Chargeback reason: Credit not processed

Shopify's help says a chargeback is marked Credit not processed if the customer told you the product was returned or the transaction was canceled, but you have not yet refunded or credited them.

Source: Shopify Help, read 4 October 2026: Reasons for a chargeback or inquiry and Responding to chargebacks and inquiries.

How is this customer able to open a chargeback after I canceled and refunded their money.

Whether the customer was owed a refund, and if so whether you gave it before they went to the bank.

• Contact the customer. Shopify's help says you can't refund a chargeback after the chargeback process has started. For an inquiry where the funds have not been taken yet, it says a refund is possible but not recommended. You may be able to explain the situation or find another way to solve it.
• If you resolve it, the customer should ask their bank to drop the chargeback, and you send that agreement as evidence.

Shopify's help lists these for this reason. Send what you actually have.

• Your refund and return policies
• An explanation of when and where the customer was informed of the refund policy
• Any emails or notifications you sent the customer about the refund
• An explanation of why the customer was not entitled to a refund
• Evidence that you refunded the customer before the chargeback or inquiry was made

Also listed in Shopify's responding article

• The refund transaction record with timestamps, amount and confirmation number
• A bank or processor statement showing when the refund was processed and that it matches the disputed charge
• Your refund policy, with the terms the customer agreed to at checkout
• Customer communications about the refund status or policy
• Return tracking, if the dispute involves a return
• Shopify's help says that if you owe the customer a refund you can issue it from your admin, that you might lose the chargeback, and that it can prevent future disputes

Our additions

• If you did refund, attach the refund record with the date and amount. Refunds can take days to reach a customer's statement, so say when you issued it.

Plain text, because bank systems often strip formatting. Replace every [bracket] with a fact from your records, and delete any line you cannot back with a file.

Dispute response: order [order number], [amount and currency], reason: Credit not processed

Summary
The cardholder states they [returned the product or canceled the order] and were not refunded. [Choose one and delete the other:] A refund of [amount] was issued on [date], before this dispute was opened. / The cardholder was not entitled to a refund under the policy shown at checkout, for the reason below. We ask that the dispute be decided in our favour.

Refund status
- Refund issued: [amount], [date], [method] (Exhibit 1)
  [Or: no return or cancellation request was received before the order was fulfilled on [date]. (Exhibit 2)]

Policy shown at checkout
- Refund and return policy: "[quote the relevant lines]", shown at [page or step] (Exhibit 3)
- Why the customer was not entitled to a refund: [plain explanation, only if true]

Communication with the customer
- [Date]: [what was said about the refund, and the channel] (Exhibit 4)

Exhibits
1. Refund record
2. Order and fulfillment record
3. Refund and return policy as shown at checkout
4. Messages with the customer

Never state anything you cannot prove. Every sentence in the response should point to a file you can attach. Delete any line you have no file for.

Where

1. From your Shopify admin, go to Orders and click the order that is being disputed.
2. In the chargeback banner, click Add evidence.
3. On the Chargeback response page, review the information about the chargeback, enter any additional information, and upload your items of evidence.
4. Click Save to save your progress. You can come back and edit until the due date.
5. To send it early: on the Chargeback response page click Submit now, then click Submit in the confirmation dialog. If you do not submit early, Shopify sends the evidence on the due date.

When

• The due date is 7 to 21 days after the chargeback or inquiry is filed. It shows in your store's timezone, and if no time is shown the deadline is 11:59 PM on that date.
• Shopify automatically collects evidence and sends it to the credit card company on the due date. Adding your own evidence can improve your chances.
• You can edit your evidence at any time before the due date. After you click Submit now you cannot edit it.
• After the due date you cannot submit further evidence. Shopify's help says there are no exceptions.
• The credit card company's review can take up to 75 days after you submit. After the bank or card company rules, Shopify's help says there is no appeal and the decision is final.
• You can also accept a chargeback without submitting evidence, with Accept chargeback in the chargeback banner.

