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Refund Process: A Complete Guide

A comprehensive guide to prrocessing refunds in Uscreen

Updated this week

When you need to issue a refund to your customers, Uscreen provides straightforward options to process these transactions. This guide covers everything you need to know about the refund process, including important limitations, timelines, and special considerations for different payment methods.

โš ๏ธ WARNING: Before confirming a Refund, please double-check that you are refunding the correct account and invoice. Once processed, a refund cannot be reversed in the Uscreen system.

Ensure you are certain about this action before proceeding, as it will permanently affect your revenue reporting and the customer's access status if the "revoke user access" option is selected


Refund through the People page

  1. Navigate to People

  2. Search for the member you need to refund and click Edit

  3. Under the Invoices section, click on the specific invoice you wish to refund

  4. Click the Refund button located in the top right corner

  5. Confirm the refund in the pop-up box by clicking Refund

โ„น๏ธ INFO: After processing the refund, the Refund button will disappear, and a gray Refunded label will appear on the status.


Refund through the Sales page

  1. Navigate to Sales (Invoices)

  2. Search for the member using their name, email, or invoice number

  3. Click the Invoice Number that needs to be refunded

  4. Click the Refund button located in the top right corner

  5. Confirm the refund in the pop-up box by clicking Refund

๐Ÿ“ NOTE: The Refund button will no longer be available if the user account has been deleted. You may still process the refund through the payment provider.


Partial Refunds

Uscreen does not directly support partial refunds within the platform. However, there are workarounds depending on the payment processor:

For Stripe Payments

If your customer paid with a card processed by Stripe, you can provide a partial refund through Stripe directly.

  1. Locate the transaction in your Stripe dashboard

  2. Follow Stripe's process to issue a partial refund for the desired amount

๐Ÿ”— Learn more about Stripe's Partial Refund process

โš ๏ธ WARNING: If you process a refund through your payment processor, this transaction lives completely outside of Uscreen. The invoiced amount, your MRR, and your user's transaction history in Uscreen will not reflect the refund. Anything that references that invoice amount will be slightly off in its total.

For PayPal Payments

Partial refunds are not supported for PayPal transactions through Uscreen. If it was processed using the Native PayPal integration, you may process the refund by logging into your PayPal account.

  1. Locate the transaction in your PayPal > Activity

  2. Follow PayPal's process to issue a partial refund for the desired amount

๐Ÿ”— Learn more about PayPal's Refund process

๐Ÿ“ NOTE: PayPal refunds may have a 180-day limit. After this period, refunds cannot be processed.


In-App Purchase Refunds

For subscriptions purchased through app stores (Apple App Store, Google Play, Amazon, Roku), refunds must be requested directly from the respective app marketplace.

๐Ÿ“ NOTE: In-app purchases cannot be refunded through Uscreen's admin area. You must direct customers to the appropriate app store for refund requests.


Refund Timeline

Your customer may receive their refund within 10 to 30 days, depending on the payment provider's refund policy.

  • Uscreen cannot expedite, track, or guarantee when a refund will be completed

  • Refund timelines depend on the payment provider and the originating payment institution, such as a bank or credit card

  • When refunding a user, credit card fees and Uscreen platform fees are not refunded

  • For converted currencies, the refunded amount may differ from the original payment amount due to currency exchange rate fluctuations between the time of purchase and refund

๐Ÿ“ NOTE: Uscreen does not control the timing of the refund process. Refunds are processed entirely by the payment processor (Stripe, PayPal, etc.).


Disputes and Chargebacks

When a customer initiates a dispute (also known as a chargeback) with their payment provider, it creates a specific process that differs from standard refunds.

  • You cannot issue a refund while a dispute is open

  • If a dispute is lost, the payment is automatically reversed in favor of the customer

  • Disputes may include additional fees charged by the payment processor

  • The system will automatically revoke the user's access when a dispute is lost

โ„น๏ธ INFO: The Activity Log in the user's account will indicate that access was revoked due to a lost dispute.

Handling Disputes

  • For Stripe users: Respond to disputes through your Stripe dashboard by providing evidence

  • Set up email alerts for dispute notifications in your Stripe dashboard to ensure timely responses

  • Disputes that aren't responded to within the timeframe set by the payment processor are typically lost by default

๐Ÿ’ก TIP: When possible, it's better to work with customers directly to issue refunds rather than letting issues escalate to disputes, as disputes often include additional fees, take a longer time to process, and can negatively impact your merchant account.

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