How to build a warranty claim and product return case management workflow with AI-classified claim types in Formaloo

A customer facing claim form that collects the order, product, issue, and photos for a warranty claim or return. Every submission is read by an AI Analysis field the moment it comes in, which classifies the claim (a simple exchange versus a complex defect investigation) and recommends a resolution path, so reviewers open a claim already knowing where it stands. From there the claim moves through a Kanban pipeline with automated status emails, generates an internal case file PDF, and rolls up into an AI-generated trend report for leadership.

This is the intake form customers fill out when something goes wrong with a product they bought. It captures who they are, what they bought, what's wrong with it, and what outcome they want, and it feeds everything the AI classification needs to work. The fastest way to build it is with Magic Create, Formaloo's AI form builder: describe the form in plain text and it generates the fields for you.

1. Open Magic Create: From your Formaloo homepage, click Magic Create.

2. Describe the form: Paste a prompt describing a warranty claim and product return intake form, covering the customer's name, email, order number, receipt upload, product name, purchase date, whether the product is still under warranty (with a warranty card upload if yes), a description of the issue, photos of the issue, the outcome they want (repair, replacement, refund, or not sure), and consent to a possible inspection. Also describe the admin-only fields: a claim status dropdown, an assignee field, internal notes, and an AI Analysis field that classifies the claim type and recommends a resolution path.

3. Click Create: Formaloo builds the full form for you.

4. Verify your fields: Your form should look like this. Magic Create will have generated most of it. Verify each field and field ID matches exactly.

5. Set up the AI claim analysis field: Open the AI Analysis field's settings and point it at the fields it should read: issue_description, issue_photos, desired_outcome, and under_warranty. Give it a prompt asking it to classify the claim as a simple exchange or a complex defect investigation, and to recommend a resolution path based on the requested outcome and the described issue. Set it to run when the form is submitted. The field stays admin-only by default, hidden from the customer, and writes its output directly onto the submission row.

6. Save your form.

This is what makes the form adapt to each customer's situation instead of asking everyone the same questions regardless of relevance. Warranty proof only shows up for customers who need it, and photo evidence becomes required only when the requested outcome makes it necessary.

1. Open Advanced logic: In your form editor, open the Advanced logic panel on the right side of the screen and go to the Logic tab.

2. Open Magic Logic: Click Magic Logic in the top right corner.

3. Describe your rules: Paste a plain-text prompt describing all four rules at once: show "Upload your warranty card or registration confirmation" only when "Is the product still under warranty?" is Yes, and keep it hidden by default; show a warning message when "Do you agree to let us inspect the returned item if needed?" is No, hidden by default; and require "Upload photos of the issue" only when "What outcome are you hoping for?" is Replacement or Refund, optional by default.

4. Generate and review: Click Generate Rules. Review each rule AI previews, and approve, redo, or cancel as needed.

5. Save your logic: Once approved, make any manual adjustments, then click Save in the top right corner.

This workflow needs six emails: a confirmation to the customer, an internal alert to the claims team, and four status updates as a claim moves through inspection, approval, denial, or resolution. Build all six as custom templates first, then wire up the triggers in the next Part.

1. Open Custom Email Templates: Click your profile icon, go to Apps and Integrations, and find Custom Email Templates.

2. Add a new template: Click Add New Template, name it "Claim received confirmation," and set the subject to We've received your warranty claim (WC-@rowid).

3. Generate the body with AI: Clear the body field, add an AI block, and paste this prompt: "Write a warm, reassuring confirmation email to @full_name letting them know their claim about @product_name has been received and is now being reviewed. Reference the claim number WC-@rowid and mention they'll get an update once a reviewer has looked at it. Keep it to 3 to 4 short sentences, calm and factual, no promises on timelines. Design it with a white background, a single centered column at max-width 560px, an Inter or system-ui font, a small status badge reading 'Received,' and a muted footer in #999."

4. Repeat for the remaining five templates, using the same steps with these names, subjects, and prompts:

5. Save each template.

With the templates built, the next step is telling Formaloo when each one fires, so a claim moves through inspection and resolution without anyone manually sending updates.

1. Turn on respondent notifications: In your form editor, open Notify in the right sidebar, then Send email to respondent. Turn on the toggle and select the "Claim received confirmation" template. This fires on submission, since @email is the form's Email field.

2. Turn on admin notifications: Go back and turn on Receive email notification, then route it to the "New claim alert" template so your claims team's inbox gets notified the moment a claim comes in.

