Every return, exchange, or complaint that comes through Returbo moves through a status as it's handled. Knowing what each status means helps you keep track of what needs your attention and what's already taken care of.
Returbo uses five request statuses:
Request Submitted
Incoming
Pending Approval
Resolved
Archived
Here's what each one means.
Request Submitted
A request is marked Request Submitted when a customer has submitted their request, but hasn't received a shipping label yet.
This status shows up in two situations:
All complaints. Complaints always land in Request Submitted first. Since you need to review and approve a complaint before the customer gets a return label, every complaint starts here.
Manual approval turned on. If you've turned on manual approval for returns and exchanges, those requests also land in Request Submitted. This is expected, it just means you've chosen to review requests yourself before the customer receives a label. See How Manual Shipping Label Generation Works in Returbo for more on how this works.
An issue is blocking label generation. Sometimes a request gets stuck in Request Submitted because Returbo couldn't generate the shipping label. Common causes include:
The order is missing a weight (you can add this manually in Returbo)
The address is incorrect (you can correct this manually in Returbo)
The order needs a proforma invoice and tracking number, and/or shipping details are missing (you can add these in Returbo)
For a full breakdown of these issues and how to fix each one, see Why Are My Returns or Exchanges Showing as Request Submitted Instead of Incoming?
Incoming
A request moves to Incoming once it has received a return shipping slip (or you've selected No Slip or Upload Slip). This means the customer has the slip and their return is on its way to your warehouse or store. See How Autogenerated Return Shipping Labels Work in Returbo for more on how this works.
Incoming requests move to Pending Approval automatically in two cases:
Automatic tracking is enabled. This setting is available for Plus, Premium, and Enterprise customers. You'll find it under Settings > Integrations > Shipping > Automatic Tracking Enabled. When it's on, Returbo automatically moves the request from Incoming to Pending Approval once we can confirm from the shipping carrier that the package has been delivered.
The Ongoing WMS integration is on. In this case, Returbo automatically moves the request to Pending Approval once your warehouse marks it as returned.
Sometimes a request stays in Incoming and doesn't move over to Pending Approval on its own. There are a few reasons this can happen. See Why Is a Return Stuck in Incoming and Not Moving to Pending Approval? for a full breakdown.
Pending Approval
Pending Approval is where you decide how each request will be resolved. This is where you review the request and choose what happens next.
Here's what you can decide in Pending Approval:
Accept or reject items. For requests with multiple items, you can choose which items are accepted and which are rejected. Accepted items move forward to a refund or a replacement.
Send a replacement item. Instead of a refund, you can send the customer a new item.
Offer store credit instead. You can give the customer store credit rather than a refund or replacement. This setting can be turned on or off under Settings > Request Settings > Exchanges.
Switch an exchange to a refund. If a request came in as an exchange, you can choose to issue a refund instead.
Issue a partial refund. Instead of a full refund, you can refund only part of what was requested. This can be useful if, for example, a customer is returning a clothing item that has makeup on it.
Set the return shipping cost. You can decide who covers return shipping. The standard rate is set up following this guide on setting up return shipping cost, but you can also adjust the cost for an individual return, or choose not to charge for shipping at all.
Resolved
Once a request reaches Resolved, it's done. Whatever decision you made in Pending Approval (refund, replacement, store credit, and so on) is recorded here, so Resolved is a good place to look up what was decided on a specific return.
You can still archive a request once it's in Resolved, if you'd like to move it out of your active view.
Archived
Archived is for requests you want to remove from your general overview, no matter what status they were in before.
This is useful in cases like:
A customer never sends their return back
You've resolved a request outside of Returbo
Need a hand with a specific status or how to change one? Reach out to the Returbo support team, they're happy to help.