The Short Answer

Ask in one message that carries the order reference, the date, one factual sentence about what went wrong, and the exact outcome you want, with a date for a reply. Nothing else helps. A refund request is not an argument you win by writing more, it is a request someone has to action, and the easier you make it to action, the faster it moves.

Hi [Name], this is [Your name]. About order [number] placed on [date], for [item or service] at [amount]: [one sentence on what is wrong]. Could you please refund the full [amount] to the original payment method? Photos and the receipt are attached. Could you let me know by [date] that this is in hand? Thank you.

Then do the part almost everyone skips: decide, right now, when you will chase it. Most refunds that never arrive were not refused. They were promised, and then nobody followed up, because the person who cared about the money had moved on to the next week. Set the chase before you put the phone down.

The Five Things Every Refund Request Has to Carry

Whoever reads your message probably cannot see your order unless you tell them how to find it, and probably cannot approve anything unless you tell them what you are asking for. Five fields solve both problems.

  1. Who you are and the reference. Your name as it appears on the order, plus the order, booking or invoice number. A WhatsApp display name identifies nobody in a system.
  2. When, and how much. The purchase date and the amount paid. Both decide which policy and which deadline apply, and a seller who has to go looking for them will do it later rather than now.
  3. What is wrong, in one factual sentence. "Arrived with the screen cracked, photos attached" beats three paragraphs about your week. Specifics are what get forwarded to whoever can approve the refund.
  4. The outcome you want, named. Full refund, partial refund of a stated amount, or a replacement. "I am not happy with this" is not a request, and it is the single most common reason a thread goes round twice before anyone understands what you want.
  5. A date for a reply. Not a threat, a hook: "could you confirm by Friday that this is in hand". It gives the thread a clock, and it gives you a defensible moment to chase.

Evidence rides along with the message rather than in it: a photo of the fault, a photo of the item as it arrived including the packaging, and the receipt or order confirmation. WhatsApp is genuinely good at this part. A dated thread with the photos attached is a better record than a phone call that left nothing.

8 Scripts You Can Copy

Replace the square brackets and send. Each one is short on purpose.

1. The straight ask: a faulty or damaged item

Hi [Name], this is [Your name], order [number] from [date]. The [item] arrived with [fault], photos attached. Could you please refund the [amount] to the original payment method? Happy to return it if you send a label. Could you confirm by [date]?

2. Not as described, or the wrong thing turned up

Hi [Name], order [number] from [date]. The listing said [what was promised], and what arrived is [what came], photos attached. That is not what I bought, so I would like a full refund of [amount] rather than an exchange. What do you need from me to start that?

3. A service that did not happen, or was cut short

Hi [Name], I had [service] booked for [date and time] at [amount]. [What happened: nobody came, it was cancelled on the day, only part of the work was done.] Could you please refund [full amount, or the stated part]? I am happy to rebook separately, but I would like this one refunded first.

4. Cancelling an online order inside the cooling-off window

Hi [Name], I am cancelling order [number], placed [date] and received [date]. This is within the 14 day cancellation period for an online purchase. Please confirm the return address and I will send it back this week. I understand the refund is due within 14 days of the item coming back to you.

Say the words "I am cancelling". The cancellation right in script 4 works because you told the seller clearly, and a message that only asks whether they would mind is not a cancellation.

5. A partial refund, when you are keeping the item

Hi [Name], order [number]. The [item] is usable but [the specific defect, photos attached], and it is not what I paid [amount] for. Rather than send it back, would you refund [specific amount or percentage]? That works for me and saves us both the return.

6. The chase, after silence

Hi [Name], following up on my message of [date] about order [number] and the refund of [amount]. I have not had a reply yet. Could you let me know today where this stands and when the refund will be processed?

7. The chase, after a refund was promised and did not arrive

Hi [Name], on [date] you confirmed a refund of [amount] for order [number] would be processed within [what they said]. It has not reached my account as of today, [date]. Could you send me the refund reference and the date it was issued?

Asking for the refund reference is the most useful sentence in this post. A real refund has one, and a seller who cannot produce it has usually not sent the money.

8. The last message before you escalate

Hi [Name], this is my last message before I take this further. To recap: [item] bought [date] for [amount], [fault], reported [date], refund requested [date], no refund received. If the [amount] is not refunded by [date], I will raise a dispute with my card provider and report it to [the relevant consumer body where you live]. I would much rather settle it here.

Send that one only when you mean it, and only after at least two normal chases. It is the message that costs you the relationship, which matters when the seller is the shop down the road.

What the Law Actually Gives You, and Where

This section is England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland only. Refund rights are national, they differ a lot, and a sentence that is true in one country is confidently wrong in another. If you are elsewhere, read this as the shape of the thing and then check your own rules.

Faulty goods: 30 days. Section 22 of the Consumer Rights Act 2015 gives a short-term right to reject goods that are faulty, not as described or not fit for purpose, and sets that window at a minimum of 30 days. The clock starts the day after the latest of ownership, delivery and any installation the trader had to do, and it is shorter only for goods that would not reasonably be expected to last 30 days, such as fresh food. Asking for a repair pauses it. You use the right by telling the trader clearly that you are rejecting the goods, so in the UK add one line to script 1: "I am rejecting it under my 30 day short-term right to reject." The trader then has to refund you. Before this Act the rule was a vague "reasonable time", which the Law Commission described as a significant source of dispute.

