Mistakes happen—sometimes customers order the wrong product, or the wrong product is shipped to them. Depending on whether the product has already been sent and whether a subscription has started, there are different ways to resolve the issue using the circuly Operations Backend.

Introduction

Wrong product situations can occur either due to customer error or operational mishandling. circuly offers several workflows to correct these errors depending on the order and subscription status. This article outlines the different cases and the recommended actions.

• Case 1: the product has already been sent. 
• Case 2: the product has not been sent yet. 

Here’s what you can do about it:

Case 1: Product Has Already Been Sent

Scenario 1.1: Subscription Has Already Started

Subscription Status: Active

• In this scenario, initiate a product swap to replace the incorrect item.
• A new order will be created, and the current subscription’s status will be set to Pending Replacement to trigger the return process for the incorrect item.
• This keeps the subscription active while you manage the return and replacement.

Do not manually cancel the order or set the subscription to "pending return" before swapping, as swap/replacement is only available for active subscriptions.

Scenario 1.2: Subscription Has Not Yet Started

• In this case, you should still recover the incorrect product.
• Since swaps are only possible for active subscriptions, the first step is to start the subscription.
• Then, initiate the swap process, which will create a new order and set the original subscription to Pending Return.

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Case 2: Product Has Not Been Sent

If the product has not yet left your warehouse, here’s what to do:

• Stop the shipment immediately using your shipping partner's tool.
• Determine the issue:
  • Was it the wrong product (SKU mismatch)?
  • Or the wrong variant (serial number issue)?

Once identified, you can either:

Option 1: Edit the Order Item

Use this if the wrong product, SKU, duration, price, or frequency needs to be corrected.

To enable this option, go to: Settings > Orders > ORDER and toggle on Allow order item editing.

Option 2: Replace the Serial Number

Use this if the product is correct but the wrong serial number was assigned.

• Start the subscription first.
• During the subscription creation, enter the correct serial number for the product that will be shipped.