Handling exchanges
When submitting a return request, customers are required to select a payout method. Depending on your configuration, customers can have up to three options when requesting a return:
- Return to Original Payment method
- Gift card for Store Credit
- Exchange for a similar item
At this time, there are certain considerations for making adjustments to exchange requests, as well as a few limitations to how exchanges work with ReturnBear.
Considerations
Changing the product variant(s) selected for exchange
There are different actions that can be taken to change the product variant(s) selected for exchange on an existing return case depending on its status.
Status |
Actions |
| Pending |
Return requests with the status Pending should be cancelled so that a new return case can be created and the customer's preferred exchange variant(s) can be selected. Do not deny the request unless you would like to prevent the customer from submitting a new return request altogether. |
| Approved | Return cases with the status Approved should be cancelled so that a new return case can be created and the customer's preferred exchange variant(s) can be selected. |
| In Transit Awaiting Processing Scanned at Hub |
Contact us for assistance with changing the product variant(s) selected for exchange on return cases with any of these statuses. |
| Dropped Off Processed into Inventory Received Completed |
Changes to the product variant(s) selected for exchange cannot be made on return cases with any of these statuses. |
Limitations
ReturnBear cannot yet facilitate:
Returning an exchange order
ReturnBear cannot process return requests for exchange orders through the Legacy Consumer portal or ReturnBear RMA Portal because Shopify records these orders at $0, leaving no funds to payout. If a customer tries to initiate a return for an exchange order, they’ll see the message “This order contains exchanged items and cannot be returned.”
To allow a customer to return an exchange order, contact us with the order details. We will send you a shipping label for the customer and update you on the condition of the returned item(s) once it reaches our Hub. Your team must then refund the customer through the original Shopify order.
Full catalogue exchanges
ReturnBear currently supports like-for-like exchanges (size or colour of the same item) only. Customers cannot browse your full catalogue when initiating an exchange request.
For a full-catalogue exchange, contact us with the order details. We will send you a shipping label for the customer and update you on the condition of the returned item(s) once it reaches our Hub. Your team must then complete the customer's exchange request manually in Shopify.
Out of stock exchanges
If an exchange cannot be automatically completed due to an item being out of stock, you will be notified by email with the following details:
- Return case ID and link
- Item(s) that are out of stock and preventing the completion of the exchange
- A link to the draft order in Shopify associated with the exchange
Your team will be responsible for taking actions with your customer and/or in Shopify to resolve the issue. There are many things you might choose to do to resolve the issue, such as removing any out of stock items from the draft order and manually converting it to a regular order or deleting the draft order and issuing the customer a refund instead – it is entirely up to you!
Once you have taken the actions your team deems appropriate, please notify ReturnBear Support so that we can manually update the status of the customer's return case accordingly.