Refund & billing dispute SOP template

Refunds are where support mistakes cost real money in both directions: refund too freely and margin leaks; refund too slowly and a $49 dispute becomes a chargeback, a bad review, and a churn. This template gives the decision a spine — verify first, decide by policy, execute idempotently, reply with specifics.

It’s also the single best SOP to write if an AI drafts your replies: the clearer this procedure, the better every grounded answer becomes.

Verify before touching anything

Confirm the charge

Open the customer’s billing record and locate the disputed charge. Compare amounts, invoice IDs, and timestamps against what the customer describes. Common realities behind “you charged me twice”: a bank’s pending authorization alongside the settled charge, a renewal the customer forgot, or a genuine duplicate from a payment retry.

Confirm both charges settled

A pending authorization is not a charge — it drops off on its own. Only proceed to refund when two settled charges reference the same invoice or period.

Check refund history

Look for prior refunds on the account. A second “duplicate charge” in three months is a different conversation than a first.

Decide eligibility

Apply the policy, not your mood

Write your actual policy here as concrete rules. Example shape: duplicate charges — always refund the duplicate; renewal within N days of the charge with no usage — refund on request; partial-period cancellations — prorated credit, not cash. Every rule should be decidable from the billing record alone.

Know your authority

Define who may refund what: for example, any teammate up to $100; lead approval above; finance approval above $1,000. If an AI agent prepares refunds, its envelope should be tighter than a person’s, and anything above it must park for human approval.

Execute the refund

Refund the right charge, once

Refund the duplicate charge — the newer one — not both, and not the subscription itself. Execute in the payment provider with an idempotency key or its equivalent, so a retried click can never double-refund.

Record it

Note on the ticket: which charge was refunded, the amount, the provider reference, and the policy rule applied. Future-you (and every audit) will look here first.

Reply to the customer

Specifics, not apologies-in-general

The reply names the invoice, the refunded amount, the card or method, and the arrival window (“5–10 business days” for most card refunds). If the cause was a retry glitch or a known issue, say so plainly. One line on what was done to prevent recurrence beats two paragraphs of sorry.

When you refuse

If the request fails policy, say which rule applies and offer the closest alternative — a prorated credit, a plan change at renewal. Never leave a refusal without a path.

Quiz — check the judgment calls

• A customer shows two charges; one is marked “pending” in the processor. What do you do?
• Both charges settled, same invoice, 41 seconds apart. Which one do you refund?
• The refund exceeds your authority limit. What’s the next step?
• What must the ticket record after any refund?