Claims & returns

When something goes wrong after a sale, you handle it as a claim or a return. In a claim, the customer complains about what they received. In a return, the customer gives the goods back. Each case belongs to the order it concerns, so the sale and what happened afterwards stay together. From the case, you decide the resolution, record the refund, send a replacement to production and arrange the transport.

Where to find it: Sales → Claims & returns → All (or Claims or Returns for one kind only). You open a new case from the order it concerns: go to Sales → Orders → Order list, open the order and use its Complaints & returns tab.

When you'll use it

• A customer reports a damaged, faulty or wrong product.
• A customer withdraws from the purchase and sends goods back.
• You need to decide what the customer gets: a repair, a replacement, a refund or compensation.
• You give money back and want the order's payments to show it.
• A replacement has to be made, or goods have to be collected from the customer.

Key concepts

• Claim — a complaint about goods the customer received: a defect, damage, a wrong or incomplete delivery, a warranty case.
• Return — the customer gives goods back.
• Case number — built from the order's number. For order ORD-1234, the first claim is ORD-1234-CLM-01 and the first return is ORD-1234-RET-01. Numbers are never reused. Older cases keep the numbers they got when they were opened, in an older format.
• Item — one line of a case. By default, each piece is a separate item, so that each piece can have its own resolution.
• Reason — why the case was opened, chosen from a fixed list. The list is the same for claims and returns. Other reason needs a description.
• Resolution — what you decide to do. A new case starts on the resolution proposed when it was opened, or on No decision.
• Item resolution — each item can have its own resolution. When the items differ, the case as a whole shows Mixed.
• Status — where the case is in its handling. Claims and returns each have their own set of statuses, and you move them by hand. Nothing changes a case's status automatically. The sets are managed on Order statuses.
• A refund is a record. Recording a refund adds it to the order's payments. You send the money itself back outside Complaia.

Reasons

• Order cancelled by the customer
• Damaged during production
• Damaged in transit
• Damaged by the customer
• Defect or malfunction
• Short delivery or incomplete product
• Wrong product shipped
• Product not as described or advertised
• Fulfilment delay
• Warranty
• Other reason

Older cases can show a reason that is no longer on the list. It stays on those cases.

Resolutions and what they allow

Resolution	Refund can be recorded	Can be sent to production	Pickup from the customer
No decision	—	—	possible
Collect and repair	—	—	possible
On-site repair	—	—	not offered
Replacement with the same model	—	yes	possible
Exchange for a different variant	—	yes	possible
Replacement of a product part	—	—	possible
Customer keeps the product and gets a replacement	—	yes	not offered
Customer keeps the product and gets a full refund	yes	—	not offered
Customer keeps the product and gets a partial refund	yes	—	not offered
Refund	yes	—	possible
Partial refund	yes	—	possible
Compensation with no action on the product	—	—	not offered
Other	—	—	possible

The last column depends on where the goods end up. With a "not offered" resolution, the product stays with the customer, so there is nothing to pick up.

• When every item has such a resolution, a pickup cannot be requested, and a pickup that is not carried out yet is cancelled.
• When only some items have it, a pickup that is not carried out yet is narrowed to the items that come back.

Rejecting a case is not a resolution. It is a status (Rejected). Some older cases still show Rejected as their resolution.

Replacements and the warehouse. When you save a decision to replace or exchange items of a claim, the replacement goods become work for the warehouse, like the items of an order. They can be reserved on Stock reservation and packed. Returns never create such work, because nothing goes to the customer.

How much can be claimed or returned

• A return can cover at most what was ordered, less what has already been returned.
• A claim can cover only pieces the customer still has: ordered less returned. The same piece can be claimed more than once.
• Returns on a status of the Cancelled type, such as Rejected or Cancelled, do not count as returned.

The window where you open a case shows these limits and warns you. For example, it tells you that part of an item has already been returned, or that an item already has a claim, so that you do not open the same claim twice. Completed claims count here too.

