WhatsApp Returns and Refunds Checked Against Your Policy
Returns and refunds on WhatsApp let a customer start a return in the chat they already use. AeroChat finds the order, checks it against your return policy, collects the reason and photos, records the return, and refunds through Shopify, Stripe, HitPay or Square up to the limit you set.
What happens today
A customer sends a photo of the wrong item and asks for their money back. Someone finds the order, checks the date against the return window, asks for more photos, and emails the warehouse.
The refund waits for whoever has access to the payment account. Meanwhile the customer asks again, sometimes in a public comment, and the team answers the same case three times.
How it runs on WhatsApp
- The customer asks to return an item or get a refund.
- AeroChat finds the order by the customer’s WhatsApp number. If there is no number or no match, it asks for the order number or email.
- It reads the delivery date and the items, and checks them against your return window and your list of items that can’t be returned.
- It asks for the reason and, for damaged or wrong items, a photo.
- It writes the return to your records: a return request on the order, a note with the reason, and the photo.
- For an eligible return under your limit, it issues the refund through your store or payment provider, or gives the customer the return address and instructions, as your rules say.
- If the order is outside the window, the amount is above your limit, or the customer reports a reaction or injury, it hands the conversation to your team with the order, the reason and the photos.
The recipe
Copy this into AeroChat
When a customer asks to return an item or for a refund, follow these steps.
- Find the order by their WhatsApp number. If there is no number or no match, ask for the order number or the email used at checkout.
- Ask which item and why. If the item is damaged or wrong, ask for a photo.
- Check the delivery date. Returns are accepted within 14 days of delivery (example). Sale items and opened skincare can’t be returned (example).
- If the return is eligible, add a note to the order with the item, the reason and the photo, and tag it “return requested” (example).
- If the item arrived damaged or wrong and the refund is under 80 (example), refund the item to the original payment method and tell the customer it takes 5 to 10 working days (example).
- For other eligible returns, send the return address and tell them we refund once the item arrives.
- If the return is outside the window, over the limit, or the customer mentions a skin reaction or injury, hand the conversation to our customer care team with the order number and photos.
Never refund more than the amount paid for the item. Reply in the customer’s language.
Change the window, the excluded items and the refund limit to match your published policy.
Connect the systems behind it
- Stripe: refunds the charge, in full or for one item, up to your limit.
- HitPay: refunds the payment for stores that already take payments with HitPay.
- Square: finds the order and refunds the payment for stores that sell through Square.
- Shopify and WordPress. Built in. AeroChat reads the order and its delivery date, and Shopify refunds go back through Shopify.
Using a different system? If it has a public API, it connects to AeroChat the same way: describe what you want, paste in its key, and it runs.
Can’t find your tool? Message us in the chat on this page and we’ll tell you how it connects.
What it costs on WhatsApp
The customer starts the conversation, so their messages and photos are free. Your replies are service messages, free up to 1,000 a month per business phone number, then charged per message. If you later message the customer to say the refund went through and more than 24 hours have passed since their last message, that update needs an approved template, charged per message. Rates vary by country and are set in Meta’s rate cards. AeroChat passes Meta’s WhatsApp fees through at cost.
Also on Instagram, Messenger, TikTok and web chat
The same workflow runs on Instagram, Facebook Messenger, TikTok (DMs and TikTok Shop buyer chat), Telegram, web chat and email, with the same return rules, refund limits and payment connections. See this workflow on Instagram.
Who uses it
See how fashion stores and beauty stores handle returns and exchanges in chat.
Questions
Can AeroChat issue refunds on its own?
Only within the rules and the limit you write into the recipe. Anything outside them goes to your team with the order and the customer’s photos.
How does it check whether a return is allowed?
It reads the delivery date and items from your store and compares them with the return window and excluded items you set. It does not guess from the customer’s description.
Can I tell the customer later that their refund is done?
Yes. Inside 24 hours of their last message, AeroChat can reply normally. After that, the message needs an approved template and the customer’s opt-in, and it is charged per message.
Does handling returns on WhatsApp cost money?
Customer messages are free. Your replies are free up to 1,000 a month per business phone number, then charged per message at Meta’s rate for the customer’s country.
Settle returns in the chat where they start
Install AeroChat from the Shopify App Store
Not on Shopify? Start your 7-day free trial.
Related: order changes and cancellations and payment links.