Keeping track of parts that need to be returned can take a lot of work. If parts just sit on a shelf, your shop might be losing money by not returning them. Shopmonkey can help streamline your return process by keeping track of the part from start to finish. In this article, we’ll show you how to process the return of a part on an order.

The first step to tracking parts that need to be returned is to label them. Click the plus in the part’s status column to add the label you're looking for. For more information on labels check out our help article.

Create a service that will hold the part that needs to be returned. You can create a new service each time you need to track a return, or you can create your own canned service. The canned service can be titled correctly as “Parts Return Service,” and it can have notes for instructions.

The new service should be set to Hidden. This will remove it from the customer’s view, and it will remove it from showing in reports.

You’ll also want to add a labor line item for the return service. This labor line item could have a labor rate of zero, so there is no additional labor cost tracked in your reporting. To do this, click on the labor item and, in the right side panel, click the Rate dropdown. From here, you can create a new rate or use one you’ve created to make it zero. Having this labor item will allow you to assign someone in your shop to the return, and they can be notified about the assignment.

For more information on creating services check out our help article.

With the new service created, you can easily click and drag the part to the hidden service. Now that the part is removed from the original service, it can be invoiced, and you can take payment and complete the process with the customer.

When you’re ready to find the part and process the return with the vendor, start on the Parts Workflow page. From here you can find the parts by filtering the list by vendor, filtering by label color, and by searching for the part number. By using these methods, you can find the exact part you’re looking for.

When you’re done processing the return with the vendor mark the part as returned with a label so the whole shop knows it’s been processed. You can also add notes of any confirmation numbers or vendor credits. We recommend going back to the order and leaving an internal message with the return information. You can also attach documents you receive there. For more information on leaving internal notes check out our help article.

If you ever need to look up a past return you’ll have multiple options. You can find detailed information using the order number. The order will have the parts return service, the assigned person who processed the order, the return label on the part, and the internal note with the return confirmation.

You can also go back to the Parts Workflow page to find the part. As mentioned above you can filter by vendor, filter by the returned label, or search by part number.

Still have questions? Feel free to reach out to us through the Chat Icon in the bottom right corner of your screen. Thanks for reading!