POS Returns or Exchanges Without a Receipt

[indigo9]

Because Shopify POS won't allow returns or exchanges without a receipt/order number, I decided to create a new receipt to get a number. 

But first, I went in to my Shopify POS app Settings to Payment Types, and made a customer payment type called "Special Return Receipt." Save.

Now to do a return/exchange without a receipt, I first "sell" the item the customer wants to return and use Special Return Receipt as the payment and click save. 

Next, I went to that receipt and made the return or exchange. I could even put the amount on a Gift Card.

Is there anything wrong with this method? Please let me know. 

[DaphneOlive]

That is a fine system and a good workaround if you either don’t track inventory or adjust inventory every time you do it since your system won’t affect  the inventory count for the returned item. 

i am still hoping that shopify will make the adjustment to allow us to simply put a negative quantity for an item in a transaction on the app - as is the norm for software built for in person sales, because I don’t want to make my salespeople mess with inventory and we don’t always have one of the business owners on site. 

[indigo9]

Thanks for your quick response. I forgot to mention that you do need to make an inventory adjustment. Shopify really needs to get this straightened out, especially with their enormous growth in POS. Thanks!

[Meeky1]

Shopify definitely needs to sort this out. We are migrating to Shopify POS from another system and so far I can not work out how we are going to do refunds from our old system without a lot of steps involved. Impossible when the shops are busy. Fix it Shopify please

[tiffanybubriski]

I was under the impression that we are able to search for either the item being returned or the name of the customer on the POS?

[indigo9]

Generally, a customer does not provide their name at the time of purchase
or perhaps they are returning a gift and don't have a receipt. If the
payment was made with a credit card then you can look it up easily. If you
look up by the product, it might take a long time as you might have sold
that same product many times since they made their initial purchase.

[tiffanybubriski]

I see. I know that one of the shops I helped set up ask their customer for their name when they check out. The other shops have a lot of repeating customers so their info is already stored on Shopify.

[Balloon_Lady]

Hi Tiffany,

Yes, you can look up an item, but if I do, I have to go through all my old orders to find it. That is too many! I have items I sell every day, what if it is one of those? Too hard to find which one it is. In QB POS, I could scan an item and put it into the cart. Then in the cart I could mark that item for return. No receipt needed if I wanted to accept it without a receipt. And then if they were getting more, I could add that to the same cart and the return would offset the price. OR if I just returned the item, then I could choose how I want to return it. Cash, back on credit card or a gift card. My choice. Right now Shopify POS only allows the same method of purchase for the return. I want to make this choice as I see fit. ALSO, I recently switched and some of my things people will return are in my former POS and not an order in Shopify, so no way to return it!! How do I return those? Some are equipment rentals that will come back soon, so I need a solution asap and have not heard back from Shopify on this yet. Thanks for any help!

[tiffanybubriski]

Hi,

Are you able to go into Shopify app and manage the order from there? I don’t have an active store right now but I know that once you are able to locate the order in the Shopify app, there is a check mark next to paid, and if I click on the 3 dots, I have an option of refund.

[Balloon_Lady]

It will work, but then your original sale with still show as a sale that you have to pay sales tax and income tax on. For a small sale or 2, not a big deal, but it could add up. It is SUPER frustrating that we cannot make a return without a receipt. It is my store and I should be able to decide if I trust that the item came from my store. I am the only store near me like mine, so I know when it is my product! Plus I just recently moved from QB POS and some sales are in that system because that didn't transfer over. So no way to return anything from there. I have deposits out on equipment people will be returning and no way to show it in my system!! The other issue I have it that if they purchased with a credit card, it automatically goes back on their card. That is nice to do that, but today I would have preferred a different way. A gal came in today and wanted to change an order that being filled at a later date. She already paid in full. She returned some of the order and purchased more. Her purchased item to return was on a credit card and I had the receipt, but it would have returned it to a card and she then would pay in full for the changes. In my old POS, I could just return her one item and then add the new changes to the same receipt. So the refund would offset what was due and she could then just pay in cash or whatever. But that is not possible, so I showed her return amount (plus the tax) as a refund on her new purchase, so she got the credit right away and didn't have to wait for it to go back on her card. Then I put the item back into my inventory. I HATE this! There should be a way to do a return without a receipt, and a way to line item it on a receipt and add more to purchase. I already have talked to HELP about allowing returns without a receipt. She said is was a great idea and would expedite it to the teams that works with that, but I have not heard anything yet and I don't know what I will do when someone comes in to return without a receipt, or a receipt from my old POS. We need a solution ASAP.

[indigo9]

You are absolutely right! I just needed a quick fix to keep things moving along for the few returns I get.

Shopify is still thinking like a web commerce business and doesn't have retail shop experience or insight. Fortunately or unfortunately our customers pay almost entirely with credit cards so it's easy to find a transaction. 

[Meeky1]

Exactly , get one of the developers to come in to a shop when it's busy, and there is a line at the till,  and try and find an order with out a receipt so they can refund it. Very difficult and stressful to do, impossible when the system has just been installed. 

Bet they would soon develop a simpler method. 

[Balloon_Lady]

I totally agree when you say they are still thinking like a web commerce business. So many issues I run into make me say, "They need to hire someone that actually knows how retail stores work!" It is driving my a little nuts.

[indigo9]

For somebody who does a lot of returns and exchanges, they might consider the Shopify POS compatible app "POS Returns Without Receipts" available in the app store. There might be some other similar apps, but I haven't looked into it. 

[amosmos]

Shopify fixed this: https://changelog.shopify.com/posts/pos-unverified-returns

[Balloon_Lady]

Hi,
Well , I appreciate you guys changing this so I can accept returns without
a receipt. It's not completely what I asked for. I need to return things
for cash. My original askwas to allow cash returns without a receipt.
Because people give me deposits on equipment and then return it to me.
Since it's a Equipment deposit they need to get 100% of their money back.
Not a gift card to purchase something else.
A perfect example happened yesterday. A person came in to return their
equipment, and I was going to put it back on their credit card that they
paid with. But that week they had Canceled their credit card due to fraud.
So I had no way to return their money. But they had every right to get it
back so I had to give them cash out of my register. And now I don't know
how to record that. What do you suggest?

Karen

[indigo9]

Actually it's not that easy. If a person received a gift without a receipt,
and wants to return it, but the friend who purchased it in my shop did not
provide a phone number or email at the time of purchase, then there is
nothing Shopify can do about it. I can't make an unverified return without
the purchaser's info. I have hundreds of customers, so I don't collect this
information. My original workaround still applies.

[DaphneOlive]

that is a shame. I got excited for a minute. they need to realize that not only do people not gather personal information in most in person sales situations - but that customers would be completely put off if we did. I keep telling them that and they continue to think like a company for people who only make online sales. 

[Balloon_Lady]

Yes!! Me too! I always wonder if anyone there realizes how brick and mortars work. Not the same as online! Plus, if I trust they bought it from me, why can't I just give them cash back if I want to. It's my store. Even large stores have the ablility for managers to override things the computer does not let everyone do. Shopify, this is a move in the right direction, but not what we want. We want to return items without receipts for cash. PLEASE listen to us!!