Why are my refund transactions pending instead of processing immediately?

[buywithfin]

Hi,

Recently I noticed that refund transactions for orders paid through Shopify Payments aren't completed immediately.  Instead, they remain in a "pending" status for a couple of days before being completed.  This hasn't ever been the case for our store in the past as Shopify Payments refunds have always been processed immediately with a "success" status.

Is this something new? Do customers receive a refund notification email when we initiate the refund or does it not get sent until the refund is processed by Shopify Payments (ie when it moves from a status of "pending" to  a status of "success") ?

Thanks!

[debita5599]

I noticed the same thing -- did 2 refunds yesterday and they show as pending. In the past, they have always shown as completed as soon as I ran them. Came here to see if it was just me.

[debita5599]

Just did a "chat" and was told refunds will post as completed in 48 hours now.

[Amie_amie]

I just noticed my refunds pending too -- which is causing my customers to receive a weird message on from an app where they can get a partial refund for sharing their purchase on Facebook.

So this is a new thing and Shopify didn't let anyone know???

[Birch_and_Wilde]

I have just noticed this too. Is that definitely the case with the 48 hours? Have yours now completed? It would be helpful if the refund email could go out to the customer at the time of refund being processed. We are having to email separately to confirm which if it was more than just a  few here and there would be very time consuming. Thanks for posting in here - was glad to be able to find an answer this way.  

[Amie_amie]

I chatted with Shopify last night. At first the rep acted like this was always the case like she wasn't familiar with Shopify but was simply looking up answers somewhere. When I said "so this is new", she replied "with regards to the Shopify Payment refund process we've added the "pending" status to better reflect the checks our system makes to ensure the refund is genuine. Processing is typically completed within 24-48 hours." The returns I did yesterday have not completed yet. They still show as pending. I'm not real happy with this change.

[Birch_and_Wilde]

Thanks Amie. Mine hasn't yet processed but it is still only 24 hours. It sounds like a systemic change but that they haven't thought to let any of us know. I don't mind the delay so much, but wish the email to the customer could be sent immediately when I process the refund. 

[buywithfin]

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@Birch_and_Wilde wrote:

I have just noticed this too. Is that definitely the case with the 48 hours? Have yours now completed? It would be helpful if the refund email could go out to the customer at the time of refund being processed. We are having to email separately to confirm which if it was more than just a  few here and there would be very time consuming. Thanks for posting in here - was glad to be able to find an answer this way.  

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I haven't noticed any that have taken longer than 48 hours.  Mine seem to all be processed just after the 24 hour mark passes.

[Birch_and_Wilde]

Thanks - still waiting here but it's not quite 24 hours yet so will keep checking. Don't really mind a delay - it's just that the email to the customer needs to go out straight away, not be delayed by up to 48 hours. That just feels like poor customer care 

[Pat_Troy1]

Support told me maybe i should "not worry about the refunds pending but get to the root cause of why there were refunds in the first place!!!!! FFS. you changed your app and expected us not to notice