Soon, the directors of all departments arrived one after the other. Raven observed them; they were whispering and laughing in a low voice. Sign of rudeness. But she could not say a word. She knew they would complain to her father and she would be asked to apologize to them in public.
"Sister Raven, the rating on our site is too awful. It is two stars. Some customers have been spamming under every post on social media." Director Yu said.
"Do you have details of these customers? Are they verified buyers or some random trolls? Raven asked.
Director Yu pulled his collar, clicking his tongue in embarrassment, and answered, "Not yet."
"It is not hard. Go check the database, get me their contact details, and get reviews and comments printed and attached to the physical file." Raven coldly demanded, dismissing him immediately, "I need it in an hour. Go!"
"Next." She turned to the employees, raising her brows, waiting for a response, but they exchanged glances with each other, nervous.
She bit her tongue, recalling how these well-suited giants were cowering, obediently working under her guidance, and as soon as she turned away, they bit her like disgusting snakes.
She pointed at the sales department head. "I heard we had more returns than sales."
"Yes, ma'am." He stood up, his chair rolling away to a corner. He hopped to catch it and pulled it back, then lifted a pen, dropping it on the floor, picking it up—and hitting his head.
"Do you have exact data?" Raven didn't tone it down, asked.
"Umm…not exactly…but I guess we sold four thousand units of SOA face cream, and around six thousand units were returned," he stammered.
"How bizarre." Raven's eyes darkened; she looked at her diary and flipped a page. "Here it is….hmph…" She said, "It was a trial launch. Five thousand units were manufactured excluding testers. We sent these directly to four major retail stores in Starshine. Exclusively launched it with a scanner code for authenticity. In return, we received sixty-eight hundred."
"Do you all know what is even funnier?" Raven looked up and asked. They all had pale faces; they shook their heads, curious.
"None of these products came from our factory or store." She chuckled and then paused.
After a while, she spoke. "As I said, we had an exclusive launch with a scanner code. I checked, and none of these products matched the batch number or had the special scanner code."
"Ma'am, when we received the return, I had told them to check, but then Boss William learned of the issue and scolded me. He said customers are important. We shouldn't argue with them. Many retail sales staff had refused the return since the customers didn't bring the receipt." Sales Head defensively spoke.
"He is right. But the ones returning the product were not our customers." Raven concluded, "PR department, please address this matter before the campaign starts."
"Make this a strict policy. No receipt. No return." She ordered, "The billing details should be sent on the app too. Then, customers will have to download our app and actually keep it."
"Ma'am, the app doesn't work properly; the interface is not good." A shrill voice echoed in the air.
Raven, who was scribbling something in her diary, raised her eyes, looked around, and said, "Who was it?"
A frail hand raised high, he came forward from the group of assistants crowding in a corner.
"Who are you?" Raven asked, turning to Secretary Wan.
"Oh? Sister Raven, he is an intern. The boss hired him yesterday." He introduced himself, then leaned closer to her ear and hushed under his breath, "He is here to replace Ayan."
"Why an intern then?" She questioned, whispering back.
"Not experience enough. The HR department decided he should be trained for a year at least. He can't manage the administration," Secretary Wan said.
"Too bad for you. After Ayan, you should have been the assistant managing director, don't you think?" She teasingly asked, provoking her to get a reaction.
"I don't dare." He grinned and straightened his back.
"What is your name?" Raven asked.
"Ryan."
Raven paused.
"…Ryan?"
A faint smile slipped. She turned her chair slightly, covering her mouth for a second.
The room loosened. A few quiet laughs followed. Ryan stood still.
Raven faced forward again.
"Sit."
He took a seat.
She picked up her pen.
"The issue is valid. I was about to address it. " Her eyes lifted. "Ryan. Give me a solution."
"Yes," he said. "My sister orders from the Starshine website. It's easier to use than the app. The site updates often. The app doesn't. We need to rebuild it."
Raven listened.
A few directors leaned together, whispering. She ignored them.
"Good," she said. "You'll handle it."
Ryan blinked. "Me?"
She looked at him. "Yes. You."
She stood. Chairs shifted as others followed.
"You are here to replace Ayan, a capable, foolish man. Don't be worse."
"No, ma'am," he said quickly.
Raven turned to Secretary Wan. "Keep him with you. Train him."
She picked up her file.
"I need results."
Before walking out, she delivered one final cold warning, "Fix the issues before I fix the team."