Incorrect handling of pending refund

[vbelolapotkov]

Once the order refund is issued with WC Pay it might hang in pending state several reasons, e.g. insufficient funds on the balance to process a refund. This case is not handled properly by the plugin.

Current behavior:

• order status changed to refunded.
• order notes confirm the refund was successful.
• funds not transferred to the shopper.

Expected behavior:

• order status changed to something else. Need to figure this out
• new note should be added to the order.

Reference ticket: 3629486-zd-woothemes

[vbelolapotkov]

@LevinMedia your help is needed here:

1. What do you think should be the order status if refund is stuck in pending phase?
2. Do you have an idea of a good messaging for the refund pending order note.
3. Do you think any additional actions needed, e.g. triggering inbox notification or email to let merchant know. This might be needed because I assume refund transitions to the pending state asynchronously and can happen after merchant leaves the order page.

[vbelolapotkov]

The issue looks close to #312 so solution might be very similar.

[AashikP]

Another report in 3624575-zen

[siraht]

My thoughts on your inquiries @vbelolapotkov , since I have been trying to deal with this issue as an end user for the past two weeks

• What do you think should be the order status if refund is stuck in pending phase?

"Refund pending" or "Refund is pending" seems good enough, provided there is additional info given elsewhere

• Do you have an idea of a good messaging for the refund pending order note.

"Currently, your refund is pending completion. There are a few reasons why the refund may be pending. Our records show [dynamic response based on status of refund], but you can find more information here: [URL to refund info]"

• Do you think any additional actions needed, e.g. triggering inbox notification or email to let merchant know. This might be needed because I assume refund transitions to the pending state asynchronously and can happen after merchant leaves the order page.

As a merchant, I'd like the option to utilize all notification channels, if desired. An email and inbox notification seem like minimums for me.

If it wasn't my own purchase (testing functionality of my site) that I was waiting 2+ weeks for a refund on, I could have never noticed it not going through, and could have a pissed customer breathing down the back of my neck.

[foosantos]

5173930-zd-woothemes

[nicdwilson]

I believe the following series of order notes from 5173930-zd clearly indicates the issue for some merchants

[jessy-p]

I am moving this from Engineering Review queue to Product review, because there are only design questions on this.

[elizaan36]

hey all, When the refund is pending due to insufficient funds, does that mean WCPay keeps trying to refund the payment until it's successful? I imagine it would be easier or more straightforward to say the refund has failed due to insufficient funds (or other reason) and the order status doesn't change.

@aheckler @vbelolapotkov

[aheckler]

I mentioned this in the other issue for this same problem, but I'm pretty sure what happens is Stripe gives the transaction the Pending refund status, and then when the account balance becomes positive again (and more than the refund amount) the refund will automatically be issued.

[elizaan36]

Mentioned here ideally we could match the Pending refund status that Stripe provides with additional context in the order note if possible.