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Refunds & Credits: How to Issue Credits and Refunds in Admin

Purpose:

This SOP reviews how to process a credit or a refund on an order. This is a CX owned workflow as they are the only team that should be handling payments on an order.

This card DOES NOT cover our policies for cancellations and reschedules. For more please see Refunds & Credits: Cancel and Reschedule Policies

Related Cards

Context

In 2024, we are tracking multiple goals as part of our SGI: Profitability. There are two major goals that relate to this SOP:

  1. Keep monthly concessions below 2023
  2. Bring refunded dollars down to 10% or less

How To

HOW TO ISSUE CREDIT ON AN ORDER

Credit is issued on an order in two ways: a net new credit or by refunding a line item to credit.

Loom:

Issuing a net new credit is done usually when we are providing credit as a concession due to bad feedback or as a thank you.

Process for a net new credit

1- Open the client's basic profile page in Admin and navigate to the the credits tab

2- Select add new credit

3- Input the credit amount, select the correct reason (see table below), leave a note, select the corresponding order, set the exipiration date one year from the date of issue and save

4- If necessary, send a receipt to the client with their credit

5- Leave an order note about why you issued the credit

Process for Refunding to Credit

1- Navigate to the correct line item > click manage line item > Refund to credit

2- Choose credit reason using the table below, add notes and set the expiration date one year from the date of issue

3- Send receipt to client

4- Leave an order note about why you issued the credit

Credit Table

Reason

Use Case

Corresponding Cancel Reason

Service - Guide Cancelled

use when guides cancel last minute or don't show up

expert_no_show

Service - Ticketing Issue

use in OTG situations when tour can't happen due to a ticket mishap

no good corresponding reason

Service - Venue Closure

use in OTG situations when tour can't happen due to a LM venue closure or a venue/transport strike

venue_transport_strike

Service - Bad Experience

use when we refund post SD due to negative feedback

n/a - there should be no corresponding cancel

Order - Fulfillment Issue

use when FX cannot confirm a tour for any supply reason

expert_cancels
expert_not_available

no_tickets_reservations_available
no_cars_boats_available

venue_closed

Order - Tour switch

use when processing a cancel & rebooking via a refund and not credit or if there is a price difference between old and new tour

client_trip_modification

Admin Error

no clear use case

no good corresponding reason

Promo Applied

use when retroactively issuing a promo via refund

n/a - there should be no corresponding cancel

Client Cancellation

use for any other client cancellation reason that isn't a reschedule and we are actively cancelling the whole order/walk

client_ill
client_external_factors
client_no_show
client_no_reason
mobility_concern
incorrect_booking

Referral Credit

no clear use case

no good corresponding reason

Gift Card Credit

no clear use case

no good corresponding reason

Crisis Exception

use when Context makes an exception to policy due to an act of war/act of god

no good corresponding reason

Change the payment type

use for when clients/TAs don't want to cancel but want to switch the payment type (card to credit)

client_trip_modification or none

How to Request a Refund

Once an order has been canceled in admin, prior to processing refund:

  1. Check payment method of the order
    1. We can only refund back to the method of payment used (IE: Refund to client’s credit card if paid by CC OR refund to credit if paid by Context Credit)
    2. We cannot transfer Context Credit to a cash refund
  2. Please set the task to the appropriate region and category 'client accounting' with the below format. CX Leads have the ability to refund clients if it fits the cancel/refund policy set by Context up to $5,000. It is very important to add which cancel reason was used when cancelling the tour so that the CX Lead who processes the refund is able to select the correct corresponding refund reason.
    1. Refund Approved Task Format
      1. Accountable: n/a
      2. Region: (dependent on order)
      3. Category: client accounting
      4. Due date: date of setting task
      5. Description:
        1. REFUND APPROVED
        2. Client Name:
        3. Refund Amount Due (exact amount in USD):
        4. Reason: (include an explanation)
        5. Cancellation Reason Used:
        6. Tour:
  3. If the requested refund is more than $5,000, or the client is requesting a refund outside of our standard cancel/refund policy, the CX Lead should discuss with their Regional Director.
    1. Refund Review Task Format
      1. Region: (dependent on order)
      2. Category: client accounting
      3. Due date: date of setting task
      4. Description:
        1. REFUND REVIEW
        2. Client Name:
        3. Refund Amount Due (exact amount in USD):
        4. Reason: (include an explanation + link the client’s email)
        5. Cancellation Reason Used:
        6. Tour:
  4. Per our CX / AX: Cancel and Refund Policies, we do not refund context credit to a credit card, except for in select situations where the original form of payment was the client's credit card and we transformed it into a credit to handle a reschedule or other order changes. It is difficult to revert credits on an account to then be refunded to the client's card, so if you come across this situation please flag it for your manager to approve the refund. If you have received manager approval to revert a credit to be refunded to a credit card, a task needs to be set to issue a Stripe refund. The CX Lead should speak with their Regional Director and triage the task to them.
    1. Stripe Refund Task Format
      1. Region: (dependent on order)
      2. Category: client accounting
      3. Due date: date of setting task
      4. Description:
        1. STRIPE REFUND NEEDED
        2. Client Name:
        3. Refund Amount Due (exact amount in USD):
        4. Reason: (include an explanation + link the client’s email)
        5. Tour:
  5. NB: For retroactively applied covid refunds (2020), refunds can be by check (mail) or bank transfer (ACH) as CC processor has changed so direct CC refund not possible This has to be handled by the Regional Director. Please see CX / AX: Cancel and Refund Policies for more.

CX LEADS ONLY - HOW TO PROCESS A REFUND

  • LOOM: how to refund an Admin order
  • 1- Go to Manage Order → Manage Payment: Scroll to bottom of page, select ‘refund’
  • 2- Select applicable line items to be refunded, set amount to appropriate amount: It defaults to 50% cost, so be sure to check.
  • 3- Select reason and include note using this table

Reason

Use Case

Corresponding Cancel Reason

Service - Guide Cancelled

use when guides cancel last minute or don't show up

expert_no_show

Service - Ticketing Issue

use in OTG situations when tour can't happen due to a ticket mishap

no good corresponding reason

Service - Venue Closure

use in OTG situations when tour can't happen due to a LM venue closure or a venue/transport strike

venue_transport_strike

Service - Bad Experience

use when we refund post SD due to negative feedback

n/a - there should be no corresponding cancel

Order - Fulfillment Issue

use when FX cannot confirm a tour for any supply reason

expert_cancels
expert_not_available

no_tickets_reservations_available
no_cars_boats_available

venue_closed

Order - Tour switch

use when processing a cancel & rebooking via a refund and not credit or if there is a price difference between old and new tour

client_trip_modification

Admin Error

no clear use case

no good corresponding reason

Promo Applied

use when retroactively issuing a promo via refund

n/a - there should be no corresponding cancel

Client Cancellation

use for any other client cancellation reason that isn't a reschedule and we are actively cancelling the whole order/walk

client_ill
client_external_factors
client_no_show
client_no_reason
mobility_concern
incorrect_booking

Referral Credit

no clear use case

no good corresponding reason

Gift Card Credit

no clear use case

no good corresponding reason

Crisis Exception

use when Context makes an exception to policy due to an act of war/act of god

no good corresponding reason

Change the payment type

use for when clients/TAs don't want to cancel but want to switch the payment type (card to credit)

client_trip_modification or none

  • 4- Process refund and send a receipt to client / advisor and include “REFUND” in subject line
  • 5- Leave an order note that you processed the refund and sent the updated receipt
  • 6- Complete the refund task on the order

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