Returns, Refunds & Resends
Returning goods, refunding money and sending a replacement are three separate actions in Helm WMS, and all three run from the item list on the order itself. This article explains what each one records, what it does to your stock, and how to read the tags and timeline entries it leaves behind.
Returns, Refunds & Resends Are Three Separate Records
Helm keeps them apart because in practice they do not always happen together. A customer can return something you never refund, be refunded for something they keep, or be sent a replacement with no money changing hands.
Return records what physically came back, per line, with a reason. It is the only one of the three that can change your stock.
Refund records money going back to the customer against specific lines. It never touches stock.
Resend creates a new order for the replacement items, so they go through your normal picking, packing and despatch flow.
Example scenario: a customer ordered three mugs and sends two back, one faulty and one they did not want. You return both, restocking the unwanted mug and leaving the faulty one out of stock, refund the pair, then resend a replacement for the faulty one.
Before You Start
Return and Resend need a despatched order. Both appear only once the status is Despatched, and neither runs on an archived order. Refund is not limited that way, so an order that has been paid can be refunded before it ships. To take an item out of an order that has not shipped, edit or split it instead.
You need active job reasons for each action. Each list only offers active reasons whose Job types include Return, Refund or Resend and whose Channels include the order's sales channel. Set them up under Settings > System Settings > Job Reasons. This is why a reason can show on one order and not another.
Decide where returned stock will go. In Full mode a Return Location must have a Location Type of Returns. Set the warehouse's Default Returns Location under Settings > Company Settings > Warehouse, on the Location Information card, and it pre-fills on every return line.
In Basic mode, restocking needs stock control switched on. Where the warehouse page shows a Warehouse Mode of Basic, returned stock goes to the warehouse's default location and you record a Return Shelf instead of a location. That needs the Stock Control card on the same page set to Enabled. Where it reads Disabled, a restockable line is refused and the whole return fails, so untick Restockable to let it through.
Refund needs a customer and a payment on the order. The action is greyed out where no customer is attached, or where nothing has been paid yet.
Some return reasons require a photograph. A reason with a Return image requirement of Required blocks the return until an image is attached; the tooltip reads Image Required.
You need the matching permissions. If Return, Refund or Resend is missing from the Actions menu, ask whoever administers Helm for your business to check your permission group.
How to Return Items on an Order
Open Orders from the sidebar, open the despatched order and scroll to Order Items.
Tick the items that have come back; a selection bar appears showing Items Selected.
Choose Actions, then Return.
Set the Return Qty on each line, up to the ordered quantity less anything already returned. Every line in the dialog needs at least one, so a line left at zero stops the whole return saving.
Drop any line you ticked by mistake: open its row menu and choose Delete. The refund and resend dialogs do the same job with the bin icon on the row.
Pick a Reason for each line. To use one throughout, tick Set Global Reason first, then choose it once.
Leave Restockable ticked for anything you can sell again, and untick it for anything you cannot.
Set the Return Location on every restockable line, or the Return Shelf in Basic mode. Both are disabled on a non-restockable line.
Attach evidence where needed: the paperclip opens Add Attachment, which takes JPG and PNG images and an Additional Note. It stays greyed out until the line has a Reason, and stays greyed out for good on a reason set to No Image.
If part of a line is fit to sell and part is not, use Split Line from the row menu and set a Split Qty to handle each half separately. It needs a Return Qty of two or more.
Choose Continue to record the return.
That one action does several things. Each line is stored with its quantity, reason, notes and images; every restockable quantity is added to stock; a Returned entry is written to the product's Stock Logs; and the order picks up Partially Returned or, once everything is back, Returned. Helm then opens the refund step.
Where Returned Stock Goes
In Full mode the quantity goes to the line's Return Location, and a returned group product restocks its component products rather than the group itself. In Basic mode it goes to the warehouse's default location, with the Return Shelf recorded against the product.
Restocking queues the product for a fulfillability recheck, so open orders waiting on the stock are picked up on the next pass. Backorders are reviewed on their own schedule, covered in the allocation, stock reservation and backorders article.
Untick Restockable for anything damaged, opened or otherwise unsellable. Nothing goes back into stock, no location or shelf is needed, and you can still refund the line.
How to Refund Lines on an Order
The refund step opens by itself after a return, or on its own from Actions then Refund. Coming from a return, each line already shows its Returned Qty and reason, neither editable here. Starting fresh, you set the Refund Qty and a Reason yourself.
Check the Refund Amount on each line. Helm suggests the line value after item and order discounts, which is also the most that line allows; going over shows an Invalid Amount warning with the ceiling in it.
To refund nothing on a line without removing it, use the small round button beside Refund Amount. Its tooltip switches between Refund Required and Refund Not Required.
To send postage back as well, tick Shipping Price and enter the amount.
Read the Total Refund figure: the line amounts plus any shipping.
Choose Refund, check the Confirm Refund summary of Sales Channel, Customer and Refund Amount, then choose Confirm.
