Cannot amend product options in customer's order inventory for exchanges/refunds

[sailing123]

Hi,

Another issue that I need to address before I close my V4.

At the moment, when a customer wants a product exchange or a refund, I go back into the original order and I manually add a comment in the product options box like:

- original order options:  SIZE: - LARGE

- amended order: SIZE: - LARGE - returned & exchanged for a size MEDIUM on 17/03/2017 or SIZE: - LARGE - returned & refunded on 17/03/2017

This is critical for future records.

At the moment with V6, I really cannot see how I can keep this level of records. I cannot manually add text within the product options under the inventory so I was wondering whether we could add a box just under each product options that admin use for comments ? What do you think ? It needs to be per product as of course not all products in one order are returned for an exchange or refund. It would also need to be visible on the website when customers check their order history.

I am not even asking for a system linked to the actual stock level where it is automatically adjusted as this is probably too much to ask as a short term solution, so I will continue to do a manual stock adjustment. Maybe an idea for a future plugin for developers out there ;-).

Any advice would be most appreciated.

Thanks

S.

Edited March 17, 2017 by sailing123

[Dirty Butter]

There IS a message box per ORDER that saves to the database, shows in packing slip (I think that's stock) and customer's Order History, and can be added to customer Order Confirmed email. I print packing slips before order is completed, so I don't have the message in ours.

If that's not sufficient, maybe someone will be able to help you code a better solution.

[sailing123]

Hi Dirty Butter,

Are you referring to the Public Note Content  that we can add in the order notes ? If so, that will not work for me, ie not good enough for that purpose.

I really need a function or a text box which maybe could be added to each product under the inventory tab of the order. For the simple reasons, when customers are ordering more than one product, the amendments have to show close the product concerned otherwise it will get very messy.

I really hope that someone will manage to offer a fix as this is a critical issue for my business being in clothing, returns are part of the equation ....

Thanks again.

S.

Edited March 18, 2017 by sailing123

[Dirty Butter]

We only allow returns if our description is wrong - so rarely an issue for us. But I understand you would do it frequently. I'm not sure if this extension would give you what you want, but it's worth looking into:

https://www.cubecart.com/extensions/plugins/return-merchandise-authorization-rma

SemperFi may be able to modify the plugin to fit your needs, if stock is not sufficient.

[sailing123]

Good point Dirty Butter, I remember that plugin now. Will get in touch with Daren.

Thanks.

[sailing123]

I had a look at Semperfi RMA and it is a great plugin but sadly it does not link back to the original order. So if you click on an order, there is no notes added next to the product/option to alert you that a return has been processed for it. The plugin is really treated as a separate entity for the time being.

So I am back to square one.

I have been trying instead to add a "textarea" just below the product option line in the "items" section of the order overview tab working on file /skins/default/templates/orders.index.php . I managed to get a textarea appears for each product line and I can enter a text but it does not save it, see basis code used:

<textarea name="returns" class="textbox"></textarea>

Would someone be able to point me in the right direction if possible ?

I had a look as well as at adding the textarea in the inventory section but the php coding stopped me.

Thanks

S.

 

Edited March 23, 2017 by sailing123

[sailing123]

I have also tried to make the options editable:

<fieldset>{if $product.options_text}
                  <br><div><label>Options</label><span class="editable number" name="options">{$product.options_text}</span></div></fieldset>{if}

Made the line editable but changes cannot be saved, yet the editable function is working with the Gateway ....  :-(

Edited March 23, 2017 by sailing123

[Dirty Butter]

Did you create a returns table field in the database to match your <textarea name="returns" class="textbox"></textarea> ?

 

[sailing123]

So I created a column called "returns" into my order_inventory table as each comment needs to be linked per product line.

I then tried to copy the logic of the "Public Note Comment" box of the order's Notes tab as afterall, it is the same function required as far as I am concerned, ie:

<label for="note">{$LANG.orders.note_content_public}<br>({$LANG.orders.note_explain_email})</label><span><textarea name="summary[note_to_customer]" class="textbox">{$SUMMARY.note_to_customer}</textarea></span>

So I did <textarea name="inv[returns]" class="textbox">{$returns}</textarea> and also <textarea name="returns" class="textbox">{$returns}</textarea>

I do get a box but every time I type some text and save the order, nothing has been saved. So, surely there is more than one adding a column into the database or I am not adding the right coding ....

I also tried to replace {$returns} by {$SUMMARY.returns}, {$INVENTORY.returns}, {$inv.returns}, made no difference.

Edited March 27, 2017 by sailing123

[Dirty Butter]

It would take code changes in the appropriate admin/skins and the admin/source files. Otherwise you have the cosmetics of a box in the skin, but no directions for using the box in source.

[sailing123]

The admin/skins/default/templates/orders.index.php file is already amended with the code given earlier.

I would therefore expect the other file to amend to be the  admin/sources/orders.index.inc.php. Yet I cannot see any reference to the "Public Note Comment" for instance which is my reference to start with if you see what I mean.

If I don't crack the answer quickly, I will need to seek professional help ...

Thanks anyway Dirty Butter.

 

[Dirty Butter]

That's what I would have thought. I'm TOTALLY GUESSING here, but maybe this is where you need to add the returns stuff to the array somehow:

I was hoping Bsmither would be around, as his ability to help exceeds mine by a few galaxies.

orders.index.inc.hp

$record = array(
				'product_id' => (int)$data['product_id'],
				'quantity'  => $data['product_quantity'],
				'price'   => $data['price'],
				'cart_order_id' => $order_id,
				'options_identifier' => $GLOBALS['catalogue']->defineOptionsIdentifier($data['productOptions']),
				'options_array' => serialize($data['productOptions']),
				'product_options' => $GLOBALS['order']->serializeOptions($data['productOptions'],$data['product_id'])
			);