Return parts to a vendor
Send stock back to a supplier — build the return, get an RMA, ship it, and settle the credit when it comes.
Do this when parts are going back to a supplier — a defective unit, a wrong part, overstock you're cleaning off the shelf, or a warranty claim. A vendor return (an RTV) is the paperwork the vendor's credit department will ask for, and it keeps track of the money the vendor owes you until they actually pay it.
The important thing to know up front: nothing moves until the return ships. You can build a return, sit on it, and cancel it with no effect on your stock or your books.
Start the return. In Parts & Inventory, click Vendor Returns, then New return.
There are two quicker ways in that fill things out for you. From a part's own page, Return to Vendor starts a return already pointed at that part. And when you take a customer return of something suspect, Meridian offers to send it on — see handing a customer return to the vendor below.
Pick how you're building it: Against a receipt, or Ad hoc from stock.
Against a receipt is the better path whenever you can use it. It lists what you've actually received from that vendor in the last 180 days, so the cost, the original PO and the vendor invoice are all known — which is exactly what the vendor's credit department will ask you for.
Ad hoc from stock is for everything else: shelf stock you're returning without pointing at a specific receipt.
Choose the Vendor. Nothing else works until you do — the receipt list is per-vendor, and the button to create the return stays greyed out until a vendor is picked.
Pick the Reason. It defaults to Overstock. Choose the one that matches, because the vendor's return rules are enforced per reason — some vendors won't take certain categories back at all, or only inside a return window.
Picking Warranty claim adds a Warranty claim # field.
Add the lines. In receipt mode, type a Return qty against the received lines you're sending back — you can't ask for more than was received. In ad-hoc mode, click Add a line and enter the part number, description and quantity.
Meridian won't let you return more than you actually have at that location. If you try, it tells you how many are on hand.
Fill in the optional paperwork. Vendor invoice # helps the vendor find the original sale. Return freight says who's paying to ship it back — We pay, Vendor pays (prepaid label), or Third party (recoverable) for a warranty company or carrier claim. Leave it on Use the vendor's default if that's already set up.
Click Create draft return. You now have a draft. Nothing has left the shelf.
Get the vendor's RMA number. Click Request RMA, then call or email the vendor as you normally would. When they give you the number, click Record RMA # and enter it.
Some vendors are set up to require this — if so, Meridian won't let the return ship without a number, and tells you so on the shipping dialog.
Print the packing slip and box it up. Click Packing slip. It carries the RMA number, where to send it, what's in the box and a Packed By signature line — and no cost figures anywhere, so it's safe to put in the box for the vendor.
If you need a cost-bearing copy for your own office, print the Debit memo instead.
Click Ship to vendor when it's actually going. Enter Ship via and a Tracking # if you have them, and tick The carrier bills us if the freight lands on your account with the carrier rather than being paid at the counter.
This is the point of no return — literally. Shipping draws the parts out of inventory and opens a claim against the vendor. After this, you can't cancel; the only way out is to record a settlement.
Record the settlement when the vendor responds. Click Record settlement and say what actually happened — Credit memo (reduces what we owe), Replacement part shipped, or Claim denied.
A vendor can settle in batches, so record only what this response covers. Whatever's left stays open and the return sits in Disputed until it's fully settled.
Handing a customer return on to the vendor
When you take a customer return with Return / credit on an order, Meridian looks at what came back. If a part probably shouldn't go back on your shelf, the panel stays open after the credit memo and asks:
Credit memo created. These parts are back on the shelf. Send them on to the vendor?
Each part gets a Return to vendor link that starts a return already filled in. Click Keep them in stock to dismiss it.
You'll see the offer when any of three things is true: the customer's reason was defective, wrong part or warranty; the part isn't one you stock; or it was a special order raised for that job. It's only ever an offer — nothing is sent back automatically.
What happens behind the scenes
- A draft costs you nothing. No stock moves and nothing posts to your books until you ship. The costs shown on a draft are an estimate; the real ones are worked out at shipping.
- Shipping takes the parts off the shelf at the location you're shipping from, and values them at what you actually paid for the ones you're sending — the newest batch still on hand, or the exact batch from the receipt when you built the return against one. It won't let you go negative: unlike a sale, you can't return stock you don't have.
- Shipping moves the money from inventory to "the vendor owes us". It isn't treated as a cost of sale, because you haven't sold anything — it's a claim against your supplier, tracked until they settle it.
- Return freight is booked separately, and where it lands depends on who's paying: your own expense if you pay, a recoverable claim if a warranty company or carrier is covering it, and nothing at all if the vendor sent a prepaid label.
- A credit memo reduces what you owe that vendor, so it shows up against their account in Accounts Payable. If they credit you less than the parts were worth, the difference is recorded as a restocking fee; more, and the difference is booked as a price variance.
- A replacement part puts stock back on the shelf at the original cost, not today's list price. A denied claim either writes off the loss or puts the parts back on the shelf, depending on what you tell it happened to them.
- The status follows the money. A return that's been settled in full goes to Closed. One that's been part-settled goes to Disputed — here that just means "some of this claim is still unresolved", not that you're arguing with anyone.
Troubleshooting
You need permission to see vendor returns. Service advisors, accounting and viewers can look at them; parts clerks can also create and ship them. Technicians and drivers don't see them at all. Your manager or owner can change this under Settings, then Users & Permissions.
That vendor is set up to require an authorization number before anything goes back. Click Request RMA, get the number from the vendor, then Record RMA #. Once the number is on the return, shipping works.
Meridian only lets you send back what's actually on hand at the location you're shipping from, and the message tells you how many that is. Two common causes: the stock is at a different location (check the location switcher), or some of it has already gone out on another return or a ticket.
You can't. Cancel only works on a return that hasn't shipped, because shipping has already taken the parts off the shelf and opened a claim. The way back is to record a settlement describing what really happened — most often Claim denied, then Sent back to us — put on the shelf, which puts the stock back at its original cost.
Cost on returns follows the same rule as cost everywhere else: you need permission to see cost, which either comes from a cost permission or from being a buyer. Without it you'll see the return, the parts and the quantities, but no money — and the packing slip, which is the document you'd actually hand a vendor, has no cost on it for anyone.
That's normal, and Meridian expects it. Record what they actually sent. The return goes to Disputed with the remainder still showing as open, and you record the next settlement against the same return when it arrives. Record settlement shows you how much is still open, and has a Settle it all shortcut when the last piece lands.
Drafts can't be edited after they're created. Click Cancel, then Cancel return — nothing has moved, so nothing is reversed — and build a new one.
The list opens on Open, which hides anything already closed or cancelled. Try the All tab. There's no search box on this screen yet, so if you have a lot of history, narrowing by tab is the way through.