Returned goods and stock

When goods picked up from a customer arrive at your warehouse, the case shows the date under Goods received. Nothing else happens automatically:

• stock is not increased;
• the case's status is not changed.

The warehouse decides whether the goods can be sold again. If they can, they are taken into stock as a separate step. See Goods receipt.

The date is set only by a pickup shipment in Complaia. There is no field to type it in. Goods that the customer sends back on their own do not get this date.

The screens

The list

Column	What it shows
Number	The case number
Type	Claim or Return
Parent order	The order the case belongs to. Click it to open the order
Client	The customer, with the e-mail address underneath
Resolution	The decision. For Mixed, the breakdown is listed underneath
Status	The case's status
Amount	The refund amount, when one was set
Created	When the case was opened

The tabs above the list (All, Claims, Returns) match the three menu entries. The search box finds a case by its number, the order number, the customer's name or e-mail address, or the reason. You can also filter by resolution, status, amount and the date the case was opened (the filter is called Report date).

Click a row to open the case. Ctrl-click or Cmd-click opens it in a new browser tab. There is no button for a new case here. You open cases from the order.

The case page

The header shows the case number and the order it is linked to, with Refresh, Open order and Edit. The page is for reading, except for the transport buttons and the customer portal.

On a wide screen, the left column shows, from the top:

Section	Content
Customer	The customer's details from the order, the delivery address and the pickup point. The name links to the entity, if you may open entities
Reason and decision	Reason, Reported, Goods received and Internal note. Below them: Resolution, Amount (with the date when the refund was recorded), Decided on and Decision note. A field without a value is not shown
Items	The items of the case, each with its photo, codes, quantity and value. When the items have different resolutions, each item shows its own
Transport	Pickups from the customer and shipments to the customer, each with its status and route, or a note that it is waiting in the route planning pool. Buttons: Request pickup and Send replacement
Change history	The recorded operations on the case, newest first. It needs the Event log: View permission

The right column shows the case status with its path of statuses, and the Customer portal card. See Customer tracking portal.

📷 Screenshot to add: a claim's page with the Customer, Reason and decision, Items and Transport sections, and a requested pickup

The edit form

Edit opens the form where you handle the case. The left column contains:

• the reason and the Internal note;
• Decision, with the resolution, the refund amount and Note / justification. You see this part only with the Claims & returns: Resolution permission;
• Operations to run on save: recording a refund and sending items to production;
• the items, each with an Item resolution.

The right column contains the case status, which you change by clicking it, and the customer's details.

Nothing is applied until you click the save button. Its label changes with what you ticked, for example Save and record refund. Before a step that is hard to undo, Complaia asks you to confirm. If you cancel that question, nothing is saved.

On the order

On the order's Complaints & returns tab, a list shows every case of the order. Each row shows the number, the type, the resolution, the status, the number of items and when the case was created. The buttons Create claim and Create return are under the list.

On the Order tab, an item covered by a case has a small marker that opens the case. The marker shows a letter for the type and the number of pieces, for example C/1 for one piece under a claim, or R/2 for two pieces being returned. Markers also stay for cases that were rejected or cancelled.

Common tasks

Open a claim or return

You need the Claims & returns: Create permission.

1. Open the order and go to the Complaints & returns tab.
2. Click Create claim or Create return.
3. In Items to report, tick the items. The whole available quantity is set for you. Change the Quantity if needed. The column next to it shows how many pieces are available out of how many were ordered. An item with nothing available cannot be ticked.
4. If an item has more than one piece, decide on Each unit as a separate item. It is ticked by default, so that each piece can get its own resolution and its own production order. Untick it for small goods in large quantities, so the whole quantity stays one item with one resolution.
5. Choose the Reason for the report. For Other reason, describe it in the box that appears.
6. Optionally choose a Proposed resolution. You can change it later on the edit form.
7. For a return of an order with a delivery cost, decide on Also refund the delivery cost. It is ticked for you when the whole order is returned for the first time.
8. Tick We will collect it ourselves if your own transport should pick the goods up from the customer. This creates a pickup shipment that waits to be put on a route.
9. Click Create claim or Create return.

