Handle store returns, exchanges and claims

Returns lists the returns, exchanges and claims on your store's orders, newest first. A return brings shipped units back for a refund. An exchange brings them back for other variants, and refunds anything left over. A claim covers units that arrived damaged or were lost on the way: nothing comes back, and you refund or replace them. Shoppers ask for returns and exchanges on the storefront, and you open returns and claims from the order.

• You need the Tier 1 support role or higher to open Returns. Tier 2 support can start, approve, reject, receive and cancel a return. Refunding one or settling it needs the Billing role or higher.
• Shoppers can ask for a return within the store's Return window, set in Settings. A return you open yourself has no window.
• Only units that shipped can come back, and only those not already returned or refunded.

1. In the dashboard, open the organization, then Commerce, then Returns.
2. Choose a status along the top: All, Requested, Approved, Received, Refunded, Completed, Rejected or Cancelled. Requested and Received show how many are waiting for you.
3. To find the returns on one order, search by the order's number, such as 1042, or its order ID. To see one kind, change Every kind to Returns, Exchanges or Claims.
4. Select a return to open it.

The list shows 20 a page. The Refund column shows an estimate until the items arrive, then what is left to refund, then what was refunded.

A return's page shows what comes back and in what state under Items, an exchange's New items, what it refunds under Refund, and how the shopper sends it back under Sending it back. Open order opens the order it is on.

A shopper's request shows the alert Waiting for your answer.

To approve it:

1. Open the return and select Approve….
2. Optionally, enter a Restocking fee and the Return shipping the label cost. Both are kept back from the refund, and together they cannot be more than it.
3. Optionally, write Instructions for the shopper, up to 2,000 characters: where to send the items and how to pack them. Add a Return label as an https:// link to a prepaid label the shopper can print, up to 1,000 characters.
4. Select the button that approves it, such as Approve return.

The shopper sees that it is approved and how to send the items back. When the items shipped from a fulfilment provider that takes returns, Coritan tells the provider the return is on its way, and the provider can mark the items received. If they come to you instead, mark them received yourself.

To reject it:

1. Select Reject….
2. Write Why it is rejected, up to 500 characters. The shopper reads it on their order.
3. Select the button that rejects it, such as Reject return.

Nothing comes back and nothing is refunded, and a rejection cannot be undone.

You start one from its order:

1. In Orders, open the order, then the Order actions menu, and select Start a return….
2. Under What is it, choose A return or A claim. For a claim, choose under Settle it by: Refund or Send a replacement.
3. Choose how many units of each item it covers. When the store has return reasons, choose one for each item, or leave No reason given.
4. For a return, you can enter a Restocking fee, Return shipping, Instructions for the shopper and a Return label, as when you approve one.
5. Optionally, add a Note for the store, up to 2,000 characters.
6. Select Open return or Open claim.

It opens on its own page, already approved. A claim goes straight to settling, because nothing comes back.

When the items arrive:

1. Open the return and select Mark received….
2. For each item, count the sellable units and the damaged ones. Sellable units go back in stock, and damaged ones do not.
3. Under Back in stock at, keep Where the order shipped from or choose a stock location.
4. Select Mark received.

For a return, the refund is the next step, and a return with nothing left to refund completes on its own. For an exchange, the new items ship on a new order at no charge as soon as you confirm, and with the Billing role any amount left over is refunded at once.

With the Billing role or higher, the button at the top names the step that settles the return:

• a refund button with the amount, such as Refund €25.00…, for a return whose items arrived or for a claim settled by a refund
• Send new items… for an exchange whose new items were not sent when its items arrived
• Send replacement… for a claim settled by a replacement
• a complete button, such as Complete return, when nothing is left to refund

1. Select the button.
2. Check the sums in the dialog: the value of what came back, less any restocking fee and return shipping, under This refund.
3. When money goes back, you can enter a Reason of up to 64 characters, which goes on the credit note, and a Note of up to 500 characters for the store.
4. Confirm. For a refund, type the amount as the dialog shows it, then select the button that names it.

The money goes back the way the order was paid, and a credit note is issued, as for any order refund. A replacement ships the same items again on a new order, at no charge, from your stock.

When an exchange's new items cannot go out, you can settle it as a return instead: open the return's menu and select Refund it as a return…. What came back is refunded, and the new items are not sent.

You can cancel a return before its items arrive, and a claim before it is settled.

1. Open the return's menu, which reads Actions when the page has no other buttons, and select the cancel item, such as Cancel return.
2. Optionally, enter a Reason of up to 500 characters. The shopper sees it on their order.
3. Type the return's name as the dialog shows it, such as Return #903, and select the button that cancels it.

Nothing is refunded. A cancelled claim's units can be refunded on the order again, and a fulfilment provider that was receiving the return is told. A cancellation cannot be undone.

• The return's status changes on its page and in the list, and each step adds an entry to the order's timeline.
• The shopper sees the approval, your instructions and label, a rejection or a cancellation on their order.
• Sellable units you count back go into stock at the location you chose.
• A refund appears on the order under Payment, with its credit note.

Start a return… is missing from the order

Nothing on the order is left to return: no unit has shipped, or every shipped unit was returned or refunded. The menu item is also missing on a cancelled order, on an exchange order, and for roles below Tier 2 support.

A shopper cannot ask for a return

The Return window has closed for the items, or it is set to 0. You can still start the return yourself from the order.

The new items were not sent

They were most likely out of stock when the items arrived. Add stock in Inventory, then select Send new items…, or refund it as a return.

The new items cost more

Coritan cannot collect a difference from the shopper. Tick the box to waive it and send the items, or refund it as a return.

The search finds nothing

Search by the order a return is on, not by the return's own number. When you type a return's number, the list offers to open that return.

• Fulfil, refund and cancel store orders
• Change your store's settings
• Send orders to a fulfilment provider

Returns are under https://api.coritan.com/api/v1/orgs/{org_slug}/commerce/returns, with routes to approve, reject, receive, refund and cancel each one. The API can also open an exchange for the shopper and manage the store's return reasons, which the dashboard does not. Handle returns with the API has the details.

curl "https://api.coritan.com/api/v1/orgs/acme/commerce/returns?status=requested" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $CORITAN_TOKEN"