Credit on the Ledger, Not Cash in the Till: Returns, Restocking and Refunds Explained Properly

January has its own soundtrack at the yard. The vans pull in with the last of the frost still on the roof, the boot is full of half-used boxes and surplus bags, and the conversation at the counter nearly always opens the same way: now then, about these. It is the great post-festive clear-out, and it is a perfectly sensible thing to do. What isn't sensible is assuming that everything in the back of the van converts neatly into money. It doesn't, and the sooner you know why, the fewer awkward moments you'll have at the trade counter in 2026.

So here is the honest version, written the way we'd explain it if you rang us on a wet Tuesday morning.

A credit note is not a refund, and that's the whole ballgame

This is the single misunderstanding that causes the most friction, so let's clear it out first.

A credit note is a piece of paper — or increasingly a line on your account — that says the value of those goods has been knocked off what you owe us. If you run an account, that's usually the neatest outcome. The credit sits on your ledger, your next statement is smaller, and the world carries on. No cash has moved. Nothing has gone into your pocket.

A refund is money going back to the method you paid with. Card back to card, cash back to hand. That's a different transaction with different rules, different paperwork and, for trade customers on account, often a different conversation entirely.

Neither is better than the other. They're just not the same thing, and a lot of January frustration comes from expecting one and getting the other.

What usually comes back without a fuss

Standard stock in saleable condition is the easy end of the queue. Unopened boxes of screws, full packs of fixings, undamaged sheets, unopened tubs of adhesive, bagged aggregates that have stayed dry and intact. If it's something we keep on the shelf and could sell again tomorrow, you're in good shape.

Two conditions matter more than people expect. First, the packaging needs to be fit to go back on display — a bag that's been in the back of a damp van for three weeks is not the same product as one that's been in the dry. Second, it needs to be within our returns window, which is why we always say: deal with the surplus in January, not in March. The longer it sits, the harder it is to argue that it's still in saleable condition, and quite often it genuinely isn't.

What rarely comes back, and why

This is the part people find hardest, so let's be straight about the reasoning rather than just quoting a policy.

Special orders. If we ordered it in specifically for you — a particular slate, a specific lintel, a run of matching bricks, a colour we don't stock — it was never our stock to sell. It came in on your instruction. Once it's on the yard it's usually ours to sit on for months, so returning it is a conversation rather than a right. Sometimes we can help, sometimes the supplier will take it back with a charge, and sometimes the answer is honestly no.

Cut lengths. Timber cut to size, sheet material trimmed down, cable cut off a drum, anything measured and cut for your job. It can't go back on the rack as stock because it no longer is stock. This one catches out DIY customers far more than trade, and it's worth saying out loud before you ask us to run the saw.

Tinted or mixed products. Paint mixed to a colour, mortar mixed to a spec, anything that's been made up specifically. Same logic, sharper edges.

Opened bags and split packs. A bag of cement that's been opened and has taken on damp is not a product any more, it's a lump. We can't sell it and we can't pretend otherwise. If it's genuinely our fault — it was damp when it left us — say so on the day, with the paperwork, and we'll sort it properly.

Restocking charges: what they actually pay for

People hear the phrase and assume they're being fined. They're not. A restocking charge covers the real cost of putting something back into the system: checking it, moving it, sometimes re-packaging it, and the fact that a returned special order often occupies a slot on the yard that nobody else is going to fill.

They vary by product, and they don't apply to everything. The useful thing to do is ask before you commit to a return, not after. A two-minute phone call saves a lot of standing about.

The paperwork does the arguing for you

Bring the delivery note, the invoice or the receipt. If you're on account, quote your account name. Photographs help for anything that arrived damaged. None of this is bureaucracy for its own sake — a credit note needs a paper trail, and the paperwork is what turns a friendly agreement into an actual line on your statement rather than a promise nobody can find later.

Questions worth asking before you load the van

• Is this item returnable at all, and is there a window on it?
• Was it a stock item or a special order?
• Is there a restocking charge, and roughly how much?
• Will this come back as a credit note on my account or as a refund to my card?
• What condition and packaging do you need it in?
• Do I need to bring the delivery note?

Ask those six and you'll rarely be surprised.

Pallets, packaging and the bits nobody counts

Pallets, stillages and returnable crates are usually a separate arrangement from the materials themselves. If a pallet came on loan, bring it back and keep the paperwork tidy — it's a small thing that keeps the yard moving. Wrapping and cardboard are generally not something we can take back, but flattening it and sticking it in the skip rather than the van is always appreciated.

If you're on a trade account

Most regulars find the credit note route easiest. It clears against your balance, it lands on your statement, and there's no cash handling anywhere in the chain. If your account is settled and you'd rather have the money in the bank, that's a different request and it needs agreeing before the goods come back, not after. Ring first, agree the route, then load the van.

The short version

January clear-outs are a good habit. Just remember that the yard can only take back what it can sell again, that special orders and cut lengths are a different proposition from shelf stock, and that a credit note is a sensible, ordinary thing rather than a consolation prize. Bring your paperwork, ask the questions at the counter, and if you're unsure — phone us before you fill the boot. We've been doing this since 1952, and we'd rather have the conversation early than watch you unload a van for nothing.