The case gets its number and its first status: New for a claim, Awaiting goods for a return. It appears on the order and on the list.

Decide how to resolve a case

You need the Claims & returns: Edit and Claims & returns: Resolution permissions.

1. Open the case and click Edit.
2. In Decision, choose the Resolution.
3. For a refund resolution, check the Refund amount. For a full refund, it is filled in with the value of the case when the field is empty. Change it if needed.
4. Add a Note / justification. Only your team can see it.
5. Click Save changes.

The customer sees the reason, the resolution and the refund amount in the portal. The notes stay internal.

If the claim's items are already packed in the warehouse, you cannot change their resolution. Unpack the box first.

Give items different resolutions

1. On the edit form, go to the items.
2. For each item, choose an Item resolution, or leave the option that follows the whole case.
3. When the items now differ, the Decision field offers Mixed (auto). Choose it, so that the case shows Mixed on the list and on the case page.
4. Click Save changes.

If you change only the item resolutions and leave the Decision field as it was, the case keeps its old resolution on the list.

A case with a single item has one resolution. With the Resolution permission, the item's field and the Decision field change together.

Record a refund

You need the Claims & returns: Resolution permission.

1. On the edit form, choose one of the refund resolutions in Decision and set the Refund amount.
2. Under Operations to run on save, tick Record a refund to the customer.
3. Click Save and record refund.
4. Check the amount and the customer in the window, then click Record refund. If the amount field is empty, the refund covers the full value of the case.

The amount is added to the payments of the order as a refund. The order's payment status then becomes:

• Refunded when nothing paid is left;
• Partially refunded when less than the order's total is left.

The case shows the date when the refund was recorded. The refund entry on the order names the case. Its note is written in your company's language.

A refund can be recorded once per case. It can never be more than the customer has paid on the order and not yet got back. Remember to send the money itself through your bank or payment provider.

Send a replacement to production

Use this when an item's resolution is a replacement or an exchange, and the product is one you make. You need Claims & returns: Resolution and Production: Create.

1. On the edit form, under Operations to run on save, read the line under Send to production. It lists the items that will get a production order, and why any item is skipped.
2. Tick Send to production.
3. Click Save and send to production.
4. Confirm in Create production orders? with Create.

A production order is created for each listed item, so one per piece when pieces are separate items. What happens next is described in Send a claim to production.

Have the goods picked up from the customer

Use this if you did not tick We will collect it ourselves when you opened the case. You need the Claims & returns: Edit permission.

1. Open the case.
2. In Transport, click Request pickup.
3. Check the pickup address in the window and click Request pickup.

A pickup shipment is created by your own transport. It waits in the route planning pool until a planner puts it on a route. See Route planning. The driver confirms the pickup in the driver app. The Transport section then shows when the goods were collected from the customer, and when they arrived at the warehouse.

If you later change the decision so that fewer items come back, or none, a pickup that is not carried out yet is narrowed or cancelled. Complaia asks you before it cancels a pickup, and a message tells you which shipment changed. A pickup already booked with a carrier is never changed automatically.

Closing the case also cancels a pickup that is not carried out yet.

Send the replacement to the customer

You need the Orders: Edit permission.

1. Open the case. In Transport, click Send replacement. The button is there while the case is open and at least one item is to be replaced or exchanged.
2. The Create shipment order window opens. Fill it in as for an order. See Create a shipment from the order.

The shipment then appears in the case's Transport section as a shipment to the customer.

Change the status

1. Open the case and click Edit.
2. Click the status you want in the case status on the right.
3. Click Save changes.

A status of the Completed or Cancelled type (Completed, Rejected, Cancelled, or one of your own) closes the case. Request pickup and Send replacement then disappear. A pickup that is not carried out yet is cancelled, after you confirm, and stock reserved for the replacement is released.

