Claim Lineage
When Corso creates an exchange order in Shopify, that order is discounted to $0 so it does not inflate your sales. That works until the customer comes back to return or exchange something from that exchange order. The order itself says the item is worth nothing. Claim lineage fixes that by tracing every item on an exchange order back through the chain of exchanges to the order the customer actually paid for, and using that value everywhere a claim needs one.
You turn claim lineage on with the Claim Lineage toggle in Settings > Returns > Exchanges. See How to Turn On Claim Lineage.
Overview
Section titled “Overview”An exchange of an exchange is any return, store credit or exchange request on an order Corso created to fulfill an earlier exchange. Without claim lineage, Corso treats those orders with a fixed set of rules: refunds are never offered, exchanges only if Allow Exchange of Exchange is on, and store credit only if Offer Credit for Exchange of Exchange is also on.
With claim lineage on, Corso knows what each item on the exchange order is worth, so the special rules are no longer needed:
- The exchange order follows the same returns rules as any other order: your refund, store credit and exchange windows, and every eligibility automation you have built. Windows still count from the original order’s start date.
- Each item is valued at what the customer paid for it on the originating order, including its share of tax. If the customer returns part of a line, the value is prorated.
- A refund is issued against the originating order, since that is where the payment is.
- The claim page in Corso shows the whole chain, so your team can see where the money came from.
What You Can Expect
Section titled “What You Can Expect”Customer Experience
Section titled “Customer Experience”- Order lookup shows the price the customer originally paid for each item on the exchange order, not $0.
- Resolutions follow your ordinary rules. A customer can be offered a refund, store credit or another exchange on an exchange order, exactly as they would be on the order they paid for.
- Shop Now and exchanges balance against the traced value. If a customer exchanges a $55 item for a $69 one, they pay the $14 difference, not the full $69.
- The return summary and claim overview show the credit amount as money. The only time a customer sees an “amount pending” message is when an item could not be traced, which is rare and is explained below.
Admin Experience
Section titled “Admin Experience”- Claim page alerts. A claim on an exchange order shows an Originating Order Refund or Originating Order Gift Card alert at the top, naming the order the money comes from, with a View claim lineage link. The alert only appears when a refund or gift card will actually be issued. If a Shop Now basket absorbs the credit, there is nothing to warn about and no alert.
- Claim lineage card. The ledger column has a Claim lineage card. It opens an Order history view: the originating order, then each claim and the exchange order it created, down to the current claim. Each claim shows its card payment, any refunds and gift cards issued, and whether it was a Shop Now claim. Orders resolved outside Corso are marked as such.
- Timeline. When a claim is created, each line is set to its traced value and the timeline records Updated item to amount paid on original order, with the original order, the new amount and the previous amount. If an item could not be traced, the timeline records Could not update item to the original amount paid and the reason.
- Refund and gift card amounts. When you change a line to Refund or Gift Card, the amount field starts at the traced value. Approving more than that shows the usual Approving More Than Original Value warning.
- Finalization. A refund is issued against the originating order and the timeline records Refund issued against original order #. Gift cards and exchange orders work as they always have.
- Ledger and reporting. Credits in the ledger are the traced values, so retained and new revenue on a claim reflect what the customer paid.
Settings That No Longer Apply
Section titled “Settings That No Longer Apply”Claim lineage replaces two Returns settings:
| Setting | Without claim lineage | With claim lineage |
|---|---|---|
| Allow Exchange of Exchange | Must be on for an exchange order to offer an exchange. | Not used. Exchange orders follow your ordinary rules. |
| Offer Credit for Exchange of Exchange | Must also be on for an exchange order to offer store credit. | Not used. Store credit is offered by your ordinary rules, at full value. |
While Claim Lineage is on, both settings are hidden in Settings > Returns > Exchanges. Turn it off and they come back with the values they had.
When an Item Cannot Be Traced
Section titled “When an Item Cannot Be Traced”Corso traces an item by matching it to the exchange that produced it. In rare cases there is no single match, for example when two different items on the original order were exchanged into the same variant on the same exchange order. When that happens:
- The customer sees $0 for that item and an amount pending message. They can still choose between a refund and store credit. The default copy is Refund Amount Pending and The amount shown is an estimate, and will be confirmed after reviewing your return. You can change both under Settings > Theme > Gift Card Or Refund Selection (Unconfirmed Amount Title and Unconfirmed Amount Description).
- The claim is created at $0 for that line, and the timeline explains why.
- Your team sets the amount by hand on the claim page before finalizing, using the lineage view to find what was paid.
How to Turn On Claim Lineage
Section titled “How to Turn On Claim Lineage”- Review your Returns settings. Once claim lineage is on, exchange orders follow your refund, store credit and exchange windows and your eligibility automations, so make sure those say what you want for a second-round return.
- Go to Settings > Returns. In the Exchanges section, with Exchanges Offered on, turn on Claim Lineage and save.
- Optionally, set the Unconfirmed Amount Title and Unconfirmed Amount Description under Settings > Theme for the rare untraced case. These fields only show while claim lineage is on.
Q: A customer was offered a refund on an exchange order. Is that right?
Yes. With claim lineage, an exchange order follows your ordinary rules. If you do not want refunds on exchange orders, use a Return or Warranty Eligibility automation with a condition on the CORSO-EXCHANGE-ORDER tag, which Corso adds to every exchange order it creates.
Q: Where does the refund money come from?
From the originating order, the one the customer paid for. The exchange order has no payment to refund. If that order has already been refunded in full, the refund fails the same way any refund would, and the error shows on the claim.
Q: Does this change how exchange orders are created in Shopify?
No. Exchange orders are still created at $0 with your exchange discount code. See Understanding Exchange Money Flow.
Q: Does it work across more than one exchange?
Yes. Corso follows the chain as far back as it goes, so an exchange of an exchange of an exchange is still valued from the order that was paid for.
Q: How does Claim Lineage impact exchange eligibility windows? Eligibility is determined by the originating order, not the exchange orders. A customer can only exchange within the window of the originating order.
Q: Can I see the lineage from the MCP Server?
Yes. Ask the MCP Server for a claim’s lineage and it returns the same chain the claim page shows, along with whether claim lineage is on for your store. If an item could not be traced, or the originating order does not have enough left to cover the refund, it says so and what you can do about it. When you ask about your settings, it tells you whether Claim Lineage is on and whether the two exchange-of-exchange toggles apply to you.