Refund sent to a cancelled or expired card
Merchants often disburse refunds back to an original payment method even when customers provide alternative bank details or no longer have the card. This traps funds with the bank or issuer, which usually refuses to help or payout without the full card details that customers no longer possess.
What people tried
Every workaround mentioned in the threads below. We haven’t tested any of them — and nobody here is claiming they worked.
Found another way around this?
Share your steps and trade-offs so fellow engineers don't have to reinvent the wheel. No account required.
- 1Contacting the credit card issuer's credit balance department to request a check or SEPA transferDid this help you?
- 2Filing formal written demands or contacting consumer protection and alternative dispute resolution (ADR)Did this help you?
- 3Using the saved card details on Amazon to buy Amazon gift balance or items neededDid this help you?
- 4Keeping a shoebox full of spent gift cards indefinitelyDid this help you?
- 5Asking the merchant to issue store credit before processing the returnDid this help you?
- 6Contacting the bank or third-party debt buyer to plead for the fundsDid this help you?
- 7Checking with the merchant to see if the transaction bounced back in an exception fileDid this help you?
In their words
Unedited, grouped by where they were said, most upvoted first within each place, each linked to the thread it came from.
“A couple months ago, I made a pre-order on something. The product I ordered later changed, and the merchant offered people a chance to cancel. I took them up on that, but requested my refund be sent another way (like a check) because I no longer had my original payment method, a prepaid gift card given to me for my birthday. I used it and discarded it, never thinking to need it again.”source ↗
“The merchant replied, saying they could only refund the original method. Given that I no longer had that, I retracted my cancellation request, but I didn't hear anything and a day later they cancelled the order anyway, sending $70 to a card I can no longer access.”source ↗
“I called who I believe was the card issuer, but because I didn't have the full number or 3 digit code, they offered no help.”source ↗
“That prepaid card is still saved in my Amazon account, but it only lets me see the last 4 digits and the expiration date, which doesn't help when I need the full number and the 3 digit code.”source ↗
“I assumed it wouldn’t go through but looks like any transaction like a refund or credit will so that they can apply it to the balance. Even though the “balance” was settled in full. It’s a confusing loophole but basically if the bank sees money coming in they’re happy to take it.”source ↗
“This week my spouse made a significant dollar amount return to Costco that was credited to this exact credit card.”source ↗
“I contacted Costco to let them know that credit card is closed and to instead please issue store credit. They told me there was no way to cancel or do so because it already went through?”source ↗
“I contacted American Express and they have confirmed to me in writing that the Qatar Airways credit was posted to the old card account but was not paid out to me.”source ↗
Where this came up
People with this problem also raised
- 4Bank closed my account and kept my money
- 2Why is it so hard to close a merchant account?
- 3Why am I still getting monthly fees after closing my account?
- 2Etsy shop closed after purchase, will it still ship?
- 6Merchant says refund went to a closed card but bank has no record
- 3Will closing a paid off credit card hurt my score?