Guide · Ultineo E-commerce
When a parcel comes back: returns, refusals and carrier claims
This guide is for a merchant whose parcels abroad do not all end well. Three cases look alike and are handled differently: a parcel refused at delivery, a parcel lost or damaged on the way, an item sent back by the buyer. You will know which case you have, what to record and when to give money back: the parcel and the money are two separate events.
Checked against the product in November 2026
Three cases, two events: the parcel and the money
- Refused at delivery
The carrier presented the parcel and the recipient turned it away. Record two dates: the refusal, then the day the parcel is back in your hands.
- Lost or damaged in transit
The parcel never arrived, arrived broken or stopped on the way. Open a claim with the carrier and keep the reference it gives you.
- Sent back by the buyer
The parcel was delivered, then the buyer asked to send an item back. Open a return with its reason, and move it one step at a time.
- Refused: the money
A refusal gives no money back by itself. You decide on the refund from the payment, once the parcel is back and you have seen its state.
- Lost or damaged: the money
Two sums are in play: what you give back to the buyer, and what the carrier may pay you. Keep them as two files, each with its own date.
- Sent back: the money
A completed return is not a refund. Refund from the payment, in full or less what your terms of sale let you withhold, such as the return shipping.
1. Follow a refused parcel all the way home
A refusal is two moments: the carrier reports that the recipient turned the parcel away, then the parcel reaches you. Between the two it is still travelling, and you do not know its state.
Use that time to ask the buyer why: an address not found, a charge requested on delivery, a change of mind, a damaged box. The answer decides what comes next: a second shipment, a refund or a claim.
Example. A parcel of 62 euros is refused on 3 March: the driver asked the buyer for a payment she did not expect. It reaches the warehouse intact on 17 March. Only then does the merchant choose between a second shipment and a refund.
In Ultineo. In Shipments, a parcel turned away at delivery is listed on the Refused tab while it comes back to you. Click Detail on its row and, once the parcel is back at your warehouse, click "Mark as received", then again to confirm: the arrival date is recorded. If the parcel was not refused after all, click "Cancel the refusal".
2. Open a claim with the carrier
Four situations are raised with the carrier: a parcel lost, damaged, stopped at customs, or never collected from you. Open the case early, and ask the carrier what its deadline is and which proof it accepts.
Gather the tracking number, the invoice that shows the value and, for a damaged parcel, photographs. For a parcel held at customs, what is owed is a question for a qualified adviser.
Example. A parcel worth 140 euros has had no new scan for ten days. The merchant files a claim and notes the case number. She sends the buyer a second parcel, and changes the claim's status only on the carrier's written answer.
In Ultineo. On the Settings tab of the shipment, click "Open a claim", choose the Type ("Lost package", "Damaged package", "Stopped at customs" or "Never collected by the carrier"), add a Note if needed and click "Open the claim". On the Claims tab, open it with Detail, then click "Edit the claim": you change its Status yourself and enter the "Claim reference" the carrier gave you.
3. Handle a buyer's return one step at a time
A return starts with a request, not with a parcel that arrives unannounced. Agree on the reason first: a change of mind, a fault, the wrong item. Your terms of sale should say, for each reason, who pays for the journey back.
Then move in order: accept the return, wait for the parcel, receive it, check it, close it. Tell the buyer at each step.
Example. A buyer writes that a lamp arrived in the wrong colour. The merchant opens a return for a wrong item and validates it. Eight days later the lamp arrives; she checks it, marks the parcel received, then completes the return.
In Ultineo. In Support, open the customer's request and click "Open a return", choose the Type (Withdrawal, Warranty, "Wrong item" or Other) and click "Open the return". In Returns, open the return with Detail and, in the Overview box, click the button that names the next step, for example "Validate the return", "Wait for the parcel", "Mark the parcel received" or "Complete the return", then again to confirm: the customer sees the new status on their account. A step cannot be walked back from this screen; if the parcel never arrived, click "Declare an incident" instead, and the return leaves its steps for good.
