How to refund a Paddle transaction from a Zendesk ticket

To refund a Paddle Billing transaction from Zendesk, install Canoewell, open the customer's ticket, find the payment under Payments and invoices and click Refund. Choose Whole transaction or Lines and amounts, pick a reason, add a note and click Request refund. Paddle receives the refund request, usually reviews it before money moves, and Canoewell logs an internal note and the canoewell_refund_requested tag on the ticket.

Before you start

• The Paddle API key needs adjustment.write, plus transaction.read. Add adjustment.read to see each refund's approval status.
• Allow refund requests must be on in Canoewell's settings, and the agent must match Who may take actions (admin by default, or agent, role ids, group:<id>).
• Actions need a ticket. They don't run on a new ticket or a user profile.

Steps

1. Open the ticket. Canoewell finds the requester's Paddle customer by every email on their Zendesk profile. If several customers match, pick one. No match? Type an email or a ctm_ id in the Find box.
2. Find the payment. Payments and invoices show their status (Paid, Partly refunded, Refunded, Refund pending, Past due, Invoice due, Canceled) and what is still refundable.
3. Click Refund. The panel opens as "Request a refund from Paddle".
4. Choose how much.
   • Whole transaction refunds everything still refundable.
   • Lines and amounts lets you refund chosen lines, each up to its own amount. Amounts include tax; Paddle works out the tax part.
5. Pick a reason. The default list is Service issue, Product issue, Billing error, Duplicate charge, Goodwill and Other (explain in the note). An admin can replace it with your own list in Refund reasons.
6. Add a note. It is optional, unless the reason is Other. The note goes into the ticket note and is also sent to Paddle.
7. Read the confirmation and click Request refund. It says exactly what Paddle will be asked to do. Nothing is sent before you click.

What happens after you confirm

Paddle reviews most refunds on live accounts. Canoewell warns that refunds over $400 (or the same in another currency) always wait for review, and that payments made by bank transfer are reviewed by hand. Sandbox refunds are approved within ten minutes.

Limits you can set

Refund or credit?

For an invoice that is billed or past due (a manually collected transaction), use Credit invoice instead. A credit lowers what the customer owes right away, needs no Paddle approval and is tagged canoewell_credit. A refund returns money already paid.

What it costs

Canoewell is $10 per agent per month on the Standard plan, billed monthly by Zendesk, with a 14-day trial (Zendesk asks for a card at install). The Canoewell documentation covers every setting.