What is an RMA (return merchandise authorization)?

RMA stands for return merchandise authorization (in Turkish, iade yetkilendirmesi or iade izni). A customer with a faulty, defective, or wrongly shipped product doesn’t send it back unannounced. They first submit a return request, and the seller or manufacturer reviews it and issues an RMA number.

The goods then come back under that number. That way, you know who owns every package that reaches your warehouse, why it came back, and which record it belongs to.

How does the RMA process work?

1. Request: the customer reports the product, its serial number, and the complaint.
2. Authorization: the seller reviews the request against warranty and contract terms, then approves or rejects it.
3. Receipt: incoming goods are matched to the RMA number and kept apart so the customer’s property doesn’t mix with the seller’s own inventory.
4. Inspection: the product is checked to see whether the fault is real, whether misuse caused it, and whether the warranty covers it.
5. Disposition: repair, replacement, credit, refund, return of the goods to the customer as is, or scrap.
6. Closure: the decision is carried out, and any shipping documents, invoices, or return documents are issued.

Some businesses offer advance replacement so the customer doesn’t have to wait: the new product ships before the faulty one arrives. Sending a faulty part back to the manufacturer or vendor is a separate return process, tracked as a vendor RMA.

It’s also worth watching how many inspections end in “no fault found.” If the share is high, the problem may lie in installation, use, or the first diagnosis rather than in the product.

The legal framework for consumer returns in Turkey

When goods sold to a consumer in Turkey are returned, RMA decisions must respect the rights granted by Consumer Protection Law No. 6502. Under Article 11, if the goods turn out to be defective, the consumer chooses one of these remedies: withdrawing from the contract, a price reduction in proportion to the defect, free repair, or replacement with a non-defective equivalent. The seller must fulfill the consumer’s choice.

Free repair or replacement must be carried out within at most 30 business days of the request reaching the seller, manufacturer, or importer. For residential and holiday properties, the limit is 60 business days. For goods on the list annexed to the relevant regulation, repairs are subject to the maximum repair time that regulation sets.

Article 56 sets the warranty period at a minimum of 2 years from the date the goods are delivered. In business-to-business sales, return terms are usually set out in the contract between the parties.

RMAs in IWB

In IWB, RMAs are handled in Field Service. You open an RMA from a support ticket or a service order; the ticket stays open and shows which record it was handed off to. Customer-owned goods go into the custody warehouse and company-owned goods into the quarantine warehouse, and goods in these warehouses move only with a service document.

The inspection result is recorded as fault confirmed, no fault found, customer-caused damage, or out of warranty. The disposition comes after inspection: repair order, replacement, credit, refund, return to customer, scrap, refurbishment, or send to vendor.

A repair decision opens a repair order, and a refurbishment decision opens a draft rework order in Manufacturing for the returned goods. With advance replacement, the replacement ships before the faulty unit arrives and is invoiced; if the faulty unit isn’t returned on time, the charge stays on the invoice. A vendor RMA can be opened from a customer RMA or from a removed part and linked to a purchase return in Purchasing.

You can issue e-Waybills for returning custody goods, vendor RMAs, loaner units, and replacement shipments. Built-in Field Service reports track the no-fault-found rate and how long open RMAs have been waiting.