ENHANCEMENT: Improve Return Process

The return process needs some improving. The customer needs to be able to initiate a return by logging in and going to their order and clicking on either a Return or Exchange button (instead of using the Contact Us form). The return or exchange needs a disclaimer. This should open a wizard (for lack of better term) that has steps (allow customer to see each step and status of each step along the way). The return/exchange screen should also display a disclaimer:

Items that have been worn or are slightly used my not be exchanged or return. <--- Return disclaimer/guidelines stored in database.

1) Fill out the return form <-- with link to uploaded return form
2) Return your order to the following address: <---- Pulled from warehouse table
      Warehouse or Distributor Name, RA# 123456789
      123 Example St.
       Some City, State Zipcode
3) Received by Warehouse <-- checked
4) Exchange or Return shipped to customer (provide tracking number) <-- checked
5) Finished / Delivered

The orginal order should keep track and store history of multiple returns and exchanges. For example, we have had a customer exchange for different sizes three times.

Thanks, Bruce. Please vote

Awesome!!!!!!!!!!

Thanks Andrei. Voted!

Any update on when this might be implemented? :)

I'll describe returns processing a bit later that I've implemented and that is working perfectly for us and will be for anyone.

I just can offer improve returns processing.
We are company in clothes industry, where is percentage of returns is high, and due to selling values, fast returns processing is critical for us.

What is helpful:

1) work with barcode scanner to scan the items in (to ensure items returned from this order).
2) more information have to be on the products page in order (I have returned q-ty, requested action and return request status)
3) Not all the customers creating return requests online. A lot of customers just sending items back. We have to have option to create return requests easy and quickly from products page.
4) process items. Depend on requested action (refund, exchange, replacement, ets. ), return request status have to be changed.
5) under the products table it's good to show processed return request total items and total value (much simpler then sitting with calculator)
6) returned items have to be returned to the web stock.
7) (optional) returned items have to be move to the temp holding stock (while one team processing refunds, another team carefully processing items), just afterwards move tem holding stock to the web.

After all, on the dashboard next to orders report good to have processed return requests report.

At the moment NopCommerce have very weak workflow for processing returns with a lot of routine job ant it's taking such long time, what is totally not helpful with big volumes of sales and returns. Hopefully soon that will be changed.

Kaunuk, would you mind sharing your code for the improved return process with us?

Vadim, it sounds like your return workflow is what is needed for us as well. Skates are exchanged quite a bit also because of many reasons people think it is women's size instead of in men's sizes for example. Can you contribute your code and let Andrei know or make it a plugin? I hope in the near future an enterprise return solution will be added to the main codebase.

Also, could you explain what you mean in point #5? I don't know exactly where you mean when you say product table.

MSC, Bruce.

I don't mind to share my code, I just worry about it's quality, as it was written very quickly without very good testing and in very short terms. So the code is in huge mess and some parts are hardcoded.
But at least it's doing it's job, so I think you can change it in the better way, because for this version I won't do even code refactoring. In my plans to change version 3.3 as I'll have more time for well planning and designing code.

Unlikely that Andrew would like to use fragile code that been written very quickly without good design first ))

Another thing is my employer have to approve code contribution. As I work for him and have no legal right to share code which is from point of law is his, not mine.