Why can't I issue refunds on my online store?

[Km_ritchie]

Hi there,

My Shopify has not been able to issue Refunds for the last 2 days ( 2 different customers). Is there an issue with this at the moment??

[Maz]

Hey @Km_ritchie!

Thanks for reaching out about this.

We currently do not have any reports of merchants having a problem issuing refunds. For any reports such as this, you can bookmark our status page here. 

Just to confirm, this is an issue with refunds on Shopify Payments, correct? Can you provide some additional context for me?

1. Are you able to refund the customer, however they haven't received it in their bank yet?

2. Are you trying to issue a refund but getting an error message? Screenshots welcome!

3. Have you tried using a different browser and clearing your cache and replicating the issue again?

4. Are you using a desktop, mobile, or the Shopify App?

Aside from the refund issue, I'd also be interested to hear more about your business, what you are selling, and what your sales goals are for this year. Also, how do you plan to achieve your sales goals? If there are any resources I can share with you to help, I would be more than happy to assist!

[Yuying]

I have the same issue. The timeline said 'unable to refund'. But I didn't notice it at first and I canceled the orders. Now the customers said that they didn't receive the refund. What should I do now?

[Maz]

Hey, @Yuying!

Thanks for joining this thread!

Are you able to expand the information on 'unable to refund' on your timeline and send a screenshot here, usually more information is provided there?

How many customers have been affected?

Are you using a third party payment gateway?

How long ago was this refund processed? As mentioned here in this guide, if you're using Shopify Payments it can take up to 10 business days for your customer to receive the refunded amount.

Hoping to hear back from you soon!

[Yuying]

2 customers affected. I use shopify payment gateway and still they didn't receive the funds after 10 days

[Maz]

Hey, @Yuying!

Thanks for your response and for letting me know they are yet to receive a refund.

Were you able to expand the 'unable to refund' on your timeline, what did it say?

Alternatively, depending on the time between the payment and refund, and the type of card used, there may be tracing information available, called an ARN (acquirer reference number). This number can be used by issuing banks to trace a transaction with the acquirer. If your customers claim they have not received their refund, you can provide the ARN to the customers, and the customers should take that to their issuing bank for them to investigate. To retrieve this for your customer, follow my steps below;

1. Navigate to the order the refund was processed on and scroll down to the timeline. The ARN will be visible under the line with the refund details, as shown in the screenshot below:
   

   

   
   
2. Provide the ARN to your customer, who should then bring the number to their bank. The ARN can help a customer's credit card company track down the funds from a refund.

Let me know if you have any questions about that.