Admin Flow
Everything your team does with returns happens in WooCommerce > Returns. This page follows a return from the list, through approval, receiving and inspection, to the resolution. You need the manage_tsre_returns capability (Administrator and Shop manager have it).
The returns list
The list shows one row per return with the columns RMA, Order, Customer (the email address), Items (units), Resolution, Status, Created and a View button.
- The links above the table filter by status and show how many returns each status has. Only statuses that have returns are listed.
- Search returns matches the RMA number, the customer email, and the order number when you type digits only.
- The two date fields and the Filter button limit the list by creation date.
- RMA, Order, Status and Created can be sorted. The newest returns come first, 20 per page.
The return screen
Click an RMA number to open the return. The header shows the return number, a coloured status, the order (linked to the order screen), the customer's name and email, the resolution, the return method and the creation date. A note from the customer and your internal note are shown under it.
Below the header is a row of buttons. Which ones appear depends on the status:
| Status | Buttons |
|---|---|
| Requested | Approve (with an optional internal note), Cancel return, Reject (with a reason for the customer) |
| Approved | Mark received, Resend email, Cancel return, Reject. For a return the customer keeps: Resolve without return |
| Label sent | Mark received, Resend email, Cancel return, Reject |
| On its way | Mark received, Resend email, Reject |
| Received | Resend email, Reject. The items table turns into the inspection form. |
| Inspected | Inspect again, Reject. The resolution panel shows the plan and the Resolve button. Once an earlier resolve paid money or made the exchange order, Inspect again and Reject are gone and a notice points to Resolve (see When a refund fails). |
| Resolved, Rejected | Resend email |
| Cancelled | No buttons |
Reject and Cancel return ask for confirmation. Rejecting tells the customer by email and includes your reason. Cancelling tells the customer by email too, so they do not send the parcel. Resend email sends the email of the current status again.
When a customer cancels a return in Label sent after you bought its label, ReturnDesk does not void the label for you. The timeline records "Cancelled after the label was bought: void it with the carrier", and the Return label panel shows a notice with the tracking number until the label is voided. Void it with the carrier (or with Void label, Pro) to get the postage back.
The page is split in two columns. On the left are the Items and the Resolution. On the right are the Return label and the Timeline.
Approve
Approving moves the return to Approved. What happens next depends on the return method:
- Customer ships with their own label (the only method in Lite): a label record without a file is created, the return moves to Label sent, and the customer gets the approval email with your return address and instructions.
- Prepaid return label (Pro): a label job is queued with the provider from your settings. The return moves to Label sent when the label exists, and the approval email goes out then. See Labels and carriers.
- Drop-off point, Return in store and Keep the item: no label is made. The customer is told to hand the parcel over, or to keep the item.
Automatic approval (Pro) does the same without a person.
Mark received
When the parcel arrives, press Mark received. You can press it from Approved, Label sent or On its way, so a parcel that was handed over without a carrier does not get stuck. If Require inspection before resolving is off, the return is inspected at the same time with every unit accepted.
Inspect
For a Received return the Items table becomes a form with one row per item:
| Field | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Requested | Units the customer asked to return (read only) |
| Reason | The reason the customer gave, with their text underneath |
| Unit value | The value of one unit, tax included |
| Accept | Units you accept. Defaults to all. |
| Reject | Units you do not accept |
| Condition | New, Opened, Used or Damaged |
| Restock | Put the accepted units back in stock when the return is resolved |
Accepted plus rejected units cannot exceed the requested units. Photos the customer attached are shown under the table as thumbnails that open at full size. They are served through protected links that only your staff and the owner of the return can use.
Press Save inspection. The return moves to Inspected. For a return the customer keeps, Restock starts unticked, because the goods never come back.
If you made a mistake, Inspect again sends the return back to Received. This is allowed once per return.