Shopify's help says some details depend on the card-issuing bank and the card network, and that disputes from third-party payment providers such as PayPal Express Checkout may follow different processes and timelines. Use the due date shown on your own chargeback in the admin, not a number from any article.

File rules for your evidence

• Only PDF, JPEG or PNG files. PDFs must be PDF/A compliant, must not be PDF Portfolios, and must have fewer than 50 pages.
• Each file must not exceed 2 MB, and all your evidence files together must not exceed 4 MB.
• Submit only one file for each type of evidence. Combine several files into one image or PDF.
• Do not include audio or video files, links to external resources, or requests to call or email for more information.

Source: Shopify Help, read 4 October 2026. Managing chargebacks in the Shopify admin: "The due date varies from 7 to 21 days after the chargeback or inquiry is filed." and "After the submission deadline has passed, you can't submit any further evidence. There are no exceptions to this". Responding to chargebacks and inquiries: "Credit card company reviews: This can take up to 75 days after you submit."

• Saying the customer was refunded without a record that shows the date and amount.
• Refunding again during an open chargeback. Shopify's help says you can't refund a chargeback after the process has started.
• Fighting when a refund really was owed and never paid. Accepting may be the right call.
• Describing a policy but not showing where the customer saw it.

One merchant on the forum suggested authorizing payments only and capturing later, for orders that may be canceled. Check whether that fits your store. Whatever you do, refund promptly and keep the record.

How can a customer dispute after I refunded them?

It happens. Merchants on Reddit and the Shopify Community describe disputes opened after a refund. Your refund record, with its date and amount, is the core evidence if the refund came before the chargeback.

Can I refund them now to end it?

Shopify's help says you can't refund a chargeback after the chargeback process has started. For an inquiry where the funds have not been taken yet, it says a refund is possible but not recommended. Check what your dispute page offers.

What if I never owed a refund?

Send your refund and return policies, an explanation of when and where the customer was told about them, and why they were not entitled to a refund.

When should I just accept it?

If a refund was owed and you never paid it, Shopify's help points to resolving it with the customer, and accepting may cost less than losing.

• Fraudulent or unrecognized: The cardholder says they did not authorize the charge, or do not recognize your store name on their statement.
• Product not received: The customer told their bank they did not receive what they bought.
• Product unacceptable or not as described: The customer says what arrived was defective, damaged or not as you described it.
• Subscription canceled: The customer says you billed them for a subscription after it should have been canceled, or that they expected a reminder before the charge.
• Duplicate: The customer thinks you charged them twice for the same product or service.

Send the dispute reason, the amount, the due date and the evidence you hold, with no card or customer data. We read what you send and reply with what looks strong, what is missing and whether accepting may cost less. Free, no call, no sign-up. We cannot promise a day, and nobody can promise how the bank will decide.

The email opens with the subject filled in, to kaiventura.founder@gmail.com. The GitHub form needs a free GitHub account.

Kai Ventura, Pro Skill Packs

The kit has six fill-in response letters for Word or Google Docs (one per reason), evidence checklists, worked examples and a Start-here PDF, plus the skill and a paste-in prompt. The skill takes your dispute details and the evidence you hold, and writes a response matched to the reason, a checklist of files to attach and a list of gaps. It never invents evidence and tells you when accepting may cost less.

Before: a merchant sent delivery photos against a fraud dispute and lost.
After: a verdict (weak, fight only if cheap), what the bank actually asks, and what to gather instead.

Free first: the Chargeback Evidence Checklist skill, or its paste-in prompt for ChatGPT.

It is also one of the six skills in the Store Ops Pack, $29.

This page is general information from Shopify's public help and our own checklists. It is not legal advice, and no response can promise how a bank will decide. Pro Skill Packs is not affiliated with, endorsed by or sponsored by Shopify Inc. All chargeback reasons.