Glossary: AI support refunds and reconciliation
This glossary defines the terms used when checking an AI support agent's refunds against Shopify and Stripe. A "credit not processed" dispute is a chargeback where the customer says a promised refund or credit never arrived; Stripe maps Visa 13.6 and 13.7, Mastercard 4860 and Amex C02, C04 and C05 to it (Stripe docs). The other terms below explain how such gaps arise and how they are found.
Quick index
| Term | In one line | Recoup flag |
|---|---|---|
| Promised-not-issued refund | Told the customer, never paid | Promised, not issued |
| Duplicate refund | Paid twice for one problem | Issued twice |
| Wrong-amount refund | Paid more or less than promised | Wrong amount |
| Off-policy credit or discount | Paid, but against your own rules | Outside policy |
| Repeat claimant | Same customer, many claims | Repeat claimant |
| Refund leakage | All money lost to refund errors | Report total |
| Credit not processed | Dispute over a missing refund | Risk on missing refunds |
| Idempotency key | Stops a retry from repeating a refund | Context |
| Resolution, automation, outcome | Ticket closed, not money correct | Context |
| Agent action vs agent answer | Doing it vs saying it | Context |
| Refund reconciliation | Matching promises to the ledger | What Recoup does |
| Read-only access | Can see, cannot change | How Recoup connects |
Failure types
Promised-not-issued refund
A refund, partial refund, store credit or discount that a support agent told the customer they would get, with no matching record in Shopify or Stripe afterwards. This is Recoup's own term. It usually happens when an AI agent writes the promise in a reply but has no action that can carry it out, or hands off to a person who never picks it up.
Duplicate refund
Two or more refunds for one problem on one order. Causes include a tool retrying a refund call after a timeout, an AI agent and a teammate both refunding, or one refund in Shopify and another in the Stripe Dashboard. Each refund looks valid on its own. Only comparing them with the promise shows that one is extra.
Wrong-amount refund
A refund that exists but differs from what was promised. Common causes: refunding the price before an order discount, adding or missing shipping and tax, or using a full refund where a partial one was promised. Recoup compares the refunded amount with the amount written in the reply.
Off-policy credit or discount
A refund, credit or discount code given outside the brand's written rules: after the return window, above an amount ceiling, on a final-sale item, or to a customer already compensated for the same order. The amount can be exactly what was promised and still be a finding, because the promise itself broke policy.
Repeat claimant
A customer who has asked for refunds, credits or replacements several times across orders. An AI agent that treats every conversation fresh cannot see the pattern. Recoup lists repeat claimants with their history so a person can decide. A repeat claim is not proof of abuse; it is a prompt to look.
Refund leakage
The total money a business loses through refunds that should not have happened or should have been smaller: duplicates, overpayments, off-policy refunds and abuse. It is an ecommerce finance term rather than a support term. Missing refunds are the opposite problem, money kept that was owed, and carry dispute and trust costs instead.
Payments and platform terms
Credit not processed
A card dispute category used when a customer says they were promised a refund or credit and did not receive it. Stripe groups Visa 13.6 and 13.7, Mastercard 4860, and Amex C02, C04 and C05 under it (Stripe docs). A written promise from your own support agent, with no refund behind it, is hard to contest.
Idempotency key
A unique value sent with an API request so that, if the request is retried, the platform performs it only once. Shopify added optional idempotency keys to refundCreate in Admin GraphQL API 2026-01, released 12 Dec 2025, and planned to make them mandatory in 2026-04 (Shopify changelog). They stop retry duplicates, not two separate actors refunding.
AI agent terms
Resolution rate, automation rate and outcome
Measures of how many conversations an AI agent closes without a person. Vendors define them differently; SaaStr compared 13 vendors on automation rate, with a median of 48% (SaaStr). Intercom bills Fin per outcome. None of these measures checks that money promised in the conversation moved correctly.
AI agent action vs AI agent answer
An action is something the agent does in another system, such as cancelling a Shopify order with a refund. An answer is text it writes to the customer. They can disagree: the agent can write "refunded" without running an action, or run an action that refunds a different amount from the one it wrote. Recoup checks the answer against the ledger.
Audit terms
Refund reconciliation
Matching each money promise in support tickets with the refunds, credits and discounts recorded in the order system and payment processor, then classifying each as matched, missing, duplicated, wrong amount or outside policy. It differs from AI agent QA, which grades the conversation itself. See Recoup vs Oversai for the comparison.
Read-only access
Access that lets a tool see data but not change it. For Recoup this means exports you download yourself, or API keys and scopes limited to reading tickets, orders, refunds and charges. Read-only access cannot issue refunds, edit orders or reply to customers, and you can revoke it at any time.
For the method that uses these terms, see how to audit AI support agent refunds. For sourced numbers, see the 2026 statistics.
FAQ
What is a credit not processed chargeback?
A dispute where the cardholder says a promised refund or credit never arrived. Stripe maps Visa 13.6 and 13.7, Mastercard 4860 and Amex C02, C04 and C05 to this category.
What is the difference between AI agent QA and refund reconciliation?
QA grades what the agent said in the conversation. Refund reconciliation checks whether the money it promised was recorded correctly in Shopify and Stripe. A conversation can pass one and fail the other.
Is "promised-not-issued" an industry term?
No. It is Recoup's name for a refund or credit an agent promised with no matching record afterwards. We use it because no common term existed.
Do idempotency keys stop all duplicate refunds?
No. They stop a retried request from running twice. They do not stop an AI agent and a teammate from each issuing a separate refund for the same problem.
Who maintains this glossary?
Recoup, built by AGUNA Wellness Ltd (RC 9590421). Suggest a term or correction at support@recoupaudit.com.
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