Coming from a return you can also choose Skip here. The return stays recorded and no refund is created, which is right when the goods are coming back but the money is not going anywhere.
How Helm Completes the Refund
What happens after Confirm depends on what the order's sales channel supports. Helm works that out and shows the matching final step.
The refund is recorded in Helm on all three routes, but only the first moves the money for you. On the other two it does not move until you move it.
Partial Refunds & the Limits That Apply
Each line has its own ceiling. The line value after discounts, less anything already refunded on it. Once fully refunded, Helm refuses more.
Shipping has its own ceiling. The order's shipping charge less any shipping already refunded.
The total cannot exceed what has been paid. Where money is outstanding, the refundable total drops to match and Helm warns you before the confirmation.
Refunding changes no quantities and no stock. A refunded line still shows its original Order Qty. If the goods came back, record a return as well.
How to Resend Replacement Items
Select the items to replace, then choose Actions and Resend.
Set the Resend Qty on each line, or tick Resend Full Qty to copy the ordered quantity onto every line.
Choose a Reason. A resend cannot be created without one.
Check the Shipping Service. Helm works one out from the quantities entered; search for another to override it.
Choose Resend, then on the Resend Created confirmation review the New Order, Status, Order Value and Items, and use Go to New Order or Close.
The replacement is a new order in Draft with its own order number. It carries the original's line prices, notes, attachments, comments, tags and folder, with the shipping charge and order discount set to zero, and it runs through your order rules and allocation like any other new order. Work it through picking and despatch as normal. The original picks up Resent.
A resend is capped twice over: by the ordered quantity less anything already resent, and, where stock control is on, by the physical stock you hold. If Helm will not let you resend the full quantity, check your stock before assuming the figure is wrong.
Reading the Tags on an Item
Once something has happened to a line, tags appear beneath it in Order Items, one per action. They report the line you selected, so on a group product the figures sit against the group row and not against its components.
The price reports refunds too. Hovering the Item Price column opens Price Info, which gains a Refunded Value row once anything has been refunded and reads Fully Refunded once the whole line value has gone back, alongside Unit Price, Line Price and Line Tax.
What Lands on the Order Timeline
All of these actions are written to Order Timeline, with your name and the time against them. Use Timeline Filter to narrow the list.
Best Practices & Notes
Return First, Refund Second
The refund step inherits the returned quantities and reasons, so working in that order costs nothing and keeps the two records agreeing. Refunding first means retyping quantities, and risking a mismatch between what you paid back and what came in.
Check the Figures Before You Confirm
Returns and refunds have no edit or delete action; they are records of something that happened. While an order is Partially Returned you can keep adding returns as more items arrive, but once it reads Returned Helm refuses any further return. Correct a wrong restock with a stock count or movement, so the original entry and the correction both stay in the trail.
Keep the Evidence on the Return, Not in Your Inbox
Photographs of damage and a short Additional Note on the return line are worth far more than the same images in an email thread. They stay with the order, whoever picks the query up next can see them, and they settle disputes.
Refund Due & Issue Refund Are a Different Thing
A Refund Due banner with an Issue Refund button is the order's payment position, not the item refund above. It appears when the order's value drops after payment: a line removed, a price reduced, a discount added, the shipping cut, or the order cancelled. Choosing Issue Refund opens a Refund Amount field with the outstanding figure printed beneath it as a Suggested Refund Amount. Check the figure, confirm it, and the refund shows in Order Transactions.
Finding Your Returns Later
Sub-statuses are searchable. Open Filters on the Orders list, use More Filters to add Sub Status, then filter on Returned, Partially Returned, Refunded, Partially Refunded or Resent. They also show on each order's status chip in the list.
FAQ
Can I Return an Order That Has Not Been Despatched?
No. Return and Resend only appear once the order is Despatched. Edit or split an order that has not shipped instead.
Does a Refund Put Stock Back?
No. A refund only records money. Stock moves only when you record a return with Restockable ticked.
Why Is the Refund Action Greyed Out?
Either the order has no customer attached, or nothing has been paid against it yet.
Why Is My Reason List Empty?
No active job reason of that type is linked to the order's sales channel. Add or relink one under Settings > System Settings > Job Reasons, checking its Job types and Channels.
Why Can't I Set a Return Location?
Either the line is not marked Restockable, which disables the field, or the location is not of type Returns. In Basic mode there is no location field, only Return Shelf.
Does the Replacement Order Charge the Customer Again?
It carries the original line prices so the order value is visible, but its shipping charge and order discount are zero. It arrives as a Draft, so you can adjust it before it goes anywhere.
If a return has not moved your stock, check that the line was Restockable and had a Return Location or Return Shelf, then look for a Returned entry in the product's Stock Logs. For a group product that entry is written against the group rather than the components, so look there. If it still does not add up, contact support with the order number.
Was this helpful?
Still need help? Share an idea