When it doesn't work

What you see	Why	What to do
Item “…”: at most … pcs can be included. Reduce the quantity.	More pieces were chosen than the customer still has, usually because someone else opened a case at the same time	Lower the quantity
Item “…” has already been returned in full, … pcs. A complaint is possible only after the return is rejected or cancelled.	Everything of that item was returned, so there is nothing left to claim	If the return was a mistake, set it to Rejected or Cancelled first
The save button is greyed out with Choose a reason. For “Other reason”, describe it.	The reason is missing, or Other reason has no description	Fill it in
The save button is greyed out without a message	Nothing has changed since the last save	Nothing to do
This refund is already recorded in the order payments. There is no need to record it again.	The case's refund was recorded before	Nothing to do. For a further refund, use the order's Payments
There is nothing left to refund on the original order: it has no payment, or the whole payment has already been refunded. Check that order’s payments.	The order has no money left to give back	Check the order's payment history
The refund amount … exceeds the amount that can still be refunded: …. Reduce the amount or check earlier refunds on the order.	The amount is more than was paid and not yet refunded	Lower the Refund amount
The order’s payments changed while saving: someone recorded another refund at the same time. Refresh the page and try again.	Two people worked on the same order's payments at once	Refresh and try again
There is no refund option on a case with Mixed resolution	The refund option follows the Decision field only	Record the refund on the order's Payments, or give the case a single refund resolution
The line under Send to production says there is nothing to send	The items to replace already have production orders, or their product cannot be produced. A product cannot be produced when it is not in the catalog, is bought in, or has variants and none is chosen	Read the reason given for each item
Send to production is greyed out with Unavailable: you do not have permission to create production orders.	Your role lacks Production: Create	Ask an administrator, or ask someone who has it to save the case
Send to production is greyed out with Unavailable: the Production module is turned off in this company.	Your company does not use the Production module	Nothing to do here
Line … is in box …: unpack it to change the line.	The replacement item is already packed in the warehouse	Unpack the box first, then change the resolution
All items stay with the customer, so there is nothing to collect. Change the decision for the items that should come back.	Every item's resolution leaves the goods with the customer	Change the item resolutions, or do not request a pickup
The case is closed, so collecting the goods is no longer needed. Change the case status if the goods should come back after all.	The case is on a closing status	Move it back to an open status first
The request was saved, but the pickup could not be ordered. Order it on the request page.	The case was created, but its pickup shipment was not	Open the case and click Request pickup
The goods came back, but stock did not change	Returned goods are never added to stock automatically	See Returned goods and stock
Change history says No recorded operations.	Your role lacks Event log: View	Ask an administrator to add it
An error after Generate customer portal on the case	The portal buttons are shown to everyone, but they need Orders: customer portal	Ask a colleague with the permission
There is no way to delete a case	Cases cannot be deleted	Close the case with Cancelled or Rejected

Permissions

The permission names below are as shown in the role editor, in the Claims & returns group.

To do this	You need
See the list, and the Complaints & returns tab on an order	List
Open a case	Details
Open a new claim or return from an order	Create
Open the edit form; change the reason, the internal note, item resolutions and the status; request a pickup	Edit
Set the resolution, record a refund	Edit and Resolution
Send to production	Resolution and Production: Create
Use Send replacement	Orders: Edit
See the change history of a case	Event log: View
Generate or deactivate the customer portal link	Orders: customer portal
Manage the claim and return statuses	Orders: Statuses

The role editor also lists Delete in this group. It has no effect, because no screen deletes cases.

Related

• Orders — where cases are opened
• Payments — where a recorded refund appears
• Order statuses — the claim and return status sets
• Customer tracking portal — what the customer sees of a case
• Production orders — replacements that have to be made
• Route planning · The driver app — pickups from customers
• Returns from route — goods that come back because a delivery failed, which is a different situation