Troubleshooting failed or pending refunds

A refund might fail when the payment can't be returned to the original transaction.

Review the following possible causes:

• The refund amount is more than the original transaction amount.
• The transaction is outside the refund timeframe supported by Shopify Payments or the payment provider.
• The order has an open chargeback or dispute.
• The customer's payment method or bank account can't receive the refund.
• The payment provider returned an error during the refund attempt.

If the refund fails with an error message, then review the order timeline for more details. If the error indicates an issue with the customer's payment method, then ask the customer to contact their bank or payment provider before you try the refund again.

Shopify Payments refunds can have a Pending status during processing. The refund status is marked as Pending for up to 2 business days. It might take up to 10 business days for the customer to receive the funds, depending on their bank.

If the refund remains pending longer than expected, then review the order timeline and your Shopify Payments balance. If your Shopify Payments balance has exceeded your negative balance threshold, then refunds can remain pending until the negative balance is cleared. Learn more about managing refunds with a negative balance.

After a refund is processed, the customer's bank controls when the funds are available on the customer's statement. It might take up to 10 business days for the customer to receive the funds.

If the customer hasn't received a processed refund after the expected bank processing timeframe, then check whether an Acquirer Reference Number (ARN) is available in the order timeline under the refund details. ARNs are assigned to Shopify Payments refunds for Visa or Mastercard transactions. You can give the ARN to the customer so that they can ask their bank or card provider to trace the refund. Learn more about tracking refunds with ARNs.

Refunds are issued to the original payment method used for the order. If an order was paid using more than one payment method, such as a card and a gift card, then the refund might be split across the original payment methods.

If a refund was processed through an external system, such as accounting software, an order-management integration, or a bank transfer, then the refund might not use the same routing options that are available in Shopify admin. To control how a refund is recorded and processed, issue the refund from the order in your Shopify admin whenever possible.

If you refund a customer outside Shopify, such as by bank transfer or through a third-party system, then the refund isn't automatically recorded in your Shopify admin. The order can continue to have a paid status until you record the refund.

1. From your Shopify admin, go to Orders.
2. Open the order that was refunded outside Shopify.
3. Click Refund.
4. Enter the amount that you refunded outside Shopify.
5. In the refund reason, add a note that the refund was processed outside Shopify.
6. If available, deselect the option to process the payment refund so that you record the refund without processing it again.

In rare cases, a customer's bank can reject an incoming refund. This can happen when the original card is closed, the account is frozen, or the bank can't route the refund to the customer.

If the customer's bank rejects the refund, then ask the customer to contact their bank or card provider. You can provide the ARN, when one is available, to help the customer's bank trace the transaction.

If the refund can't be completed to the original payment method, then you can resolve the customer outside the original payment method, such as by issuing store credit, creating a gift card, or arranging another manual payment method. Record any external resolution in the order timeline for your records.