Booking Return Flow

This article explains how to send goods back to their pickup location by failing a stop with a Return outcome.

INFO

A return is one of the outcomes you choose when you fail a stop. Read Failing a Stop first for the full flow, the failure reasons, and the other outcomes. This article covers the return-specific details.

What a Return Is

A return sends goods back to where they were picked up when a delivery can't be completed, for example when a recipient is unavailable or an age verification fails and the parcel must go back to the depot.

You don't reopen the failed drop-off to do this. Because a failed stop is final, choosing a Return outcome adds a new return stop to the booking. The return stop uses the original pickup's address as its destination, so the goods travel back the way they came. This keeps a clear record of both the failed delivery and the return on the same booking.

INFO

The return stop uses a dedicated Return stop type, which has to be enabled for the relevant service. If Return outcomes aren't available when you fail a stop, this is usually why. Contact our support team to have it enabled.

When to Use a Return

Choose a return when the goods can't be delivered and need to go back to the pickup location rather than being attempted again. Typical cases:

• A required check, such as an age or delivery code verification, could not be passed.
• The recipient is unavailable or refuses the delivery, and your process is to send the goods back.
• The address is wrong and the parcel has to be returned to the depot.

If instead you want to try the same delivery again, choose a Reattempt outcome rather than a return. See Failing a Stop for the full list of outcomes.

Return Now vs. Return Later

There are two return outcomes. Both add the return stop to the booking; they differ in when the return is dispatched to a driver.

Outcome	What it does	When to use it
Return now	Adds the return stop and dispatches it to the end of the current tour, so the same driver carries the goods back on the same trip.	The driver should bring the goods back immediately, without a break in the tour.
Return later	Adds the return stop to the booking but doesn't dispatch it. You dispatch it to a tour yourself when you're ready.	The return should happen on a different tour, driver, or day.

TIP

Return later is the flexible option: it keeps the booking active so you can plan the return separately. Return now is a one-click shortcut for when the return should happen straight away on the same tour.

What's Copied to the Return Stop

Because a return changes the direction of the delivery, the return stop only keeps the details that still make sense for sending goods back:

• Kept: the contact details and metadata from the original stop.
• Not kept: the custom content, text notes, and photos.

This is different from a reattempt stop, which is a full copy of the failed stop because it's a fresh attempt at the same delivery. See Failing a Stop for how reattempts work.

Requirements for a Return

MotionTools only offers a return outcome when it can actually be carried out. When you fail a stop, an outcome that isn't available is shown as disabled with the reason why. A return needs all of the following:

• The Return stop type is enabled for the booking service (and, for Return now, the tour service too).
• The booking is a simple pickup followed by a drop-off (exactly two stops, in that order).
• The booking hasn't reached the maximum number of stops allowed by its service.

Return now has two extra requirements, because the goods go back on the current tour:

• The tour is still active.
• The pickup was completed on the same tour as the stop you're failing.

INFO

If Return now is unavailable but the return should still happen, use Return later and dispatch the return stop to a suitable tour yourself.

What Happens After You Choose a Return

• The failed drop-off stays failed on the booking, and the new return stop is added after it, so the booking's history shows every attempt.
• While the return stop is still open, the booking stays Partially Dispatched. It completes once the return stop (and any other stop) reaches a final state.
• If you subscribe to webhooks, a booking.return_started event is sent when the return stop is dispatched into a tour.

If the Return Stop Itself Fails

A return stop can be failed like any other stop, using the same flow. The difference is that you can't return a return: sending goods back a second time isn't offered. When a return stop fails, your options are:

• Reattempt now or Reattempt later to try the return again, or
• Skip recovery to leave the return failed with no follow-up.