Ban on returns: how to block the receipt of certain categories of goods

Entrepreneurs often ask: «How can the return of services be prohibited?» or «How can returns be restricted by product type?». The issue is that although, under the Law of Ukraine «On Consumer Rights Protection», the buyer has the right to return goods of proper quality within 14 days, there is a list of goods approved by the Cabinet of Ministers that are not subject to exchange or return, for example underwear, hosiery, certain types of cut-to-length goods, and others. 

In addition, services or marked-down goods may also be non-returnable. To avoid situations where a cashier, due to inexperience or inattention, accepts such goods back and refunds the money, Torgsoft provides special modes. They allow you to systematically block the return of certain product categories, protecting the owner from financial losses and violations of the store’s internal rules.

Torgsoft offers several ways to configure a return prohibition: from global blocking of entire categories to a manual restriction for a specific product item at the time of sale.

1. Global prohibition by Product Type

If your assortment includes entire groups of goods or services that are not subject to return under the law or your store rules, it is best to configure a system-wide prohibition for the entire «Product Type».

How to configure it:

1. Go to the main menu item Settings - Parameters - General.

2. Find and activate the switch «Restrict product sale».

3. Click the link «Return prohibition settings for Product Types» and, in the window that opens, add to the list the product or service types that cannot be returned.

 Benefit for customer service: this function is also a useful marketing and information tool. When the return prohibition by product type setting is used, a special field is added to the printed receipt template for the customer, clearly stating that this product is not subject to return. This allows the business owner to inform the buyer at the time of purchase and avoid conflicts in the future.

2. Manual prohibition at the time of sale on the Sale form

There are cases when it is necessary to prohibit the return of a specific product directly at the time of sale, for example, when the product is sold from the display case under an individual agreement or with a specific defect that the customer has been informed about.

How it works:

1. On the «Sale» form, select from the sale list the product you want to block from being returned.

2. Click the «Prohibit product return» button or use the keyboard shortcut ALT + D.

3. The «Enter reason for prohibiting product return» window will open.

4. Enter the reason for the prohibition in the corresponding field, with a maximum length of 64 characters, and click «Save».

After these actions, a special icon will appear next to the product name in the receipt, indicating that the prohibition has been set.

What the cashier and customer will see:

• In the printed sales invoice, such goods will be displayed in red.

• The document will also display the text: «Product return prohibited: yes» and the exact reason for the prohibition.

• If the customer later brings this product back and the cashier tries to add it to the «Return» form, the program will automatically display a warning on the screen: information that a prohibition was set for the product, the specified reason, and a request to confirm whether the product return should really continue.

If the situation has changed, for example, the owner has given individual permission for the return, this prohibition can be removed using the «Allow product return» button, which cancels the prohibition mark.

3. Return blocking through the «Marked-down» status

Another way to restrict returns is to use the marked-down status. Torgsoft has the following logic: if the «Marked-down» switch is set in the product card, this product cannot be returned by the buyer.

If the customer tries to return a marked-down product, the program will block this action. To process the return of such a product, if management has still made this decision, an authorized employee must first open the product card and clear the «Marked-down» checkbox. Only after that will it be possible to process the return in future or current operations.

Summary

Using Torgsoft’s built-in mechanisms for blocking returns helps entrepreneurs comply with both legal requirements, including the Cabinet of Ministers’ list of goods that are not subject to exchange or return, and their own trade rules. Thanks to automatic warnings and the printing of information in receipts and invoices, the human factor at the checkout is reduced, while buyers receive transparent purchase terms.