A customer asks to return two desk lamps. Your team authorizes two, but the warehouse receives one. The case is still open—even if a credit note has already been discussed.
A useful customer return request form keeps three quantities separate: requested, authorized and received. It also records who makes the decision and what happens after the parcel arrives. Here is an internal Folderit setup for a small business that handles returns through customer service, a warehouse and finance.
The example is fictional and based on documented features; the combined process has not been tested in a live account. It records operational decisions under your own return policy. It does not establish a customer’s legal entitlement to return goods. Folderit’s Tailor plan includes eForms and custom records.
Start with one product line per return record
Use a separate record for each product line you need to reconcile. Five identical lamps can share a record; lamps and replacement cables should have separate records when they require different decisions. Keep the original order reference on each.
In Admin tools → Form templates, create Customer return request. Follow the eForms guide to add the fields below. These are a field schema to build, rather than an importable template.
| Fields and type | When to complete |
|---|---|
| Case reference, customer, order reference, product code — Text | Customer service, at creation. Use the references already agreed in your business. |
| Requested quantity — Number; reason — Select; explanation — Textarea | Customer service, from the customer’s request. Suggested reasons: Damaged, Wrong item, No longer needed, Other. |
| Case owner — User; next follow-up date — Date | Customer service, at creation. Choose an actual Folderit colleague and an agreed review date. |
| Authorized quantity — Number; authorization reference — Text | Case owner, after the return decision. Leave blank while awaiting review. |
| Received quantity — Number; receipt date — Date; inspection notes — Textarea | Warehouse, after physically checking the goods. Record a cumulative received quantity, with each delivery described in the notes. |
| Resolution — Select; credit or replacement reference — Text; closure date — Date | Case owner and finance, after action. Suggested resolutions: Credit issued, Replacement dispatched, Declined, Other agreed outcome. |
| Supporting evidence — File; serial or batch reference — Text | Attach the initial evidence and record identifiers when relevant. Further evidence can be related to the record. |
Require the intake fields that customer service can supply. Keep authorization, receipt and closure fields optional at creation: the colleague opening the case cannot know tomorrow’s inspection result. A typed case reference is not an automatic numbering rule. For a readable record name, use a pattern such as Return {case-reference} — {product-code}, with the actual field slugs.
For individually tracked goods, record the serial number as well as the product code. GS1 explains that a GTIN identifies the base product, while a GTIN combined with a serial number identifies a particular instance. Use identifiers your business already maintains; this setup does not scan or validate barcodes.
Make the authorization a recorded decision
Create an internal Customer returns folder and give customer service, the reviewer and warehouse colleagues the access they need. Check permission levels before granting editing rights. The Case owner field records responsibility; access is configured separately.
Customer service enters the request from the customer’s email and submits the form in this folder. Before sending return instructions, the owner checks the order, the stated reason and your applicable policy, then enters the proposed authorized quantity and authorization reference.
Open the record’s Workflow menu and start a one-time Approval workflow with one named returns reviewer. Make the form metadata visible. Use a precise resolution: “Authorize return of 2 LAMP-A17 lamps from order SO-1048.” Enter the actual quantity, order reference and product code in the resolution text for each request, so the recorded decision stays clear if the form fields are edited later. The approval guide describes the setup and decision history.
The owner checks the actual workflow result before emailing the customer. Approval permits the agreed return; it does not confirm receipt or authorize an automatic refund. If the reviewer rejects, the owner records the reason and communicates the decision. If clarification is requested, the approval task stays open while the question is resolved. If nobody responds by the follow-up date, the owner contacts the reviewer and records a new action date. That follow-up is a human checkpoint in this design.
When the proposed quantity changes after a decision, retain the earlier decision and obtain a new review against the revised quantity. Record why it changed so the warehouse can tell which authorization applies.
One lamp arrives: work the case without hiding the gap
Consider this completed example at the first delivery:
- Case: RR-1048; order SO-1048; product LAMP-A17.
- Requested: 2. Authorized: 2. Received so far: 1.
- Inspection: one lamp matches the order and has a damaged shade; no second lamp in the parcel.
- Next action: case owner asks the customer whether the second lamp is being sent separately; a follow-up date is recorded.
The receiver compares the goods with the authorization, checks the serial or batch reference where used, and enters what actually arrived. To connect delivery evidence, open the delivery-note or permitted photo file, choose Modify → Related Items → Browse, select the return form record and save. The related-items guide explains this connection. Ensure reviewers can access both the file and the record.
When another delivery arrives, the receiver updates the cumulative received quantity and adds a dated note identifying its evidence. Keep the earlier delivery note. The owner compares the quantities; Folderit is not calculating the outstanding balance in this design. Wrong goods, excess quantities or an unreadable identifier need a recorded exception and a named decision-maker before further action.
Close against the resolution evidence
Finance issues any credit in the accounting system it normally uses. The warehouse arranges any replacement through its normal dispatch process. Add the resulting credit-note or replacement reference and relate the supporting document to the case. Folderit holds the record; this setup does not issue refunds, update stock or book transport.
Before entering Closure date, the owner checks:
- The authorization and goods received reconcile, or a documented exception explains the agreed difference.
- The inspection and agreed resolution are recorded, including what happens to any missing goods.
- The credit or replacement has supporting evidence, and the customer has been told the outcome.
In RR-1048, receiving one of two authorized lamps does not satisfy the first check. Keep it open until the second arrives or the reviewer approves a documented revised settlement. Set the follow-up date for open work; the owner reviews those cases on the team’s agreed schedule.
Before using the form with customers, run demo cases for a full return, a partial receipt, a rejected request and a missing decision. Ask someone covering the owner’s absence to find the latest authorization, delivery evidence and next action. If they have to search somebody’s inbox to understand the case, add that missing information to the record.
