---
id: KB-LG-005
url: https://app.codecontract.io/help/logistics/returns-and-reverse-logistics
idioma: en
categoria: sector-logistica
subcategoria: inversa
audiencia: usuario
nivel: intermedio
actualizado: 2026-08-13
tambienEn: [es]
relacionados: [KB-LG-001, KB-NO-003]
citadoPor: [KB-LG-006]
---

# Returns and reverse logistics

_What comes back also needs documenting, and almost never is._

**Responde a:** documenting goods returns · reverse logistics traceability · condition of a returned product · who is responsible for a returned product

All the documentary effort goes into what leaves. What comes back arrives uncontrolled, piles up in a warehouse corner and surfaces in an argument three months later: what condition did it return in, who collected it, and is what came back what was sent.

## What to document on receipt

**En corto**

- What condition it arrives in, with photos if it may be disputed.
- What it exactly is: reference and batch, not "a box".
- Who brought it and when.

| Type of return | What gets argued later |
| --- | --- |
| Defective product | Whether the defect was original or from use |
| Order error | Whether it came back complete and sellable |
| End of life or recall | Where it ended up and who handled it |
| Hired equipment | What condition it returned in versus how it left |

> [!IMPORTANT]
> The last row is the costliest and the most forgotten. Hired equipment returning damaged with no photos of departure or arrival is an argument almost always lost, because whoever hired it has no evidence to the contrary either.

## If what comes back is waste

It changes nature: it stops being a return and becomes waste with its own management and traceability duties. Confusing the two is what produces piles of material nobody knows how to dispose of.

> [!WARNING]
> If you handle returns of product that ends up as waste, check with your adviser at what point the regime changes. It is not a warehouse question: it is a question of which duties apply to you from that moment.

> [!NOTE]
> Photographing hired equipment on departure costs a minute and is the only thing that sustains the return conversation. It is the same case as prior condition on a site.

**Is it worth it for small returns?**

For those that get disputed, yes. For the rest, recording what came back suffices.

**What if it arrives unannounced?**

Documenting receipt matters even more: nobody else did.

**Does it help claim against the carrier?**

Dated photos of receipt are what is asked for.

## Ejemplos

**A machinery hire company argues monthly about damage on returned equipment.**

- Certified photos on departure and on return

→ Arguments close by comparing two dated series, and repairs are paid by whoever caused them.

**A return arrives without knowing which shipment it belongs to.**

- Records the return against the original shipment

→ The order's history stays complete.

**There is a dispute about the condition goods came back in.**

- Captures the condition on receipt

→ The dispute closes on the record.

**Returns are noted on a separate sheet.**

- Records them in the order's file

→ There is one picture of the order.

**A client asks about a return from months ago.**

- Checks that order's file

→ You answer without searching email.

**Nobody knows how many returns come from one client.**

- Checks the history per client

→ The pattern shows with data.