Phone Returns and RMA¶
Use Device Ops → Returns & RMA → Customer Returns. One customer return has
one RMA number and holds every phone that customer sends back. Each phone inside
it keeps its own guarded record (RMA/…-01, -02…) from receipt to close.
Watch the complete guide (6 minutes)¶
The steps in the video, in order:
- Start the return: Customer Returns → New. Choose the customer, return type, remedy (what every accepted phone gets) and the reported issue. Tick No battery hazards reported if that is true. Scan or paste the IMEIs and click Add Phones; a phone sold to another customer is refused.
- Authorize once (manager): Submit / Authorize approves every phone.
- Scan in: pick the Scan mode and scan; the scanner's Enter submits. 1. Receive puts each phone in quarantine; at the test bench, 2. To Diagnostics. A scan only does the selected step; a double or wrong scan turns red and changes nothing. The Next column shows what each phone needs.
- Test each phone: click Open on a line, run M360, click Sync M360 Now. A manager can use Skip Testing (Manager) on the return for phones that can't be tested.
- The data wipe: on the phone's 5. Inspection & Data tab. If we keep the phone (resell, supplier, recycle) choose Sanitized and Verified with the tool and certificate, then Confirm Data Handling. Not Required is only for a phone going back to the same customer. Otherwise Complete Disposition stops with Missing: verified sanitization. Then Complete Inspection.
- Decide each phone: Deny a phone that doesn't qualify (send it back or keep it); choose Where it goes for the others; then 3. Scan Out each phone.
- One credit note: Create Credit Note credits exactly the accepted phones at the price paid; check it and Confirm.
- Reconcile & Close: on Financials, tick COGS reviewed, write a note, click Reconcile & Close.
More videos in Video Guides.
One-time setup¶
- Go to Inventory → Configuration → Settings.
- Find Device RMA.
- Click Setup RMA Locations.
- Confirm the authorization-validity days and minimum resale battery health.
The setup creates separate quarantine, battery safety, diagnostics, repair, post-repair QA, resale, return-to-vendor, and recycling/parts areas. Never use ordinary saleable storage as return intake.
The eight steps¶
1. Request¶
- Start from the phone: open its IMEI record and click Create RMA. Odoo fills in the company, customer, original sale order and posted invoice from the phone's sale, so nobody has to search for them.
- Choose the return type and requested remedy.
- Record what the customer reported without diagnosing it yet.
- Complete the battery questions on 2. Authorization & Safety and set Battery Safety Status (see step 2).
- Click Submit for Authorization.
Foreign-owned consignment returns
The base ordinary and retail flows do not yet provide durable per-IMEI refund and owner-settlement authority, so the guided RMA rejects those foreign-owned sales immediately. Use an installed channel return workflow that explicitly supports consignment (the Reyder Bids bridge does), rather than opening a request that cannot be completed.
2. Authorization and battery safety¶
- Ask every battery/recall question.
- No hazard: click Clear for Normal Handling under Battery Safety Status.
- Any swelling, heat, leaking, puncture, major fire/water damage, or recall puts the case on Safety Hold and requires specialist routing instructions. A swollen or hot battery can start a fire in a shipping box.
- An Inventory Manager authorizes or rejects the request. An approval is a promise to refund or replace, so a manager owns it.
3–4. Receive into quarantine¶
- Shortcut: scan the IMEI into the RMA Queue search box to open the case.
- Scan the IMEI physically in hand into Scan Returned IMEI and click Receive into Quarantine.
- Odoo rejects a different IMEI and blocks duplicate internal inventory.
- A matched phone moves through an exact-lot receipt into Returns Quarantine or Battery Safety Hold. It becomes Returned + Pending QC, never Available.
5. Inspect and handle data¶
- Scan the phone into Move to Diagnostics and click Start Inspection. Odoo immediately checks M360 for this IMEI.
- Run a full M360 diagnostics test after the recorded return time, then click Sync M360 Now on the RMA. You never have to leave the RMA, switch companies, or open the device page.
- A fresh session is captured automatically: pass/fail, battery health, blacklist, Activation Lock and MDM are copied onto the return without retyping. (If the scheduled sync already brought the test in, it is captured the same way; Capture Fresh M360 Test appears only if an automatic capture could not finish.)
- If Sync M360 Now reports No Usable M360 Test Yet, read the message: it says whether M360 only has pre-return sessions, a session without diagnostics, or nothing for this IMEI. Test again in M360 and sync again. Pre-return sessions are never accepted, because they describe the phone before the customer had it.
- Record the functional result, cosmetic grade, FRP, observed failure and root cause separately. What M360 already filled in can be corrected.
- Record and confirm data preservation, sanitization, destruction, or failure, then click Confirm Data Handling.
- Click Complete Inspection. Odoo saves a permanent inspection snapshot.
Skip Testing (Manager)¶
Some phones cannot wait for the test bench (for example, a sealed buyer's-remorse return that needs an immediate refund). While diagnostics are pending, an Inventory Manager can click Skip Testing (Manager):
- Write the reason (at least 15 characters).
- Tick I accept responsibility for this phone's condition.
- Click Skip Testing.
What that means:
- The manager is accountable. The skipping manager's name, the date and time and the reason are stored on the RMA, posted in its chatter and on the phone's history, and kept in the immutable inspection snapshot. By skipping, the manager accepts responsibility for the phone's condition, including any later claim that it was received broken or locked.
- A yellow banner on the RMA shows who skipped testing and when.
- Functional, Activation Lock, FRP and MDM checks are stamped Not Checked (Manager Skip); they are never guessed as clear.
- A skipped phone that is restocked goes back to normal QC (Pending QC), not straight to sellable stock. The test-based release gates are enforced there.
- Data handling is still required before the inspection can be completed.
6. Resolve¶
Choose two separate answers:
- Customer remedy: refund, replacement, repair-and-return, credit, reject, or none.
- Phone disposition: restock, repair/refurbish, return to customer, supplier hold, parts hold, recycling hold, or fraud/legal hold.
Every physical handoff requires the exact original or replacement IMEI scan. Repair completion loops back to Inspection and requires another fresh M360 test.
Restock is blocked until the phone has passed fresh diagnostics, met the battery threshold, cleared blacklist/account/MDM checks, received a final grade, and has verified sanitization evidence. (After a manager skip, only grade and sanitization are required here, and the phone returns to normal QC.)
7. Reconcile¶
Inventory and financials are checked independently:
- Verify Inventory: confirms the exact quant, location, status, and completed disposition picking.
- Verify Financials: links the posted credit/refund when applicable and confirms COGS/valuation and owner/consignment settlement treatment. For a refund paid outside Odoo choose External Refund Recorded and enter its reference; for an Odoo credit note use Open Standard Credit Note Wizard.
8. Close¶
Only an Inventory Manager can close the RMA, and only after both reconciliation checks pass. A restocked phone becomes Available at close; a phone whose testing a manager skipped stays Pending QC so it still goes through normal QC.
Non-negotiable rules¶
- Never receive a phone by clicking without scanning its physical IMEI.
- Never place a returned phone directly into Available stock.
- Never accept an M360 session older than the return or repair completion.
- Never skip testing without a real reason: the skip is recorded under your name.
- Never store Apple, Google, or customer passcodes.
- A replacement is a separate IMEI linked to the RMA; never overwrite the returned phone's identity.
- Do not close an RMA while inventory, financials, or final disposition remains unresolved.