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How to Process Refunds with Square

In this post we’re sharing some of the common questions around processing refunds with Square. You can issue a refund for an in-person transaction from the Square app, Square Register, Square Stand, Square Terminal or from your online Square Dashboard. You can issue a refund for Square Online transactions from your Square Online Overview page

 

Learn more about how refunds work.

 

If you have any questions about refunds please reply below.

 

 

How do I process a refund from the Square app?

Here are the steps to issue a refund from the Square Point of Sale app:

  1. Navigate to Transactions in the Square app.
  2. Select the payment you’d like to refund > tap Issue Refund.
  3. Tap Select All Items to refund the entire sale, select the specific items you’d like to refund, or tap Amount to refund a specific dollar amount.
  4. Tap Next.
  5. Select items to restock and choose a reason, or tap Skip Restock.
  6. Tap Refund.

You can also process full, itemized or partial refunds from your online Square Dashboard.

 

How do I refund a Square Online payment?

For payments made through your Square Online site you can refund the payment and cancel the order, or you can refund the payment without canceling the order. Visit Square Support for step-by-step instructions to cancel and refund Square Online payments.

 

Can I issue a refund to a Square Gift Card?

Yes. You can process a refund to a plastic Square Gift Card with the card or with the 16-digit gift card card number. Here are the steps to issue a refund to a Square Gift Card. You can also issue a refund to a Square eGift Card using the full 16-digit eGift Card number.

 

Is there a fee to refund a payment?

There is no fee to refund a payment. The full amount of the payment is refunded to the customer.

 

How long does a refund take to be processed? 

In total it can take 9–14 working days for your customer to receive their refund. Learn more about refund timelines in this Square Support article.

 

Will my customer be notified when the refund has been initiated? 

If your customer paid by card and entered their email address or phone number to receive a digital receipt they will receive a notification when the refund is initiated. However, if your customer paid by cash or other tender they will not automatically receive a notification. 

 

Once you have refunded the payment you can send your customer an updated copy of their receipt. To resend a receipt: go to the Transactions section of your Square app or from your online Square Dashboard > select the transaction > select Issue Receipt.

 

Will I be notified when the refund has been completed?

When a refund to a card payment is initiated you will receive two email notifications - one when the refund is requested and another when the refund has been completed. 

 

You will not receive email notifications for cash or Other Tender refunds (e.g. check), as these types of refund are completed immediately.

 

When I try to refund a payment I see ‘Refund Error: Transaction can’t be refunded after 120 days from the original sale’

Refunds processed through Square on a mobile device must be requested and completed within 120 days of the original transaction. Payments refunded via your online Square Dashboard can be refunded within one year of the original transaction date.

 

Payments processed through your Square Online site are only eligible to refund within 120 days.

 

Do I need my customer's card to process a refund? 

You can process a refund from the app or from your online Square Dashboard without your customer’s card. The funds will be returned to their payment card.

 

My customer hasn’t received their refund yet, what should I do? 

Refunds can take up to 14 business days to be completed. Your customer should contact their bank or card issuer directly if they haven’t received their refund. If your customer has already reached out to their issuer please contact our Customer Success team directly.

 

How do I include my refund policy on my Square receipts?

You can customize your refund and return policy from the Receipt settings of your online Square Dashboard. Your policy will appear on email, text, and printed receipts. If a return policy is absent, it’s assumed there’s no policy. Be sure to clearly state if you don’t offer refunds or warranties.

 

For Square Online, you can include information about return policies in the Store policies section of your checkout page. Head to our Support Center to learn how to manage checkout options.

️ Helen
Seller Community Manager

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We also use the refund function to give our customers back the deposit that they pay for our jars.  For instance, our drinks are $6 plus a $0.50 deposit for the jar.  If the customer then orders online, they do not have the option to give themselves the $0.50 credit, but when they come in to pick up their order we are able to refund it for them.  (We would allow the customer to give themselves credit, but with everyone so busy, if they were to then forget the jar, we would lose out.)

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I would like to suggest the ability to scan the items barcode to locate it faster during the return process. Sometime I have people who purchase 50 to 100 items and come back to return 4 or 5 items. I have to search thru each transaction for that specific item. If we could just scan the items barcode, it would make my life easier.

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Admin

Thanks @All4Kids! I see how that would be helpful. In the meantime you can search for transactions by card, phone, your customer's name (if you have added their information to your Customer Directory) or by the receipt number. Using the receipt number might be helpful in your case, I hope!

️ Helen
Seller Community Manager

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It is not the transaction that is the issue. It is the individual items that are hard to find on a long reciept/transaction.

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While I understand I can still use the refund option, I would like to suggest or request an option for a mere exchange. With the refund function, I'm required to find the original transaction to process the return, then go in and charge them anew for the preferred item.

But especially now during the holiday season, and other times because of the nature of our merchandise, I have a customer who comes in to exchange an item that was gifted to them. In the event that the customer finds something else that they favor, the refund becomes harder to process because we often don't have the receipt or card used for the original purchase. So I have to find a transaction that was larger than that item to credit them the amount of the original item, Just reading this comment back is confusing, imagine trying to act on it. 

Another customer request we got a lot this year was a GIFT RECEIPT. Since we can't print from our square stand I understand this may also be difficult, but I think that should be a like modifier for an item, a simple box to check if we need it at checkout. Even if we can email or text it to the buyer, they should have the option to forward that gift receipt to their recipient. 

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I would like to suggest the ability to scan the items barcode to locate it faster during the return process. Sometime I have people who purchase 50 to 100 items and come back to return 4 or 5 items. I have to search thru each transaction for that specific item. If we could just scan the items barcode, it would make my life easier. Would you please any further detail check our RodsBuzz company profile as well.

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Beta Member

Awesome instructions

Darlene C Kenton
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