4. Tell the buyer how to send the parcel back
A buyer who sends a parcel back needs three things: the address it goes to, the carrier to use, and a label or the way to obtain one. Decide beforehand who buys the label. Across a border, ask your carrier or a qualified adviser how a returned parcel is declared at customs.
Example. A merchant buys a return label from her carrier for 11 euros and sends it to a buyer two countries away. She records the carrier and the tracking number with the return.
In Ultineo. Open the return in Returns and, in the Overview box, click Edit. On "Edit the return", fill in the Carrier and the "Tracking number" and, in "Return label (PDF)", choose the label among your documents or upload a PDF. The customer reads all three on their account once the return waits for the parcel.
5. Settle the money separately, from the payment
Whatever happened to the parcel, the refund is a separate decision in three parts: how much, by which route, and whether it went through. Start from the original payment and what is still refundable on it.
Tell the buyer when the refund is confirmed, not when you asked for it. What you may keep depends on your terms of sale and on the law that applies to them: this guide gives no legal advice.
Example. An order of 80 euros comes back complete. The terms of the shop leave the return shipping, 9 euros, to the buyer. The merchant refunds 71 euros from the payment and writes to the buyer once the refund is confirmed.
In Ultineo. Cancelling an order does not give the money back, and a completed return is not proof of a refund. In Payments, open the payment and click Refund: choose a Reason under "Full refund", enter the "Amount to refund" under "Partial refund", or use "Withheld refund" to give back everything except an "Amount withheld".
6. Before the next parcel leaves, confirm who and where
Every case you close has a cause: an address not found, a buyer who did not answer, a charge nobody announced, a box packed too lightly. Write it down; after a few months, the list shows what to change first. Our guide to delivering abroad covers announcing duties before payment.
For a first order to a new country, read the delivery address as the carrier will. A check does not prevent a refusal: it tells you whether an email address or a phone number looks usable, not whether anyone will answer.
Example. A first order arrives from a country the shop opened last month. Its phone number has one digit too few. The merchant writes to the buyer, who corrects it before the parcel leaves.
In Ultineo. In Customers, the Address tab of a customer's page shows their "Billing address" and "Delivery address", which you correct with Edit. Under Verifier, the checks cover an email address, a phone number and an IP address: Telephone says whether a number is a "Possible number" and a "Valid number". None of them establishes the identity of a person or guarantees a reply.
Checklist
For every parcel that goes wrong
- 1. Name the case
Refusal, carrier claim or buyer's return: decide from the tracking, and open one record per case.
- 2. Date both moments
For a refusal, note the day it was reported and the day the parcel came back.
- 3. Keep the carrier's reference
Open the claim early, with the tracking number, the invoice and photographs, and note every answer.
- 4. Start from a request
Agree on the reason, give the buyer the carrier and the label, and move one step at a time.
- 5. Refund from the payment
Set the amount, refund it from the original payment, and tell the buyer once the refund is confirmed.
- 6. Write down the cause
Address, contact, unexpected charge or packing: note why, and reread the list every month.
Go further
Follow every parcel and every refund with Ultineo E-commerce
Send your application: our team reviews each one before an account is opened.
Questions
Follow it until it is back. In Shipments, open the parcel from the Refused tab and, once it is at your warehouse, click "Mark as received": the arrival date is recorded. Any refund is reviewed separately, from the payment.
No. A refused delivery has its own parcel record, on the Refused tab of Shipments; a customer return has its own, in Returns.
A claim has one of four types: "Lost package", "Damaged package", "Stopped at customs" or "Never collected by the carrier". Compensation depends on the carrier's actual decision, not on the shop record alone.
By writing to you: a customer opens a support request from their account. When the request can lead to a return and none is open for it yet, you click "Open a return" on it and choose the Type.
Yes, a label that you provide. On "Edit the return", choose it among your documents or upload a PDF in "Return label (PDF)". The customer reads it on their account once the return waits for the parcel.
No. Review the payment and the refund separately from the state of the return. The Refunds tab of the payment lists each refund with its Status.