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Supplier Complaints

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Written by Ondřej Průša
Updated over a week ago

The Supplier Complaints add-on in Retino allows for efficient management of product complaints with your suppliers. This tool helps you collect customer complaints, create stock complaints, and generate the necessary documents for communication with suppliers.

What the Supplier Complaints Add-on Does

The Supplier Complaints add-on extends Retino's capabilities with these key features:

  • Creating supplier complaints, which collect customer complaints for subsequent communication with the supplier

  • Creating stock complaints without the need for a pre-existing customer complaint

  • Exporting documents for suppliers with all necessary information

  • Tracking the entire complaint process with the supplier, from creation to resolution

Activating the Add-on

Activate Supplier Complaints as an add-on in the Marketplace. After activation, the add-on will be listed among your installed add-ons, and a new Supplier Complaint action will appear in the context menu on the ticket detail page.

Supplier Complaint Workflow

Working with supplier complaints involves several steps:

1. Creating a Supplier Complaint

After clicking the Supplier Complaint action on the ticket detail page, you have two options:

  • Create a new supplier complaint - this creates a new ticket of type Supplier Complaint, filling in the supplier details

  • Add a ticket to an existing supplier complaint - add products from the current ticket to an already created supplier complaint

This approach allows you to progressively collect the products needing repair and submit the complaint to the supplier at a convenient time.

2. Filling in Supplier Details

When creating a new supplier complaint, you can:

  • Search for a supplier from existing records

  • Enter details for a new supplier (name, address, contact information, company ID, VAT ID)

Once created, supplier records are saved for future use and can be managed in the add-on settings.

3. Adding Products to the Complaint

You can add:

  • Products from customer complaints (by linking tickets)

  • Products from your stock inventory (for stock complaints)

For each product, you can specify:

  • The quantity needing repair

  • A description of the defect or reason for the complaint

  • A proposed solution for the complaint

  • Attach files documenting the defect (photos, videos, etc.)

4. Tracking Complaint Status

A supplier complaint goes through several statuses reflecting its lifecycle:

  1. New complaint - collecting the products needing repair

    • Status: Collecting goods

  2. Sent to supplier - sending the complaint to the supplier

    • Status: Sent to supplier

  3. Waiting for supplier - waiting for the supplier to address the complaint

    • Status: Waiting for supplier

  4. Resolved - closing the complaint with a result

    • Status: Accepted - paid

    • Status: Accepted - partially paid

    • Status: Accepted - repaired

    • Status: Accepted - goods received

These statuses allow you to clearly track the complaint's progress.

5. Sending the Complaint to the Supplier

When you decide to submit the complaint to the supplier, you can generate a document from the Documents tab, which includes:

  • Your company details

  • Supplier details

  • A list of the products needing repair

  • Reasons for the complaint and proposed solutions for each product

  • Attachments documenting the defects

You can then send this document to the supplier electronically or print it and attach it to the returned goods.

Custom Field Mapping

In the add-on settings, you can configure the mapping of fields from the ticket detail to the supplier complaint. Values can be automatically populated into the Defect Description and Proposed Solution fields.

This feature allows you to automatically transfer information from customer complaints to supplier complaints, saving time and reducing errors from manual re-entry.

Tip for efficient work: Configure custom field mapping so that important information from customer complaints is automatically transferred to supplier complaints. For example, map the "Customer Defect Description" field to the "Defect Description" field in the supplier complaint.

Linking Customer and Supplier Complaints

Retino allows for two-way linking between customer and supplier complaints:

  • On the customer complaint detail page, you can see if it's part of a supplier complaint and navigate to it

  • On the supplier complaint detail page, you can see which customer complaints are part of it and navigate to them

This linking provides a complete overview of the entire complaint process, from the customer to the supplier.

Stock Complaints

The add-on also allows you to create stock complaints, which are complaints about products that have defects already discovered in your stock, before sending them to the customer.

How to Create a Stock Complaint

  1. In the Tickets section, click New ticket

  2. Select Supplier Complaint as the Ticket type

  3. Enter supplier details (or select an existing one)

  4. Add products from your product catalog

Finding Products for Stock Complaints

To simplify the creation of stock complaints, Retino uses the product catalog from your online store. This is done using the Retino Products XML feed.

To find a product, simply enter at least 3 characters (name, code, EAN, etc.) and click the product you want to add to the complaint.

Note: For the Shoptet platform, products are automatically synchronized via API, and the XML feed does not need to be configured.

Filtering Products in Supplier Complaints

In the product list, you can filter products that are part of a supplier complaint. This allows you to quickly identify which products have already been complained about to the supplier.

Supplier Management

In the Supplier Complaints add-on settings, you can manage suppliers:

  • Add new suppliers

  • Edit existing supplier details

  • Search for suppliers by name, company ID, VAT ID, or address

This supplier database simplifies the creation of new supplier complaints, as you won't have to repeatedly enter the same information.

Tips for Efficient Supplier Complaint Management

  • Regularly check customer complaints and add them to supplier complaints to avoid unnecessary delays

  • Group complaints from the same supplier into one supplier complaint to minimize administration and shipping costs

  • Utilize stock complaints to immediately address identified issues with products that haven't yet been shipped to customers

  • Configure custom field mapping for automatic transfer of information from customer complaints

  • Regularly update supplier complaint statuses to maintain an up-to-date overview

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