Careback – EU Withdrawal (Widerruf), Returns, Warranty & RMA for WooCommerce

Careback is for WooCommerce shops that sell to consumers in the European Union. After a sale, a customer may want to withdraw from the contract, send something back, or tell you that an item is faulty. Careback gives the customer one form for all of it. It gives you one list of requests instead of a full mailbox.

The plugin records, checks and documents each request. It decides nothing on its own. A person in your shop accepts a request, sends the return instructions and refunds in WooCommerce, as before.

What it does

• Statutory withdrawal (Widerruf). EU law asks online shops for a withdrawal function. Careback adds one: a link labelled “Withdraw from contract here” and a button labelled “Confirm withdrawal”. In German they read “Vertrag widerrufen” and “Widerruf bestätigen”. You can change both texts. The window is 14 days by default and can be made longer. It counts from delivery: you choose the order status that means delivered, plus an optional buffer of days.
• Voluntary returns. Your own return offer, on your own terms: its own window (30 days by default), its own reasons, an optional consent to your return rules and a link to your returns policy page. You choose who pays for sending items back.
• Fault reports. Reasons such as a damaged or wrong item are marked as your fault, and you can mark others. A request with such a reason is flagged in the list, and the customer’s email says that you will look into it.
• A form in three steps. The customer finds the order with its number and email address, chooses the items and quantities, then checks everything before sending. No order data is shown until the number and the email address match.
• One list of requests. Every request with its status, its items, the customer’s comment and its history. Each request shows whether it came in inside the withdrawal window. Statuses run from “Received” to “Refunded”, “Not accepted” or “Cancelled”. You can also record a withdrawal that reached you by email or post. The order gets a note when a request is filed and at every status change.
• Order-tracking page. The customer enters the order number and email address and sees where the order is. When you add a parcel’s tracking number to the order, the page links to the delivery service’s own tracking page.
• The official EU texts, with their versions. The model withdrawal form (Annex I(B) of Directive 2011/83/EU), filled in with your shop’s details, and the official notice on the legal guarantee (Implementing Regulation (EU) 2025/1960). Each is a shortcode. Settings and Setup name the version of each text and link to EUR-Lex, so you can check for later changes.
• Emails through WooCommerce. The customer gets a receipt with what was sent, when it arrived and a receipt code. Your team gets each new request with the order number and a link. Status emails to the customer can be switched on for each status; they are off by default. You find all of them under WooCommerce → Settings → Emails.
• Privacy tools. Careback takes part in WordPress’s personal-data export and erasure and suggests a text for your privacy policy. A daily job removes personal fields from old requests.
• Languages. English, German (four variants: standard, formal and two regional) and Ukrainian come with the plugin. Every text a customer sees, in the form and in the emails, can be changed in Settings, in any language.
• Bot protection without outside services. A signed time token, a hidden honeypot field, rate limits and a temporary block for a source that keeps failing. Careback contacts no outside service.
• Setup in four steps. WooCommerce → Careback → Setup shows what is done and what is left, with the shortcodes to copy and a preview.

What it does not do

• It does not decide. No request is accepted, rejected or closed automatically, not even after a deadline. Deadlines can be extended by law, so the plugin marks a late request and leaves the decision to you.
• It does not refund. You refund in WooCommerce, as usual.
• It does not create return labels or contact a delivery service.
• It does not give legal advice. It gives you tools and the official texts. Your shop remains responsible for its legal information, its periods and its decisions.

Who it is for

WooCommerce shops that sell to consumers in the EU and want withdrawals, returns and fault reports in one place, with a record of each. A shop whose customers have no statutory right of withdrawal can switch it off and use the voluntary return alone.

For developers

Actions and filters carry the prefix careback_, for example careback_request_created and careback_status_changed.

An optional add-on, Careback Pro, exists. Careback works on its own.

External services

Careback contacts no outside service. The site makes no request to one and sends no data to one.

Delivery services’ tracking pages (links). When you enter a parcel’s tracking number on an order (Order → Parcel tracking) and pick its delivery service, Careback’s tracking page shows the customer a link to that service’s own tracking page. The link carries the tracking number and, for DPD and GLS, the delivery postcode of the order, because those services ask for it. The customer’s browser opens the link only when the customer clicks it; until then nothing is sent to the delivery service, and the site never sends anything to it. What the delivery service does with the visit is governed by its own terms and privacy policy:

• DHL and DHL International (dhl.de, nolp.dhl.de; DHL Group): terms, privacy policy
• DPD (my.dpd.de; DPD Deutschland GmbH): terms, privacy policy
• FedEx (fedex.com): terms of use, privacy notice
• GLS (gls-group.eu): disclaimer, privacy policy
• Hermes (myhermes.de; Hermes Germany GmbH): terms, privacy policy
• UPS (ups.com): website terms of use, privacy notice
• Deutsche Post (deutschepost.de): legal notice, privacy policy
• Österreichische Post (post.at): terms, privacy policy
• Swiss Post (post.ch): terms of use, privacy policy

No service is ticked on install: the tracking page links only to the services you tick under Tracking, and to an address you type there yourself for another service (its terms are that service’s).

Reference links in the admin. Settings and the Setup tab link to EUR-Lex (eur-lex.europa.eu), where you can check the official texts for later changes; nothing goes there unless you follow the link.

Official texts and their versions

While statutory withdrawal is on, Careback can show two official texts of the European Union. Settings and the Setup tab name the version beside each, with a link to check EUR-Lex for later changes.

• Model withdrawal form, shortcode [careback_withdrawal_form]: Annex I(B) of Directive 2011/83/EU, consolidated version of 27 September 2026. The official wording, with your shop’s name, address and email from the WooCommerce settings. Source: https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/HTML/?uri=CELEX:02011L0083-20260927
• Legal guarantee notice, shortcode [careback_legal_guarantee]: Official notice from Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2025/1960 of 25 September 2025 (OJ L, 2.10.2025), applies from 27 September 2026. The official picture, only scaled for the web; German on sites in German, English on all others. Source: https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/HTML/?uri=CELEX:32025R1960

Both texts: © European Union, https://eur-lex.europa.eu/

You decide which legal information your store shows.