How to Use Gorgias Custom Forms for Warranty Claim Cases (2026)

A quick disambiguation first: this is about Gorgias the ecommerce help desk, not the ancient Greek dialogue of the same name. New to the platform? Start with what is Gorgias for the bigger picture. Everything below is verified against Gorgias's own Helpdesk Documentation as of June 2026 — Gorgias revises labels and menus periodically, so confirm the exact wording in your own account.

What "Gorgias custom forms" actually means

There's an important nuance that trips up a lot of teams, so let's be precise.

Gorgias ships a Contact Form — a customer-facing form that turns a submission into a ticket. To create a ticket, the native form requires exactly four fields: Full name, Subject, Email, and Message (Gorgias docs). It also accepts file attachments — images (including .heic from iPhones), PDFs, documents, video, and even .zip archives — which matters a lot for warranty photos.

What the native form does not do (as of June 2026) is let you add arbitrary extra fields — a dropdown for "issue type," a text box for "order number" — directly onto the customer-facing form. That's a long-standing request on Gorgias's public product roadmap ("integrate ticket fields with the contact form"), not a shipped feature. So when people search for "Gorgias custom forms," they're usually after one of two things:

1. A Gorgias-native Contact Form tuned for warranties (using the Subject, Message and attachments you do control), or
2. A custom-built form (a third-party form builder or your Shopify theme) that captures structured fields and pipes the submission into Gorgias as a ticket.

We'll cover both, because most warranty workflows use a blend.

Option A: Set up a native Gorgias Contact Form for warranties

This is the fastest path and needs no extra tools.

1. Create the form. Go to Settings → Channels → Contact Form and click Create Contact Form. Give it a name (e.g. "Warranty Claim"), set a default language, and connect your Shopify store. One caveat worth knowing up front: the connected store can't be changed after setup, so pick the right one (Standalone Contact Form docs).

2. Use the description and Subject to guide the customer. Since you can't add bespoke fields, make the instructions do the heavy lifting. In the form description and the Subject prompt, tell customers exactly what to include in the Message:

• Order number (or the email used at checkout)
• Proof of purchase
• A clear description of the defect / issue type
• Photos or video of the problem

3. Lean on file attachments for proof. This is the underrated part. The Message box accepts up to 5,000 characters and the form takes image, video and document attachments — so "attach a photo of the damage and your receipt" turns into usable evidence on the ticket automatically. That single instruction eliminates most of the back-and-forth that drags warranty cases out.

4. Publish it. You can share the form three ways: a direct shareable link, a manual HTML embed, or an auto-embed on your storefront. The native form also lives in your Help Center footer once you toggle the Contact form card on under Settings → Channels → Help Center → [your Help Center] → Contact. (Heads-up: visual style customization of the form isn't available yet.)

When the form is submitted, Gorgias opens a new ticket with the channel set to the contact form — and it automatically creates a View so your team can watch the queue.

Option B: A custom form builder when you need real structured fields

If you genuinely need a dropdown for "issue type" or a required "order number" field on the form itself, build the form outside Gorgias and route the submission in. The common pattern (documented by Gorgias partners and form tools alike) is:

1. Build the form in a form builder or your Shopify theme with the fields you want — at minimum an input named email and one named message, plus your warranty-specific fields (order number, purchase date, issue type, serial number).
2. Connect it to Gorgias so each submission creates a ticket, mapping the customer's name, email, and your extra fields into the ticket body or onto ticket fields (connecting a form to Gorgias — Ringly, 2026).

The trade-off is honest: you gain structured capture, but you maintain a form outside the help desk and own the mapping. For many stores, Option A plus good instructions is enough; reach for Option B only when warranty volume justifies the structure.

Capture the structured data inside Gorgias with ticket fields

Whichever intake you choose, the place warranty data becomes usable is ticket fields — and these you fully control.

Create them via the helpdesk dropdown (top-left) → Workflows → Fields and tags → Ticket fields → Create field (Manage ticket fields). Each field can be a Dropdown, Number, Text, or Yes/No type. For warranties, a practical set looks like:

• Issue type (Dropdown: Defective / Damaged in transit / Missing part / Wear-and-tear)
• Order number (Text or Number)
• Proof of purchase received? (Yes/No)
• Warranty status (Dropdown: Eligible / Out of warranty / Needs review)

A few specifics that save grief: you can have up to 25 active ticket fields at a time (archive unused ones to free space), dropdowns support nested levels using a double colon :: (e.g. Defective::Battery), and you can't change a field's type after creation — archive and recreate instead. You can also make fields conditionally visible so the warranty fields only show on warranty tickets.

