Credit card refunds can take 5-10 business days before your customer sees them in their bank account, which can be frustrating. Sometimes it may even take longer.
If customers reach out and ask for more information, or is skeptical that you actually refunded them, there are a few things you can do.
Confirm that the initial transaction was completed successfully
If the order was canceled within the the following 24 hour window after it was placed (5pm to 5pm PDT or 4pm to 4pm PST) the charge will simply reverse and drop off the customer's credit card statement. It's possible that your customer is looking for a refund in their account, and may not notice that the initial charge isn't there.
Obtain and share a refund reference number with them
The Offset team can help obtain this number for you from Stripe, which you can share with your customer.
From Stripe's help center:
"If a customer is asking about a refund, it can be helpful to give them the primary reference number corresponding to the refund. For card refunds, it can be an Acquirer Reference Number (ARN), System Trace Audit Number (STAN), or Retrieval Reference Number (RRN). An ARN, STAN, or RRN is a reference number assigned to a card transaction as it moves through the payment flow. For local payment method refunds, it can be a reference number generated by Stripe or our financial partners which is propagated to the beneficiary banks or institutions. Your customer can then take this reference to their bank, which can provide more information about when the refund is available. Having a reference number can also increase your customer’s confidence that the refund has been initiated."
Note that in the case of an ARN number, it may take up to 7 business days after initiating the refund for Stripe to receive the ARN from downstream banking partners.
And in reference to the first section of this article, an ARN isn’t available in the case of a reversal, since the original charge isn’t processed.