How you refund is marketing. Handle it like marketing.
A refund handled in one gracious email creates more repeat customers than most campaigns. Approve fast, decline with the policy and an alternative, and draft either in one click.
The instant approval
For clear cases, one click drafts the approval with amount, method and timeline — the three details whose absence generates every 'where's my refund' follow-up.
The fair decline
Guided AI drafts declines that cite the specific policy line and offer an alternative — store credit, exchange, partial — so the no lands as fair, not hostile.
Middle-path offers
Half the refund requests are actually fixable problems. Drafts can lead with the fix and keep the refund as the fallback, saving the sale entirely.
Dispute-proof records
Clear written responses with amounts and dates are your evidence if a chargeback comes. Every draft is written to stand in that record.
Real examples
Clear approval
Outside policy — decline with alternative
Fix-first response
Questions
How quickly should refund requests be answered?+
Within one business day. Refund requests age worse than any other email — day two is when customers open bank disputes and write reviews.
Should I ask why they want a refund?+
One optional, low-pressure question after resolving — never as a gate before it. Conditioning the refund on an interrogation converts a neutral exit into a hostile one.
How do I decline without triggering a chargeback?+
Cite the specific policy term, show it was available at purchase, and offer an alternative. Chargebacks are filed against stonewalls, rarely against documented fairness with options.
Is offering store credit instead of cash acceptable?+
As an offered alternative, yes; as a forced substitute for a valid cash refund, it breeds disputes. Frame it as the better deal — bonus credit on top — and many choose it freely.
What must a refund approval email contain?+
Amount, destination method, timeline, and a reference ID. Those four lines eliminate the follow-up email that otherwise arrives on day four.