How Does Gameball Treat Refunds?

Understanding the complications that come with refunding a fully or partially canceled order, Gameball treats every case differently. Here is how Gameball handles your refunds. When fully or partially refunding any order, Gameball handles the related cashback that took place when the order was first completed.

All examples below assume that the cashback value you set allows customers to earn 1 point for every 1 USD.

Full Refund

When a full refund is needed because of a canceled order, Gameball deducts the entire point reward that was granted as a reward when the order was first placed.

Customer’s Action	Gameball Automated Reaction
Customer buys a product for 100 USD	Reward them with 100 points
Customer returns all products of 100 USD	Deduct their full 100 points

Partial Refund Affecting a Points Cashback Reward (Multiple Times)

If, for example, a customer made an order of 100 USD, then cancelled part of the order twice or more, here is how Gameball deals with this case:

Customer’s Action	Gameball Automated Reaction
Customer buys a product for 100 USD	Reward them with 100 points
Customer returns items with a value of 20 USD	Deduct 20 points from their rewarded 100 points
Customer returns another item with a value of 10 USD	Deduct 10 points only from the remaining 80 points

Full and Partial Refund — Entirely Paid Using Points Balance

If a customer decides to make an order and pay for it using the points they have previously earned and saved, then they will not need to make any form of monetary transaction. In this case, Gameball does not reward the customer with cashback points, and upon partial or full refund, Gameball returns the points spent accordingly.

Customer’s Action	Gameball Automated Reaction
Customer buys a product with 100 points worth 100 USD	No cashback reward is granted due to a zero payment amount
Customer returns items with a value of 20 USD	Return 20 points to the customer’s points balance
Customer returns another item with a value of 80 USD	Return 80 points to the customer’s points balance, leaving them with their original 100 points

Full and Partial Refund — Partially Paid Using Points Balance

If a customer decided to make an order and pay using both points balance and actual payment, then Gameball would only reward them with cashback based on the paid amount and would disregard the part paid by points. Here is how Gameball deals with the refund based on the previous case:

Customer’s Action	Gameball Automated Reaction
Customer buys a product with 100 USD (pays 60 USD and uses 40 points to pay for the rest)	Reward them with 60 points based on the actually paid amount only
Customer returns items worth 80 USD	Deduct the rewarded 60 points + return 20 points to the customer’s point balance

Special Case: Refunding a Value Greater Than the Remaining Cashback Reward

Gameball will refund the whole cashback reward and not the extra value.

Customer’s Action	Gameball Automated Reaction
Customer buys a product worth 100 USD	Reward them with 100 points
Customer returns an item for 20 USD	Deduct 20 points from their rewarded 100 points
Customer returns an item for 20 USD	Deduct another 20 points from the remaining 80 points
The cashier or the system makes a refund of 100 USD	Deduct 60 points, for it is the only point reward left to be deducted from this particular order ID

Any system using coupons as a redemption method, such as Shopify, etc. The redemption part will be neglected.
The refund will be based on the reward accumulated for the customer at the time of the transaction, not based on the cashback configuration at the time of the reimbursement.
As the system is behaving now, the customer balance can go negative if they redeem points after receiving the cashback reward; then, the Gameball user refunds the original transaction.

How Will Customer Tiers Be Affected by the Refund?

Gameball gives you more control over how refunds affect tier progress. You can choose whether refunded orders contribute to customers’ tier advancement, ensuring your loyalty logic stays aligned with your business rules.

Go to Dashboard > Programs > VIP Tiers. Scroll down to the toggle under Tier Program Settings and exclude/include refunded orders from tier progress.

Setting	Behavior
Enabled	Refunded orders do not count toward tier progress, and any earned progress from them is deducted
Disabled (default)	Refunded orders remain included in tier progress calculations

Tier progress in both the dashboard and widget automatically reflects the updated calculation. Progress reductions from refunds are shown in real time.

Configure VIP Tiers

Set up and manage your VIP tier program including refund behavior settings.

Launch and Configure Points Redemption

Configure how customers redeem their earned points for rewards.

​Full Refund

​Partial Refund Affecting a Points Cashback Reward (Multiple Times)

​Full and Partial Refund — Entirely Paid Using Points Balance

​Full and Partial Refund — Partially Paid Using Points Balance

​Special Case: Refunding a Value Greater Than the Remaining Cashback Reward

​How Will Customer Tiers Be Affected by the Refund?

​Related Articles

Configure VIP Tiers

Launch and Configure Points Redemption

Full Refund

Partial Refund Affecting a Points Cashback Reward (Multiple Times)

Full and Partial Refund — Entirely Paid Using Points Balance

Full and Partial Refund — Partially Paid Using Points Balance

Special Case: Refunding a Value Greater Than the Remaining Cashback Reward

How Will Customer Tiers Be Affected by the Refund?

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