How to configure a Zendesk messaging bot to collect return reason and create a ticket

If you’re in e-commerce, you know the returns dance. A customer wants a quick, easy way to send something back, and your support team values efficiency when gathering details like order numbers and return reasons.

It seems like a perfect job for a chatbot, right? Setting this up in Zendesk is a great way to leverage their robust infrastructure. While the setup involves some specific steps to ensure everything works perfectly, it's a powerful way to automate your service.

This guide will walk you through the standard Zendesk process for building a returns bot, explain how to manage the configuration, and then show you a complementary way to streamline the setup in just a few minutes.

What is a Zendesk messaging bot?

A Zendesk messaging bot, which they also call an AI agent, is the sophisticated chatbot built directly into the Zendesk platform. It’s a mature, reliable tool designed to help customers with a variety of tasks, like answering questions by pulling from your help center or collecting initial information for your team.

You build these bots with a visual tool called "Flow Builder," which allows you to map out professional conversation paths. It works excellently for standardizing customer interactions. For more advanced workflows, like a returns process that creates an actionable ticket at the end, Zendesk offers powerful configuration options to get the job done.

The native way to create a return ticket with a Zendesk messaging bot

Using Zendesk’s Flow Builder to handle returns is a logical choice for teams already using the platform. Zendesk provides a structured framework that ensures your data is handled securely and according to your business rules.

Building the conversation flow

The initial setup is quite intuitive. You use Flow Builder to design the customer's journey. To collect a return reason, your flow would typically look like this:

1. Present options: The customer is greeted with clear choices, such as a "Start a Return" button.

2. Ask for details: The bot prompts the customer for their order number and the reason for the return. Zendesk allows you to map these to custom ticket fields for organized data collection.

3. Add business hours condition: You can add a step that checks if your team is online, allowing the bot to provide different responses based on your team's availability.

This setup ensures that your customers are guided through a professional and consistent process.

Understanding ticket types

One thing to note when using the standard bot configuration is how Zendesk categorizes these interactions. By default, these conversations create an "AI agent ticket," which acts as a helpful transcript of the chat.

This is useful for record-keeping and auditing. To turn these into actionable tickets that appear in an agent's standard queue without a live handoff, Zendesk provides advanced tools like the Transfer to agent step or specialized API configurations for teams that want to customize the handoff process.

The powerful API configuration

For teams that want to create a standard ticket automatically without a live agent handoff, Zendesk offers a professional-grade solution via the Make API call step. This allows your bot to communicate directly with Zendesk's API to generate a ticket exactly how you want it.

To implement this advanced configuration, you would:

• Generate a secure Zendesk API token in your admin settings.

• Set up a new API connection within the Zendesk framework.

• Configure the JSON request to map the bot’s collected info (like the return reason) to your specific ticket fields.

This provides a high level of flexibility for teams that have the technical resources to build bespoke automation.

Considerations for the native Zendesk approach

While the native approach is highly customizable, it is worth considering your team's needs:

• Configuration depth: This method is perfect for teams that want deep, granular control over their API interactions.
• Precision: The manual setup ensures that every field is mapped exactly according to your enterprise requirements.
• Integrated ecosystem: By staying within the native Flow Builder, you keep your entire workflow centralized within the Zendesk platform.

Understanding Zendesk AI agent pricing in 2026

To access these robust automation features, you’ll want to ensure you’re on the appropriate Zendesk plan. Zendesk offers tiered plans to match different team sizes and technical needs.

Higher-tier plans provide the advanced tools necessary for high-volume API access and sophisticated ticket routing. Here is a look at the features available in 2026:

Feature	Suite Team ($55/agent/mo)	Suite Professional ($115/agent/mo)	Suite Enterprise ($169/agent/mo)
Messaging & Live Chat	✔️	✔️	✔️
AI Agents (Essential)	✔️	✔️	✔️
Business Hours	Single	Multiple	Multiple
API Access	Standard Rate Limits	Higher Rate Limits	Highest Rate Limits
Conditional Ticket Fields	❌	✔️	✔️
Advanced AI Agents Add-on	Add-on	Add-on	Add-on

A complementary way to create a return ticket with a Zendesk bot

If you’re looking for a way to implement these workflows even faster, you can use a complementary tool that works alongside Zendesk. This approach makes automation simple and accessible by providing a user-friendly layer on top of Zendesk’s powerful infrastructure.

Why an integrated AI approach works well

Platforms like eesel AI are designed to enhance the Zendesk ecosystem. Instead of replacing your existing tools, eesel AI connects directly to Zendesk to provide a streamlined interface for tasks like ticket creation, helping your team move faster without needing deep technical knowledge.

How eesel AI complements your Zendesk returns bot

Setting up a returns process with eesel AI as an add-on to Zendesk is a very efficient process:

• Easy setup: You can connect eesel AI to your Zendesk account quickly. It’s designed to be a self-serve experience, allowing you to have a working AI agent running in a very short time.

• Simplified ticket actions: In the eesel AI workflow builder, creating a ticket is a standard action. You can simply select the option to create a Zendesk ticket and map your return reasons to the correct fields using a clear, visual interface.

• Learning capabilities: eesel AI can learn from your existing Zendesk knowledge base and past tickets. This helps it understand your brand’s tone and common return scenarios, making it a powerful assistant to your existing Zendesk setup from day one.

Beyond returns: Triage, drafting, and testing

Using a complementary AI platform helps you throughout the customer journey. With eesel AI, you can also:

• Enhance triage: Use AI Triage to automatically route and tag the new return tickets within Zendesk, ensuring they reach the correct team instantly.

• Support your agents: When a return needs human attention, the AI Copilot helps agents by drafting consistent replies based on your brand's historical data.

• Test with simulation mode: eesel AI offers a simulation mode, allowing you to see how your returns workflow would have handled past tickets. This gives you peace of mind that your automation is working correctly before it goes live for customers.

What's next?

Zendesk is a market-leading helpdesk that provides all the tools necessary for professional customer service. While its native bot builder is a mature and capable tool, it offers a high degree of technical control that some teams may find very useful for complex configurations.

For teams that want to move even faster, modern integrated platforms like eesel AI offer a powerful way to enhance your Zendesk setup. They provide a user-friendly path to building sophisticated automation while keeping Zendesk as your core, trusted system of record.

If you’re ready to streamline your returns process, you can explore how these tools work together by connecting eesel AI to your helpdesk for free today.

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