SOP: Handling a Customer Refund Request

Team: Customer Support Owner: Support Lead Applies to: Email and chat tickets tagged "refund" Last reviewed: 22 October 2026

Purpose

This SOP explains how a support agent handles a refund request from first reply to closed ticket. The aim is a fair, consistent answer within one working day, with a clear record of what was decided and why.

Scope

Covers refunds for one-time purchases and subscription renewals paid by card or PayPal. It does not cover chargebacks or disputes raised with the bank. Those go straight to the Finance queue.

Before you start

You have access to the help desk, the billing dashboard and the refund policy page.
You know the current policy: full refund within 14 days of purchase, prorated refund for annual plans cancelled within 30 days, no refund after that unless a manager approves.

Procedure

Step 1. Acknowledge within 2 hours

Reply to the customer during working hours with a short message: you have the request, you are checking the order, and they will hear back the same day. Do not promise a refund yet.

Step 2. Find the order

Search the billing dashboard by the customer's email. Confirm:

Order ID and purchase date
Product or plan
Amount and payment method
Any earlier refunds on the same account

If you cannot find the order, ask the customer for the receipt email or the last four digits of the card. Pause the ticket as "Waiting on customer".

Step 3. Check eligibility

Situation	Decision
Within 14 days of purchase	Approve full refund
Annual plan, within 30 days	Approve prorated refund
Duplicate charge	Approve full refund of the duplicate
Outside policy, first request	Escalate to Support Lead
Account already refunded once in 12 months	Escalate to Support Lead

Step 4. Issue the refund

In the billing dashboard, open the order and choose Refund. Enter the amount, pick the reason code that matches the table above, and add an internal note with the ticket number. Cancel the subscription if the customer asked to stop renewal.

Step 5. Confirm to the customer

Send the confirmation template. It must include the amount, the payment method it is going back to, and the expected time: 5 to 10 working days for cards, 1 to 3 days for PayPal.

Step 6. Close and tag

Tag the ticket with the reason (for example "refund-duplicate" or "refund-not-needed") and close it. Tags feed the monthly refund report, so pick the most specific one.

Escalation

Escalate in the help desk by assigning to the Support Lead with a two-line summary: what the customer wants and why it falls outside policy. The Support Lead replies within one working day. Agents never refuse an out-of-policy request on their own.

Quality checks

Each week the Support Lead reviews five random refund tickets for:

First reply within 2 hours
Correct decision per the eligibility table
Internal note present in billing
Correct tag on close

Refund policy page
Confirmation and escalation reply templates
Chargeback SOP (Finance)