Refunding everyone leaves next month's payroll short
2026NowDeadline · Decision window: 10 days until the reply on customer refunds
Realistic synthesis
The people, events, figures, and technology in this matter are stated assumptions. They are not to be treated as information about real individuals or as observed events. Background documents are separate sources, and symbolic interpretations are recorded as discovery paths.
The question to decide
A promised feature was not delivered for two months, and part of the customers' prepaid funds has already been spent on operations. Refunding everyone in full immediately would leave payroll and operating expenses short, but the value of a substitute service differs by customer. Considering customers' right to return and employee pay, which path should the board choose: immediate refunds, customer-chosen installment refunds or substitute provision, or winding down the business?
Who decidesThe board of a service company
What the AI judgments chose
Reading the judgment record…
The options
The order shown is not a ranking of preference.
The situation as it stands
The fictional service was unable to deliver its promised features for two months, and part of the customers' prepaid funds has already been used in operations. Deadline: Deadline: 10 days until the reply to customers on refunds.
2026 fictional matter · If we refund everyone, next month's payroll falls short. The people, organizations, figures, and events form a synthetic premise constructed for comparison.
- Premise 1The fictional service was unable to deliver its promised features for two months, and part of the customers' prepaid funds has already been used in operations.
- Premise 2If the full amount is returned immediately, next month's payroll and essential operating costs fall short.
- Premise 3A substitute service is ready, but it is not of equal value to every customer.
Where it holdsRefunds, operating funds, explanations to customers, and debt commitments
What is still unknown
- Unknown 1Each customer's contractual refund obligation and actual harm
- Unknown 2The confirmed priority among payroll, debt, and operating costs
- Unknown 3The extent to which customers voluntarily consent to the substitute offering
Signals to decide again
- Decide what observation, responsible person, and confirmation channel will verify 「each customer's contractual refund obligation and actual harm」, and re-judge when a new confirmation changes the tradeoff of the options.
- Decide what observation, responsible person, and confirmation channel will verify 「the confirmed priority among payroll, debt, and operating costs」, and re-judge when a new confirmation changes the tradeoff of the options.
- Decide what observation, responsible person, and confirmation channel will verify 「the extent to which customers voluntarily consent to the substitute offering」, and re-judge when a new confirmation changes the tradeoff of the options.
Where the paths partNot answers — paths that part from the same starting point
Key customers said they would accept an immediate partial refund with a guaranteed schedule for the remaining amount.
The substitute service provider is demanding payment in advance, changing the existing cash plan.
Material and rootsThe frame, the values and the background documents
Where is the continuity of a company rooted once its members, customers, and purpose have changed?
An exploratory perspective chosen by the creator. Does not claim supernatural validity or the superiority of any particular option.The benefits and costs of the options accrue to different stakeholders. Which loss to accept remains undecided.
A subject for the decision-maker to argue over; the materials carry no conclusion of their own.- OECD · SMEs and entrepreneurship accessed 2026-09-08
- ICA · Cooperative identity, values and principles accessed 2026-09-08
The record of this question
- Question
FSP-VENTURE-13· version 1.4.0- Content identity, SHA-256
74598a776e81ab6ae85d6fbaa0770b165ecdcb25c77d7ef4e95c771e317e800a- Input files
- Question input JSON · What followed, JSON