Returns & recalls
Returns and recalls, handled on the way back
Every store we deliver to is a store we collect from. Returns ride back on the same van, get triaged at our hub, and reach you as one clean credit line — not an argument three months later.
The van that drops stock at a store also picks up what is coming back. The collection sits on the same run as the delivery, so a store manager hands over damaged units, short-dated lines or a discontinued facing in one movement at the back door. Nothing waits for a separate booking, and nothing sits in a stockroom for weeks turning into a dispute. Returns reach our hub the same day the van closes its round.
Triaged at the hub, line by line
Everything that comes back is booked in against the store, the date and a reason code before any decision is taken. Returns are then graded by hand into three outcomes: sellable stock that goes straight back into the pick face, units that need a new outer or a fresh label and are repacked on site, and stock that cannot be sold again. Each outcome is recorded against the original batch, so the decision can be traced long after the pallet has gone.
Write-offs backed by evidence
Stock is only written off once there is something to look at. Damaged and expired units are photographed, counted and logged against the store that returned them, with the reason stated plainly — crushed outer, seal failure, expired date code, label damage. You see the same record we do. That keeps write-offs out of the realm of trust, and it shows quickly whether a problem is one store, one delivery round, or something in the packaging itself.
Recalls scoped by batch, not by guesswork
Batch and lot numbers are captured when your stock arrives at our warehouse and carried through every pick and every drop. If you need to pull a batch, we can say which stores and practices took it, how many units each one received, and what is still in our own racking. Affected stock is blocked in the system before the first phone call is made, then collected on the normal rounds. Clean batches stay on sale, which keeps the recall narrow.
Credit notes that reconcile first time
Every return leaves the hub as structured data: store, date, product code, batch, quantity, reason and outcome. The same record feeds the credit note we raise for the retailer and the report that comes to you, so both sides work from one set of figures. Your finance team is not matching photographs to spreadsheets, and nobody is chasing a deduction nobody recognises. Returns stop being a monthly surprise and become a line you can plan around.
In practice.
Collected on the round
The van that delivers your stock takes the returns back the same day. No separate booking, no third party, nothing left in a stockroom to turn into a dispute.
Batch-level recall
Lot numbers are captured at goods-in and follow every pick and every drop, so a recall names the exact stores, the exact units, and nothing beyond them.
Evidence, then write-off
Damage and date expiry are photographed, counted and coded against the store that sent them back before anything is written out of our stock position.
FAQ
Questions brands ask us.
Nothing. We buy your stock, so returns from the stores are ours to manage, not a service we bill you for. There is no collection charge, no handling fee and no storage charge on returned units. Our margin comes from distribution, which is exactly why we would rather get a sound unit back on the shelf than handle it twice.
As soon as you give us the batch, we block it. Stock in our racking is frozen in the system straight away, and we can list every store and practice that received units from that batch and how many each one took. Collections are then added to rounds already going to those sites, so nothing waits for a special run. You get a reconciled count of what came back and what could not be found.
Where they safely can, yes. A unit with a scuffed outer and a sound product inside is repacked and returned to the pick face; a unit with a damaged primary pack, a broken seal or an expired date code is not. Dental consumables are judged more strictly, because practices will not accept anything with a questionable seal. We report the split between resold and written off by product and by reason, not as one figure.
Next door.
Send us your range.
We will tell you honestly where it fits and how fast we can start.