A returns and refunds policy for your shop, and how to refund an order in WooCommerce

Without a written policy every return is an argument. With one, it is a procedure. This article says what the policy must answer and then shows how to do a refund in WooCommerce, which are two different things: the first is the rule the customer reads; the second is what you do in the dashboard.

What the policy has to say

The customer's question What the policy answers
Can I return it? When yes and when no (made-to-measure goods, perishables, downloads).
Within how long? The period you give, counted from when. Check the minimum your country's law requires before you write it.
In what condition? With the label, in its packaging, unused. Be concrete.
Who pays the postage? Say it; it is the reason for half the arguments.
How do I get my money? By the same method, as a voucher or as an exchange. And how long it takes after the item arrives.
Who do I write to? One contact, and what to send (order number, a photograph).
Consumer law varies from country to country. The return and warranty rights a customer has do not depend on what you write, and your text can never be worse than the law. Have the final text checked by a lawyer or your accountant. This article is not legal advice.

Refunding in WooCommerce

1 Open the order in WooCommerce, Orders, and click it. The refund is done on the order itself, never by deleting it.
2 Press “Refund”. Columns appear for the quantity of each item and for the amount. Type the quantities to return, or just the amount for a partial refund, and add the reason.
3 Tick whether to restock. If the item went back on the shelf, there is a box to return it to stock. If it was damaged, leave it unticked. See stock and alerts.
4 Choose how the money goes back. There are two buttons: refund automatically through the payment method (it only shows if its plugin supports it) or refund manually, where you return the money outside the shop and WooCommerce records that you did. Each operator's plugin explains what it covers; see connecting a payment method.
5 Check the status and the e-mail. A full refund moves the order to “refunded” and the customer gets an e-mail (order statuses).
Keep the refund as a document. The refund in the dashboard is not a credit note. If you need one, your accountant will tell you the format: see invoices for your shop customers.

The policy lives on a page of the shop and is linked in the footer and at checkout: see the legal pages of a shop.

Need help with a refund that does not show, or an e-mail that did not go out? Tell us the order number (no card details) and we will see what the server did.

Open a support ticket

SEE ALSO

The legal pages an online shop needs

Order statuses explained

Selling online: PCI, card data and what shared hosting is not

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