The customer contacts customer satisfaction department and explains a problem with items received from the company which are defective. Once the customer has provided the clerk with the invoice number, item number, and quantity to be returned, the clerk enters the information into the system. The system creates a return authorization and updates the invoice status to pending return. A return authorization is generated and recorded by the system. The number is displayed on the screen and faxed by the computer to the customer along with instructions to include the fax in the shipping container.
When the goods arrive in the receiving department, the clerk enters the authorization number from the return document into the system and a copy of the return authorization form is displayed on a computer in the receiving department. The clerk inspects the goods and enters a description of the problem and quantity into the system. The system records the information, prints a return form in the receiving department and a copy of the return form on the warehouse manager's printer. The system also updates the invoice, and accounts receivable and a credit memo is faxed by the system to the customer.
The clerk attaches the return form to the return authorization document and places them in a file located in the storage area of the receiving department where the items will remain until the warehouse manager can inspect the goods. The return form is filed in the manager's office until he can inspect the goods.