Managing an RMA

  • Updated

Contents

  1. Navigating between RMAs
  2. Marking an RMA as Delivered Manually
  3. Editing "Delivered" RMAs
  4. Cancelling an RMA
  5. Restocking Items
  6. Regenerating Shipping Labels (USPS only)

 

Managing RMAs will be one of the core responsibilities of your business in regards to staying on top of returns. Depending on the role of the individual(s) who will be managing RMAs (shown in this article and what abilities they have), they will be able to manage RMAs, sometimes with the ability to override your Returns Policy, which you defined during setup. Below, we'll go over the main actions that one will be able to perform on individual RMAs.

 

Navigating between RMAs

When reviewing RMAs within the Manage Returns dashboard, you have the ability to navigate between RMAs that are within the same tab. For example, if you are going to manually settle RMAs in the For Review tab, once you are in an RMA record, all you'll need to do is hit "Previous" or "Next" to navigate to the next RMA.

Review RMA in Returnly account GIF
 

Returnly also allows you to see if a return is a Return of Repurchase (RoR) or Return of Exchange (RoE), within the RMA details, if your Returnly instance allows for those actions. You will also be able to view (with a link) the original order number for the RoR or RoE directly under for easy auditing.Authorize product return in Returnly

Take a look at our Knowledge Center article for more information about Refunding a Return of Repurchase (RoR) or Return of Exchange (RoE)

Back To Top

 

Marking an RMA as "Delivered Manually"

Returnly tracks the return package and automatically updates the RMA once it is delivered. What happens if the shopper decides to use their own label, or returns in-store?  

In such cases, you can mark the RMA as "Delivered" manually by selecting the "Set as Delivered" button on the RMA detailed view in the In-Transit tab, as seen below.

Marking an RMA as 'Delivered Manually' in Returnly

Once the RMA is in a "Delivered" status, you can edit the RMA details, as shown below.

Back To Top

 

Editing "Delivered" RMAs


When it comes to returns, we know things don’t always go as planned. In any case, Returnly grants you flexibility in editing RMAs to accurately reflect any changes that occurred.

Example: Sometimes, multi-product (two or more) RMAs arrive at the warehouse and need to be modified because an item is missing from the box or one of the items is in a condition that prevents you from selling it again. You can edit these RMAs from within the merchant dashboard to ensure you refund the correct amount and to better keep track of what has been returned and what has not. 

 

Go to the Merchant Dashboard → Manage Returns → Return Detail view of a "Delivered" RMA and press the "Edit" link next to the item that you want to remove from the return. You can choose one of two reasons to remove the item: "Item missing" or "Unacceptable condition".



Once you have selected a reason to remove the item from the RMA, you will notice two things:

  • The item will be grayed out in the RMA's details and the product-specific refund amount will be updated to $0.00.
  • The "Refund Due" amount at the bottom of the page will be updated to reflect the new refund amount.

Mark 'Item missing' or 'Unacceptable condition' on Authorize Product Return page

Mark 'Item missing' on Authorize Product Return page

Please note that prior to Settling the RMA, you can "Undo" marking an item in the RMA as "Missing" or in "Unacceptable Condition".

 

Post Refund

Once the RMA has been edited and processed/refunded, you can no longer edit the return. If you made a mistake while editing, you can still make changes while the RMA remains in the "Delivered" status.

If you are using Shopify, there will also be an updated note added to the original order number(s) to signify that the RMA has been edited. This note will include the items that were removed from the RMA and the new refund amount.

The shopper will receive the normal refund emails from the e-commerce platform as they do today, and that will include the new refund amount. We recommend that you reach out to shoppers if you are making an edit to an RMA because often times they kept one of the items on purpose.

Back To Top

 

Cancelling an RMA

To cancel an RMA all you'll need to do is select the "Cancel Return" button on the RMA detailed view and select the cancelation reason, as seen below.

Returnly cancel reasons


Common Questions

Q: What happens when I cancel a return?
A: The shopper will not be refunded any money and the return will go to the status: cancelled_by_merchant. If the shopper was issued Returnly Credit, this will automatically be disabled upon cancellation.

Q: What if we cancel a return and Returnly Credit has already been used (in the case of an exchange)?
A: For merchants with commission on exchanges, Returnly would assume the risk in the case where the exchange has already occurred and items are missing from the return. If the return is being cancelled because the shopper had either been already refunded or they had decided to keep the return items, Returnly would then invoice the merchant as if the return had been settled.

Q: How can I tell if I have been invoiced for a cancellation?
A: All RMAs that have invoices associated with them will appear in the Billing Tab → Returnly Checkout

Q: What if only one of the items within an RMA needs to be canceled?
A: To update the refund amount for a given RMA, please use the deductions & fees feature. Here you can subtract the amount you will refund the shopper for any damaged or non-sellable goods in the return.

Q: Can a canceled RMA be undone?
A: No, "Canceled by Merchant" is considered a final status for an RMA. After an RMA is canceled it will transition to the Complete tab within the Manage Returns section.

 

Back To Top

 

Restocking Items

Need to restock an item? Just check the restocking box before clicking the Settle button. When you click this button, it automatically restocks the item to your Shopify store inventory.

Restock item check box on Authorize Product Return page

Back To Top

 

Regenerating Shipping Labels (USPS only)

When an RMA is created, but the shopper doesn't follow through and package up and send the return back using the shipping label that Returnly generates, those unused labels are typically voided or refunded 28 days after they were first generated.

In these cases where the labels have been voided and the shopper requests a new one past the original 28 day label, you or your customer support representatives will be able to generate a new USPS shipping label. The following criteria must be met before you are able to generate a new USPS shipping label:

  • RMA is in status Authorized or Missed Delivery Deadline.

  • Shipping label has been Refunded.

  • There are no newer Shipping Labels available for the same package.

To regenerate a USPS shipping label, follow these directions:

  1. Navigate to the specific RMA in question (or the order, if it has multiple items in it). You will now see thevNewvbutton with the refresh icon next to it.'New' button to generate shipping label on Authorize Product Return page
  2. You will get a message saying that the shipping label is being generated from your shipping provider.Shipping label confirmation message on Authorize Product Return page

  3. You can then refresh the page, and you can download the new label by clicking (download). For reference, you can view the previous/expired label.
    View previous shipping lables on Authorize Product Return page
  4. After downloading the label, the shopper should automatically receive an email containing the new label so they can complete their return! You can also download and email the new label to the shopper if they never received the automated email.

 

Frequently Asked Questions:

  • What Shipping Carrier does this apply to?

    This is only available for shipping labels generated through Returnly’s USPS account (which is the default carrier that the majority of Returnly users are set up on).
  • What happens when the generation of the new shipping label fails?

    When no tracking number is available for the new shipping label, the merchants will be able to retry the generation of that shipping label.

  • In case of multi-label RMAs, does the action generate a shipping label for all refunded shipping labels in the RMA or just one of them?

    The action to generate a new shipping label is related to one shipping label only. If there are multiple shipping labels that are refunded, the Merchant should generate a new one for each one of them.

  • Is the Shopper informed that a new shipping label is generated?

    Yes - they are automatically sent an email with the regenerated label attached to it.

Read our best practice guide for RMA troubleshooting to close out returns in less time and deliver a great customer experience.

Back To Top

< Previous: Manage Returns Dashboard: Overview
+ Related: Managing an RMA: Pending Refund Status
+ Related: Managing an RMA: Missed Delivery Deadline (MDD)

.