342 | Cashmere Scarf | Marketplace | 385 | 31 | 8.1% | £2,790.00 | Not as described | listing photo swapped 20/08 |
| 05/09/2025 | LMN-AC-310 | Leather Belt | Web | 1020 | 24 | 24 | £720.00 | Sizing | |
| 05/09/2025 | LMN-AC-342 | Cashmere Scarf | Web | 450 | 22 | 49 | £1,980.00 | Changed mind | |
| 26/09/2025 | LMN-AC-310 | Leather Belt | Web | 1150 | TBC | TBC | TBC | — | awaiting RMA close |
| 26/09/2025 | LMN-AC-342 | Cashmere Scarf | Web | 505 | 28 | 55 | £2,520.00 | Changed mind | |
| GRAND TOTAL | 19 330 | 1 475 | #REF! | ||||||
| Notes: | |||||||||
| 1. Weeks end Friday. Retail weeks close Saturday. | |||||||||
| 2. Rates taken from the WMS export are per 1000 units shipped. | |||||||||
| 3. Marketplace refunds settle in the local currency. | |||||||||
| 4. Wholesale returns are consolidated and land a week late. | |||||||||
| 5. Grand total formula broke when rows were inserted — not re-cut yet. | |||||||||
Lesson 7 uses both files: upload them, run the quote-the-line check before trusting any figure, and turn Dana's three questions into a one-page Artifact. No answer key is published for this sheet on purpose. If you want to know whether you found everything, the honest test is whether your one-pager survives someone asking where each number came from.