Billing refunds and exceptions

Use this whenever money is on the table. Verify the charge, check the policy, and stage a refund or exception draft that stops at the owner's yes.

What you need first

The order, invoice, or booking record; the governing refund or policy passage; the approval limit and approver; and the ticket with its sentiment.

Verify, then check policy, then draft

1. Verify first: the exact charge, date, and what the customer paid for, from the records. Name the amount in numbers. A missing record means the draft waits; say which record would release it.
2. Check the policy passage and cite it: eligible or not, the exception it allows, and who may grant it. Above the approval limit or outside policy goes to the approver with the evidence pack, never a promise.
3. Draft the customer message in company voice: what you verified, the decision framed as pending approval when approval is needed, the amount and timing stated plainly with refunds defaulting to the original payment method, and the one step the customer takes now. Stay inside the posted policy — it is legally enforceable. A denied ask gets the graceful no: "As much as I'd love to help..." plus the resource pointers that come closest. Never promise a refund, credit, waiver, or exception before the owner's yes in the same conversation.
4. Show the pack in chat — records, policy citation, amount, draft — take one round of edits, then stage it against the ticket for approval.

Output

The evidence pack plus the staged customer draft. Offer to log it to the ticket when connected, as a draft they approve first.

When the records are thin

No policy passage means a draft built from precedent and the owner's word, marked UNVERIFIED, with the approver named explicitly.