Background:

You work for a company that sells medical supplies to the general public: crutches, bandages, wheelchairs, physical therapy bands and balls, OTC medicines, slings, anything a person can use at home. One afternoon, a customer comes in and is visibly upset. He bought some crutches from you that broke six weeks after he bought them. Your store guarantees products for 30 days after purchase with receipt. Since the product was good for 30 days, he didn't keep the receipt, but now he has a problem and is pretty sure you aren't going to fix it. He is already upset about the fight he anticipates in order to get new crutches. You weren't the salesperson that previously assisted him, and you know that crutches are fairly generic; he could have actually bought them anywhere and would look the same.

Question

What would you hope to be able to do as an employee and what would you expect to accomplish based on experiences you have actually had as an employee?

If you were the boss, what instructions would you give employees as a general rule for defective merchandise and if you were the customer, what would you consider fair?