Beyond submission, the remaining four emails only need to fire when an admin changes the claim status, which calls for conditional logic rather than a static notification.

3. Open the On Update logic tab: In Advanced logic, switch to the rule set that runs when an existing record is updated.

4. Add a rule per status change: Add four rules, one per status: when Claim status changes to Awaiting inspection, send the "Inspection needed" template to @email; when it changes to Approved, send "Claim approved"; when it changes to Denied, send "Claim denied"; when it changes to Resolved, send "Claim resolved, case closed."

5. Save your logic.

Every claim needs an internal record that a reviewer can print, archive, or hand to a manager, one that includes the AI's classification alongside the customer's own submission. This is a self-contained HTML template Formaloo turns into a PDF for every row.

1. Open Custom PDF Template: Click your profile icon, go to Apps and Integrations, and click Custom PDF Template, then Add New Template.

2. Switch to HTML view: Toggle the editor to HTML and paste the code below.

3. Name and save: Give it the name "Warranty claim case file" and click Save.

The reference number and submission date come straight from Formaloo's own variables, @rowid and @created_at, piped directly into the template text, no extra field required.

4. Attach it to a notification: Since this is an internal record rather than something sent to the customer, attach it to the "New claim alert" email so the claims team receives the case file the moment a claim comes in.

Customers need a way to submit claims and check their own status without emailing your team for updates.

Here's how the customer group of pages is laid out:

1. Start your project: Start from Form so your warranty claim form is already attached, then open the project's Settings (gear icon) and select Activate Portal.

2. Set up the user directory: Click Manage User, open the Setup Wizard, and create a new user directory (this is what lets customers sign up and log in). Configure login, sign-up, and any bot protection you want, then connect the profile to your warranty claim form.

3. Add the "My claims" page: Add a table page and point it at your warranty claim form's data. Switch to Edit Mode, click Options, scroll to Manage Access, select the profile field in the dropdown, and toggle on Allow users to view only their data.

4. Add "Approved claims" and "Denied claims": Duplicate the "My claims" page twice, filter one by Claim status = Approved and the other by Claim status = Denied, sorted newest first. Both inherit the same "view only their data" restriction.

Your reviewers need their own pipeline, separate from what customers see, with each reviewer able to find their own assigned work quickly.

Here's how the claims team group of pages is laid out:

1. Make reviewers workspace members: Add your claims reviewers as workspace members, and group them into a "Claims team" if you use teams.

2. Add the "All claims" Kanban: Add a Kanban page grouped by Claim status. Open the page's three-dot menu, click Access, and restrict it to Internal users → Specific teams, selecting your Claims team.

3. Add "My assigned claims": Add a table page, restrict its page Access to Internal users → Specific teams the same way, then switch to Edit Mode, open Options → Manage Access, select the Assigned reviewer field, and toggle on Allow assignees to view only their data. Each reviewer now sees only their own assigned claims.

4. Add "New claims" and "Awaiting inspection": Duplicate the pipeline table, filter one by Claim status = New (newest first) and the other by Claim status = Awaiting inspection (oldest first), same page access restriction as the rest of this group.

5. Add "Resolved & closed": One more table, filtered to Claim status = Resolved or Closed, for a historical record of finished claims.

Leadership doesn't need to read every claim individually. This is where the AI claim analysis you set up in Part 1 rolls up into something they can actually use.

Here's how the reports group of pages is laid out:

1. Add the "Claims overview" page: Add one more table page with no filter, showing every claim regardless of status, and restrict its Access to Internal users → Specific teams, selecting your leadership group.

2. Add the "AI claims trend report" page: Add a new reference page and insert an AI Analyze block, pointing it at your warranty claim form's data.

3. Prompt the report: Ask it to break down claim volume by classification (simple exchange versus defect investigation), the most common product defect categories, and the average time from submission to resolution. Formaloo generates charts and a written summary from your live data.

A single warranty claim and return workflow that starts triaging itself the moment a customer hits submit. Every claim arrives already classified, with a recommended resolution path sitting on the record before a human opens it. Reviewers work from a Kanban pipeline that emails customers automatically as status changes, every case leaves behind a proper internal PDF record, and leadership gets a live, AI-generated view of where claims are coming from and how long they're taking to close, all without anyone building a spreadsheet by hand.

Don't build this from scratch, we've already put it together for you.