Resolve
An Inspected return shows the Resolution panel with the plan that follows from your inspection:
| Line | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Resolution | What the customer asked for |
| Value of the accepted items | Accepted units times their unit value |
| Restocking fees | Fees withheld by the rules the return was requested with. Zero unless you use the Pro fee settings, and zero during the EU withdrawal period. |
| Return shipping withheld | The cost of a label you bought, when the customer pays for return shipping (Pro) |
| Original delivery charge refunded (EU withdrawal) | Shown when a return requested during the EU withdrawal period brings back the last units of the order: the delivery charge of the order with its tax, added to the refund. You can lower it in the resolve form. |
| Refund | The money that will be paid back |
| Store credit | The credit that will be issued (Pro) |
| The order can still refund | What the order has left to refund. The refund is never larger than this. |
For an exchange or a warranty claim the panel also lists the Replacements that will be sent, for example "1 x Shirt - medium".
Press Resolve and confirm. The confirmation says what resolving does: money paid back for a refund, store credit given for credit, or the replacement order created for an exchange with nothing to pay back. What happens depends on the resolution:
- Refund. ReturnDesk creates a WooCommerce refund with the accepted quantities and sends the money back through the payment gateway when the gateway supports refunds. When it does not, the refund is recorded and an order note asks you to pay it manually. Items you ticked Restock for go back in stock once the return is resolved. With Pro, an order paid with store credit gets the credit part back as credit; see Pro features.
- Store credit (Pro). The refundable amount plus your bonus is added to the customer's balance. See Pro features.
- Exchange. An exchange order is created with the replacement items. In Lite the replacement is another variation of the same product at exactly the same price, so the exchange order is free: it goes to Processing, its stock is taken, the returned items you ticked Restock for go back in stock, and nothing is refunded. The replacement is checked again first; one that no longer qualifies (price changed, out of stock) is refused with a message and nothing is created. The Pro edition also handles other products and a price difference. See Pro features.
- Warranty claim (Pro). Settled as an exchange when every accepted item has a replacement, and as a refund without fees or shipping withheld otherwise.
With the Pro edition you can type a lower Amount to refund (or credit) than the plan. You can give back less than planned, never more. The amount cannot be changed on an exchange or a warranty claim.
For a return the customer keeps, Resolve without return marks the items as received, accepts everything and resolves in one step, after you confirm.
When the return is resolved the customer gets the "Return resolved" email.
When a refund fails
If the gateway refuses a refund, the return stays Inspected and the screen shows the message. You can press Resolve again. In two cases the screen asks you for a decision before it will try again, because ReturnDesk cannot tell whether the money moved:
- The gateway did not confirm a refund. Check the gateway. Then choose Accept the refund as paid, or Discard and refund again.
- An attempt left no trace. Check the gateway. Then choose Refund again.
Each choice needs a confirmation tick and is written to the order notes and the timeline with your name.
While a refund, store credit or an exchange order from an earlier attempt exists, the return cannot be rejected or sent back for inspection, from the screen or through the REST API: that would leave the money or the replacement standing. The screen hides Reject and Inspect again and says so. Press Resolve: it finds what was already done and finishes the return without paying twice.
The Return label panel
For returns that ship with a label, the Return label panel lists the labels (provider, status, tracking number, cost and a Download PDF link) and offers:
- Request label, for an approved return, which asks the configured provider for a label.
- Label bought elsewhere (PDF) with Upload label, for a label you bought yourself. The file must be a PDF of up to 10 MB. It is stored privately, the return moves to Label sent and the customer gets the email.
- When the label provider of the settings is Manual upload, an approved prepaid-label return shows a notice that no label is bought for it: upload the label PDF yourself. Until you do, the return stays Approved.
- With Pro: a provider and rate picker (Get rates, Buy this label), Void label, and Retry label after a failure.
See Labels and carriers for details.
The Timeline
The Timeline panel lists every event, newest first, with who did it and when: status changes, notes, label events, refunds, credit, exchanges, emails and carrier updates. To add a note, type it under Add a note, tick Show this note to the customer if the customer should see it on their return page, and press Add note. Notes without the tick stay internal.
Returns on the order screen
Every order has a Returns box in the side column. It lists the returns of the order with their status, and shows Create return when something can still be returned.
Create return opens the same wizard your customers use, titled "Create a return for order #...", and creates the return on behalf of the customer. The eligibility rules apply exactly as for the customer, and the customer gets the usual email.