Customer says a promised refund never arrived

Amex C02 means the customer (Amex calls customers cardmembers) says you agreed to a refund and the credit never reached their card. Your refund records and the refund policy at the time of sale decide it.

How it arrives

The notice, which carries the dispute reason (the code on your notice), describes a missing refund. Respond before the date on that notice. Your payment company sets it, and it comes before the card network's own limit.

What the issuer is looking for

Amex wants the refund record. If the credit matches the customer's account, the dispute usually resolves without further argument. If you refunded to a different card, as store credit, or in cash, you need to show the customer agreed to that.

If no refund was processed, Amex wants to know why. Your published refund policy at checkout sets the terms. A 30-day refund window that had not yet ended is a different case from a promised same-week refund you did not send.

Common scenarios and the evidence for each

• Returned product, refund never posted. The carrier's confirmation of the return and your stock log support the case, but Amex sides with the customer if the refund itself was never processed.
• Cancelled service with a promised partial refund. Written confirmation (email, support ticket, or account note) decides it.
• Partial refund the customer calls incomplete. Gather the original sale, the agreed cancellation or restocking fee, the refund sent, and the customer's written agreement to the deduction.

If the claim is different

If the customer never received the goods, the dispute arrives as C08. If the goods arrived faulty, it arrives as C31. Proof of delivery or of the product loses a C02, because Amex asked about the refund.

How we help

We draft C02 responses from your refund records and the policy in force at the time of sale, built to what Amex's guide accepts: proof that a credit offsetting the charge was already processed, or a written explanation of why no credit is due with the documents behind it. Sending the refund now won't close the case, because Stripe and Shopify block refunds on a payment with an open dispute. If you have received one, your first response is free. Try free.