01Validate authorization and expected scope
Record return authorization ID, customer account, original order, invoice, shipment and delivery, item, quantity, unit, lot or serial when required, stated reason, requested remedy, return-to location and relevant dates. Confirm the authorization through the approved customer-service or commercial system. Identify whether it permits return, repair evaluation, replacement review, inspection only or another action. UNECE RETANN structures an announcement of goods for return and possible requests for credit or replacement; RETINS supports instructions on how goods should be returned or otherwise handled. Those messages do not create a universal right. Preserve versions, approvals and exclusions. Prevent one authorization from being reused for several packages or orders beyond its supported scope. Keep unannounced returns visible instead of assigning them to the nearest customer by name.
02Record the inbound package event
At gate or carrier handoff, capture facility, arrival and receipt time, carrier, tracking or consignment, package IDs, package count, sender label, external condition and temperature or seal evidence where required. Photograph only under privacy and evidence policy. Do not claim item receipt until the package is opened and contents verified. Compare carrier delivery with expected packages and record extra, missing, duplicate, damaged, refused or wrong-site packages. Use a controlled returns receiving location distinct from saleable inbound stock. Apply site safety, hazardous goods, battery, leakage, hygiene, personal-care, fragrance and other product-specific controls through qualified procedures. Protect customer names, addresses and contact data on labels. If the sender is not the authorized customer or location, hold for review rather than redirecting goods informally.
03Inspect identity, quantity and completeness
Open under the defined chain-of-custody process and record item or SKU, model, variant, lot, serial, barcode, quantity and unit. Compare the actual item with authorization and original shipment. Record included accessories, packaging, manuals, components, promotional items or certificates only when relevant to the original supply and remedy. Preserve the package-to-item relation. Separate sealed, opened, used, damaged, incomplete, substituted, counterfeit-suspect or unknown states without making unsupported authenticity claims. For serial-controlled goods, check whether the serial was shipped to that customer and whether it already returned. Count in the base and transaction units with verified pack factors. Unexpected goods need their own disposition; never increase the credit automatically or place them into stock because they arrived in the same carton.
04Assess condition and cause within scope
Record observed condition with a defined grading or defect vocabulary, photographs or measurements under policy and inspector identity. Keep customer-reported reason, warehouse observation, product test, carrier damage and prior complaint separate. Do not run electrical, battery, cosmetic, fragrance, hygiene, authenticity or safety tests beyond the trained process. Route suspected contamination, hazard, privacy data, counterfeit, recalled or regulated goods to qualified owners. Compare packaging damage with product damage and note missing tamper evidence without treating it as final causation. A clean exterior does not prove function, and a failed test does not alone prove whether the cause was manufacturing, handling, use or transport. Link the complaint or corrective-action case when recurring evidence justifies it.
05Approve disposition and inventory state
Assign accepted return, quarantine, inspection pending, restockable, repackage, refurbish, repair, parts recovery, return to supplier, customer return, donation, destruction or other policy-approved disposition. Define who may approve each based on product, value, condition and regulation. Do not post saleable inventory before identity, condition and status gates complete. Create a distinct inventory receipt with location, ownership, status and unit; customer-return custody does not automatically mean saleable ownership or value. Preserve lot, serial and original order links. For rejected returns, protect the goods and communicate instructions rather than disposing of customer property without authority. Record destruction or regulated disposal through qualified evidence. If goods move to a supplier-return process, create a separate outbound authorization instead of treating the customer receipt as supplier acceptance.
06Reconcile remedy and customer account
Compare authorized, shipped, physically received, inspected, accepted and disposition quantities. Link the approved credit note, refund, replacement, repair, denial, fee or residual dispute under actual terms and qualified finance policy. Recalculate remedy from the supported item and condition, not carrier weight or customer claim alone. Prevent both replacement and full credit when only one remedy is approved, and prevent the same returned serial from supporting repeated claims. Keep inventory value, revenue, tax, shipping charge and customer-account treatment under qualified rules. Notify the customer with factual received and decision status while protecting internal security details. If expected goods never arrive, close or extend the authorization through the approved process rather than creating a warehouse receipt.
07Close and improve reverse logistics
Close only when every authorized and unexpected unit has a received, missing, rejected or final disposition state; inventory postings match physical goods; and customer credit, replacement, repair or denial aligns with authority. Clear temporary locations and personal shipping labels under policy. Monitor authorization-to-arrival, arrival-to-inspection, inspection-to-disposition, no-fault-found, wrong item, missing accessory, unannounced return, restock yield, quarantine dwell, credit cycle and repeated serial or customer anomalies. Use controls and human review without accusing customers from pattern alone. Sample closed cases back to physical and finance evidence and sample return inventory back to authorizations. Feed recurring product, packaging, instruction, carrier or fulfillment findings to complaint trend and corrective-action owners.