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Troubleshoot customer payments and refunds

Start by opening the order in Orders and checking both its payment provider and payment status. Stripe card payments update automatically; direct payments must be verified in the service where the customer sent them.

Stripe payment is still confirming​

After Stripe returns the customer to the storefront, Stovefront may need a few seconds to confirm the payment.

  1. Ask the customer not to pay again.
  2. Leave the order open while its payment status updates.
  3. Reload Orders after about a minute if it still has not changed.
  4. Check the payment in Operations → Getting Paid → Payments before asking the customer to retry.

Do not manually change a Stripe order's payment status. Stovefront synchronizes it from Stripe.

Checkout failed or expired​

A failed or expired Stripe Checkout does not make the order paid. Read the message shown on the order, then ask the customer to return to their order and try Pay securely again. If the customer sees a charge but the order is not paid, treat it as a possible duplicate or incomplete confirmation and check Stripe before another attempt.

The customer may have paid twice​

Do not issue a refund based only on a message or bank screenshot.

  1. Match the order code, amount, customer, and payment time against the charge records in Stripe or your direct-payment service.
  2. For two completed Stripe charges, refund the duplicate from the eligible order using Refund customer.
  3. For a duplicate direct payment, return it in the service where it arrived.

If only one completed charge appears, ask the customer to wait for any pending bank authorization to clear or contact their card provider.

Direct payment says Payment sent​

Payment sent means the customer selected I've sent it. It is not proof that the money arrived.

  1. Check the Venmo, Zelle, Cash App, PayPal, or cash record yourself.
  2. Match the recipient, amount, and customer.
  3. Select Confirm paid only after you verify the money.

Leave the order unchanged and contact the customer if the payment is missing, went to the wrong recipient, or has the wrong amount.

A refund is processing​

Wait for Stripe to finish and update the order automatically. Do not submit a second refund while Refund processing is shown. A bank or card credit can appear later than Stovefront's completed status.

A refund needs attention​

Open the order and read its refund message. If a previous partial refund succeeded, subtract it from the original total and refund only the remaining available balance. When the latest attempt has failed, select Refund customer to start a new request. For a temporary network error, submit the refund again from the same open dialog; Stovefront checks the same request to avoid returning the money twice.

Use Stripe for disputes, missing payouts, and account-verification issues. Stovefront can show their status but cannot decide a dispute or release a payout.

Cancel or refund an order · Confirm an order and payment received · How payment works for customers