When a customer returns an item: the rule and the entry

Two days later a customer brought back an electric kettle in its box: "It does not work." You refunded the money, put the kettle under the till and got on with your day. Two months later it is missing from the count: either someone sold it without knowing it was faulty, or it simply got lost. A returned item is the place in your records where things most often "disappear", because it mixes stock, money and a question of quality. A rule fixed in advance and one standard entry end the confusion.

Announce the rule in advance

The return rule must be known beforehand, not when the customer is standing at the till. It has three points: within what period returns are accepted, in what condition the item must be (receipt, packaging, no signs of use) and how the money comes back. The rule can be a sheet by the till, a line on the receipt or a post in your Telegram channel. When drafting it, check the current consumer-rights requirements, and ask a specialist if you are not sure.

The cashier accepts the return, but one person should decide whether the item can be sold again: the owner or a responsible employee. Otherwise everybody decides in their own way and the records get tangled.

Four routes after inspection

After accepting the item, inspect it within five minutes and place it in one of four groups:

• A, as new. The packaging is intact and the item is unused. It goes back into stock and back in its place.
• B, can be sold but looks worse. The box is torn or scratched. It goes on a "B-grade" shelf, to be sold at a discount or repacked.
• C, factory defect. It does not enter stock and is listed for return to the supplier.
• D, cannot be sold again. Damaged by the customer or unfit for hygiene reasons. It is written off as a "loss" with the reason.

For the kettle: if the heating element is dead, that is C. If only the box is torn and the kettle is new inside, that is B. If you cannot tell, do not decide on the spot; test it and write the result down.

The entry: one row, eight fields

For each return write one row in the table:

1. date;
2. receipt or order number;
3. item code;
4. quantity;
5. group (A, B, C or D);
6. amount refunded;
7. who accepted it;
8. where the item was put.

An example: "12.03, receipt 0417, CHN-02, 1 pc, B, 180,000 so'm, cashier, shelf B, row 2". When money is refunded the till needs a separate "refund" entry too, and the money goes back by the method used to pay. Then the till and the table agree at the end of the day.

An exchange is also two entries: a "receipt" row for the returned item and an "issue" row for the new one. Show the price difference in the till separately. If a customer swaps a 180,000 so'm kettle for a 220,000 model, they pay 40,000 extra. Write just "exchanged" and the balances of both items, and the till, will go wrong.

The "Returns" shelf and the 24-hour rule

Every returned item first goes to a separate shelf or box marked "Returns", not under the till or among ordinary goods. Within 24 hours it is inspected, given a group and entered in the table. Once a week the shelf is counted: anything sitting there longer than two weeks is a warning sign.

In online selling, when a parcel comes back by courier, open it on a phone video and compare it with what was sent: serial number, completeness, condition. If a dispute arises with the customer or the supplier, this is your evidence.

What returns tell you

At month end work out the return rate: returned ÷ sold. For example, 6 returns out of 120 sales is 5 per cent. Take the reasons from the table: three are a defect in one model (go to the supplier), two are "not what I expected" (check the description and photo), one is "cheaper elsewhere" (review the price). That way each return turns into data that prevents the next one.

Conclusion

Returns need three things: a rule announced in advance, an inspection with four groups and a one-row entry. They protect goods from getting "lost" and the till from misunderstandings. If returned, faulty and regular goods have become mixed up, the Sanab team will count everything by condition and separate it in a clear report.