You returned the item. Now match the refund to your next payment

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You’ve returned a purchase, but the next Afterpay payment is still showing as due. Before you set that money aside for something else, check whether the retailer has processed the refund and whether your payment schedule has changed.

A return involves separate records. The retailer records what it has accepted back, Afterpay adjusts the order, and your bank records any money returned to your card. Those records can update at different times. This guide follows an Australian Afterpay Pay in 4 order so you can work out which step needs attention.

Start with the order, not the parcel tracking

A delivery confirmation tells you where the parcel went. Look for the retailer’s refund confirmation as well, including the amount and how it was refunded. Then open the matching order in Afterpay and compare that amount with its remaining payments.

Afterpay says your original payment schedule continues until the retailer confirms and processes the refund, unless a payment change has been agreed. Some refunds can take 3-5 days to reach the Afterpay order after the merchant processes them. Follow the schedule actually confirmed in your account rather than assuming that sending an item back has cancelled the next instalment. Afterpay’s guidance on payments after a return explains this stage.

Follow the full refund or partial refund through

For the example below, a $200 order has four $50 payments. You’ve paid two, leaving $100 outstanding. There are no other charges, and the retailer processes the agreed refund through Afterpay. These are fictional figures, not a member’s account.

Afterpay applies a refund from the final payment backwards. That means a partial refund can reduce future payments without sending money back to your bank. The actual amount and schedule depend on what you’ve already paid when the refund is processed. Afterpay explains its refund allocation here.

Put your own figures alongside the order: how much you’ve paid, the refund confirmed by the retailer, the payments still due and any money already returned. Keep the original payment dates until the account confirms a change. An expected refund is not money available in your bank account yet.

If the next payment falls before the refund arrives

Afterpay has a return-order process in its app. Open Orders, choose the relevant purchase, then use Return order and follow the prompts. For a return by mail, its guidance allows a request to move the next payment by up to two weeks from the original due date, once per order. A successful request shows a revised schedule on the confirmation screen.

Check that confirmation before relying on the later date. A request made within 24 hours of the next payment may be too late to stop that instalment being processed. If the refund is still unresolved when the revised date arrives, you may have two payments due that day. The return-payment guidance and refund instructions set out these limits.

If you cannot afford a payment, contact Afterpay through Help in the app or its financial hardship service. Ask what support is available and what your payments will be while the request is considered.

Check where the money was sent

Once a refund is processed, Afterpay says money due back to your card can take up to 10 business days to appear, depending on the bank. Refunds go to the card used for each instalment. If you used more than one card, the amounts can arrive separately. Check those accounts before treating a smaller deposit as the complete refund.

If the money has not appeared within that period, contact your bank with the refund details. Contact the bank if the original card has been cancelled, too. Afterpay’s bank-refund guidance covers both situations.

A retailer might instead refund you directly to a bank card or issue store credit. Afterpay says its instalments still need to be paid in that situation because the retailer has refunded you directly. Ask the retailer how it handled the return if the order and refund don’t match. Store credit should not be counted as cash available for the next payment. Check the direct-refund guidance.

Ask about the step that is still missing

If the retailer has your return but you have no refund confirmation, ask: “Has the refund for this order been processed through Afterpay? What amount was refunded, and on what date?” Keep the order number, return receipt and any reply together.

If you’ve tried the retailer and allowed its stated response time without hearing back, Afterpay says you can raise a dispute in its app when the order is more than seven days old. You must have contacted the merchant first. That dispute goes to the merchant. Afterpay explains the contact and dispute route.

Once the retailer’s amount, Afterpay’s remaining payments and any bank deposits agree, you can update your own spending plan with the amounts actually left to pay or returned to you.