Attention App Developers
I wanted to share an important experience with you all, concerning the process of handling refunds via ‘app credits’. Developers often face the situation where a merchant requests a refund for a pending app charge, so you would be familiar with Shopify’s procedure of issuing an ‘app credit’. This credit is intended to cover the cost of the charge. However, there’s a significant risk involved that you need to be aware of.
Here’s the problem: If you issue an app credit and the merchant fails to pay their invoice, and decides to close their account, you, as the developer, end up in a losing situation. Not only do you not receive any revenue, but you also lose the amount you credited. This situation leaves you at a double disadvantage.
Instead of issuing a credit, I strongly recommend that you contact Shopify Support directly and request them to manually remove the charge. You can link to this post to help explain the situation and the reasons why app credits are not an appropriate solution to pending charges. This method safeguards your interests and ensures that you’re not left out of pocket in cases where a merchant defaults on payment.
For Shopify’s reference to prove this is true, see ticket ID: 44913258