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Configure points cancellation for refunds

Select how points are cancelled when an order is refunded or partially refunded.

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Written by Karen (she/her)
Updated today

šŸ›’ Supported on all platforms

šŸ’³ Available on all plans

šŸ‘¤ Accessible to all roles

Points cancellation removes points from a customer’s account if they later return all or part of their order.

Edit points cancellation settings


By default, Smile cancels points when an order’s status is Refunded. Points are automatically deducted from the customer’s account when an order’s financial status matches this value. You have the option to edit or add additional Order Statuses in your program settings.

To review, or edit points cancellation settings:

  1. In Smile Admin, navigate to Settings > Platform.

  2. In the Order Settings card, click Edit.

  3. Under Cancel rewards when the financial status is one of, select the order statuses you’d like to trigger points cancellation.

  4. Click Save.

šŸ’” Important: Returns issued as store credit will not automatically have points cancelled. These must be manually marked as Refunded to be recognized and have points removed.

ā„¹ļø Note: Notifications are not sent to customers when points are cancelled due to a refund.

How points cancellation is calculated


Points cancellation is based on the Place an order earning rule in your points program.

Points will only be cancelled if the original Place an Order earning rule—used when the points were awarded—still exists and is enabled. If the original earning rule has been deleted or is disabled at the time of the refund, the customer's points will not be cancelled.

If the earning rule value has changed between the order and the refund, the cancellation will use the current value. This may result in a discrepancy between the points awarded and the points removed.

Examples:

If your Place an Order earning rule gives 1 point for every $1 spent, and a customer makes a $50 purchase they will earn 50 points. Here's how Smile handles cancellations in different scenarios:

Order rule scenario

Cancelled points behavior if the $50 product is returned

The earning rule remains active and unchanged.

50 points are removed.

The earning rule is disabled.

No points are removed.

The earning rule is deleted.

No points are removed.

The earning rule is active and has been changed to 2 points for every $1 spent.

100 points are removed (50 original + 50 based on the updated earning rule)

āœ… Tip: If a customer uses a reward coupon on a purchase, and then later returns the purchase, the used reward coupon will not automatically be reissued. You can manually adjust the customers points balance to reinstate the points spent on the reward coupon.

ā„¹ļø Note: If points are cancelled for a specific order status, those orders will not count toward a customer’s VIP tier placement. This applies to both points-based and revenue-based VIP programs. If a customer entered a VIP tier with an order that was later refunded, and points are removed, the customer would no longer qualify for that VIP tier.

Points cancellation for partial refunds on Shopify


ā„¹ļø Note: Partial Refunds are not currently available for BigCommerce merchants.

In addition to Refunded, if an order's status changes to Partially Refunded in Shopify, Smile will also cancel the corresponding amount of a customer’s points. By default, partial refunds are included in the Refunded status and Partially Refunded does not need to be added as a separate status.

Examples of partially refunded orders:

Order scenario

Points cancellation behavior on Shopify

A customer purchases two products, one $40 and one $20.

They earn points on the $60 spent on the order.

If the customer later returns the $20 product, they receive $20 back.

The points earned on the $20 are removed, and they keep the points earned on the remaining $40 of the order.

A customer purchases two products, one $40 and one $20. They use a $10 off coupon.

They earn points on the $50 spent on the order.

If the customer later returns the $20 product, they receive $16.67 ($20 minus 1/3 of the $10 discount) back.

The points earned on the $16.67 are removed and they keep the points earned on the remaining $33.33 of the order.

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