Gorgias also ships three managed ecommerce ticket fields — Contact Reason, Resolution, and Product — that come pre-filled with suggested values (Managed ticket fields). Setting Contact Reason = Warranty is a clean, report-friendly way to label these cases without inventing your own field.

Route and tag warranty tickets automatically with Rules

Capturing the data is half the job; getting the ticket to the right person fast is the other half. Gorgias Rules handle this on contact-form tickets in four ways: auto-tag, auto-assign, auto-reply, and setting ticket fields based on conditions (Contact Form Views and Rules).

Useful warranty rules:

• Identify the form. If you run more than one contact form, use the "Message integration IS" condition to isolate warranty submissions from general inquiries.
• Tag on arrival. Auto-apply a warranty tag so it's reportable and filterable.
• Set the ticket field. A rule can set the Contact Reason to "Warranty" automatically when the subject or form matches — note that only ticket fields created in Gorgias can be used in Rules (Use ticket fields in Rules).
• Route it. Auto-assign to your warranty/returns specialist or team so it doesn't sit in the general queue.
• Acknowledge instantly. An auto-reply that confirms "we've received your claim and will review within X business days" sets expectations and cuts follow-up "did you get this?" tickets.

Speed up resolution with macros

Once a warranty ticket lands, Gorgias macros make the reply fast and consistent. A macro is a saved response that can also carry tags and actions in one click. Build a small library for the predictable moments:

• "Missing info" — politely asks for the order number, proof of purchase, or a clearer photo (and applies a needs-info tag).
• "Claim approved — replacement" — confirms approval, sets next steps, and can change ticket status.
• "Out of warranty" — explains the decision warmly and offers any goodwill alternative.

Pair macros with variables that pull live Shopify order data and the agent personalizes a full reply without leaving the ticket.

Where AI agents fit (an honest note)

If you're reading this because warranty triage is eating your team's hours, AI agents can deflect the repetitive parts — collecting missing info, checking warranty windows, and drafting replies. One caveat for transparency: Macha is an AI agent layer that works on Zendesk and Freshdesk — it does not integrate with Gorgias. So it isn't the answer for a Gorgias stack. If you happen to run Zendesk or Freshdesk alongside (or are evaluating a move), Macha's agents can automate this kind of structured intake-and-triage work, and you can 7-day free trial, no credit card required. For a Gorgias-only setup, lean on Gorgias's own Automate/AI Agent features instead.

Ecommerce best practices for warranty intake

• Ask once, ask clearly. The biggest time sink is the second email asking for the order number. Put every requirement in the form description.
• Make photos non-negotiable. "Attach a photo of the issue" up front resolves most damage/defect claims without a follow-up.
• Standardize the outcome. Use the Resolution managed field so you can later report on approved vs. denied vs. replaced.
• Review your tags quarterly. Warranty trends (a spiking defect on one SKU) are gold for your product team — only if the tags are clean.

FAQ

Can I add custom fields to the Gorgias contact form? Not directly on the native customer-facing form as of June 2026 — it requires Full name, Subject, Email and Message, and supports file attachments, but adding bespoke fields (like an "issue type" dropdown) to the form itself is an open item on Gorgias's product roadmap. To collect structured fields on the form, use a third-party form builder or your Shopify theme and route submissions into Gorgias as tickets. Inside Gorgias, capture structure with ticket fields instead.

How do customers attach proof of purchase or photos? The native Gorgias Contact Form accepts file attachments — images (including .heic), PDFs, documents, video and .zip archives. Tell customers in the form description to attach their receipt and a photo of the issue.

How do I route warranty tickets to the right agent? Use Rules. Identify the form with the "Message integration IS" condition, auto-tag the ticket (e.g. warranty), set the Contact Reason ticket field, and auto-assign it to your warranty specialist or team.

Is the contact form the same as Gorgias email? No. Email is a separate channel; the Contact Form is a structured intake that creates tickets with the channel set to the contact form, and can be embedded on your store or shared as a link. Both land in the same shared inbox.

Does Macha work with Gorgias? No — Macha's AI agents run on Zendesk and Freshdesk only, not Gorgias. For a Gorgias stack, use Gorgias's own automation; this guide focuses on that.

The bottom line

You can't bolt arbitrary custom fields onto the native Gorgias Contact Form yet — but you don't need to. Build the intake around what Gorgias does give you (a clear Subject, a guided Message, and file attachments for proof), then make warranty data usable inside the help desk with ticket fields, route and label it with Rules, and resolve it fast with macros. If you truly need structured fields on the form itself, a third-party form builder mapped into Gorgias closes the gap. Set it up once and warranty claims stop being your messiest queue.

Gorgias updates its interface and field options regularly — verify exact menu labels in your own account, and re-check this guide against the latest Gorgias documentation before relying on a specific step.