Changed your mind about something bought online: 14 days, then 14 more. The Consumer Contracts Regulations 2013 cover distance and off-premises sales. You have 14 days from receiving the goods to cancel, for any reason or none, then a further 14 days to send them back, and the trader must refund within 14 days of getting the goods back or of you providing proof of return, or within 14 days of being told if they are collecting. You normally pay the return postage unless the trader agreed otherwise. Some things are excluded, including perishables, personalised items, and sealed media once you have opened it. Which? sets out the same deadlines, and the regulations themselves are at legislation.gov.uk.

A sign saying "no refunds" does not do anything. A notice that tries to stop you claiming your statutory rights is treated as unfair and cannot be enforced against you. It is still not worth arguing about in a chat. Quote the right, name the date, ask for the refund.

One practical thing that is not about law at all: your card issuer or payment provider runs its own dispute process, with its own deadline, and that deadline is often shorter than you think. Find out what yours is at the start of a refund that looks like it might go wrong, not at the end.

Five Lines That Cost People the Refund

  • "Sorry to be a pain, but..." You bought something that did not work. Opening with an apology invites a reply that treats the refund as a favour. Be warm, not apologetic.
  • "I am really disappointed." True, and unactionable. Feelings do not survive being forwarded to a manager. The fault, the date and the amount do.
  • No number. "A refund" leaves the seller to decide the amount, and they will decide it lower than you would. Name the figure.
  • A legal threat in message one. It turns a routine request into a dispute, and the person reading it stops helping and starts protecting themselves. Keep it for script 8.
  • A voice note. It will not be read on a busy day and it is useless as a record later. Say it in text, even if it takes two minutes longer.

One more, which is less a line than a habit: sending the same complaint three times in one evening. It reads as a rant, and it buries the one message that had the order number in it. One clear message, then a dated chase, is the whole technique.

The Chase You Will Forget to Send

Refund requests fail quietly. The seller says "we will look into this", the week turns over, and the money is gone because nobody asked again. The cure is to decide the chase date while you are still annoyed enough to care, and hand it to something that will not forget.

If the refund is the kind that will need several rounds, make it repeat: remind me every Monday at 9am to chase the refund for order 48213, and cancel chase the refund for order 48213 on the day the money lands. If you want to write the chase now and send it later yourself, that works too: schedule message to 12024909133 on Monday at 9am: Hi Mehul, following up on the refund for order 48213 asks once whether that number is on WhatsApp or Telegram, then fires on Monday with a one-tap link that opens the chat with the message already typed, from your own number.

NagMeLater is a reminder service that lives in a WhatsApp chat: no app, no account, save +1 202 490 9133 and send it a sentence. The first 7 days are free and unlimited, then it is 4.99 dollars a month or 99 dollars once. To set the chase above, this link opens the chat with it already typed.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is asking for a refund on WhatsApp as valid as asking by email?

For most sellers, yes, and it is often faster because somebody actually reads it. What matters is that the request is clear and dated, not which app carried it. The exception is a contract that specifies how notice must be given, which some services and tenancies do. If the amount is large or the seller is already being difficult, send the same text by email as well, so the record sits somewhere that cannot be deleted from both ends.

What should I say if the seller ignores my first message?

Send one short chase that quotes the date of the original message, the order number and the amount, and asks a direct question with a deadline, such as when the refund will be processed. Do not re-argue the case. If a refund was already promised, ask for the refund reference and the date it was issued, because a real refund has one. If two chases get nothing, that is the point to use your card provider's dispute process rather than keep messaging.

How long does a seller have to refund me?

It depends where you are. In the UK, for an online purchase you cancelled within the 14 day cooling-off period, the trader must refund within 14 days of getting the goods back or of you providing proof of return, or within 14 days of being told if they collect. For faulty goods rejected within the 30 day short-term right to reject under the Consumer Rights Act 2015, the refund is due without undue delay, and at the latest within 14 days of the trader agreeing you are entitled to it. Other countries set different periods, so check your own before quoting one at a seller.

Should I ask for a refund or a replacement?

Decide before you send, and say which. A replacement is usually faster and keeps the relationship pleasant, and it makes sense when the item itself is right and this particular one was faulty. A refund makes more sense when the thing was not what was described, when you have lost confidence in the seller, or when the need has passed. Asking for both at once gets you the one the seller prefers, which is rarely the one you wanted.

Can I get a refund if I just changed my mind?

Sometimes, and it depends on how you bought it. In the UK, goods bought online or otherwise at a distance come with a 14 day cancellation right that needs no reason at all, with some exclusions such as perishables, personalised items and opened sealed media. Something bought in a shop comes with no legal right to change your mind, so you are relying on that shop's own returns policy. In either case, say plainly that you are cancelling or returning, rather than asking whether they would mind.

Do photos really make a difference?

They do, and two are better than one: a wide shot showing the item as it arrived, including the packaging, and a close shot of the fault itself. For anything intermittent, a short video is better than a photo. Photos are what get forwarded internally, they settle most disagreements about whether damage happened in transit, and they are the part of the thread that is hardest to argue with weeks later.

What if I keep forgetting to follow up?

Set the follow-up at the moment you send the first message, while you still care, rather than leaving it to memory. A refund stops feeling urgent within about a week, which is exactly when the chase would have worked. A reminder for the day after the seller's own promised date, repeating weekly until the money lands, costs one sentence and is the difference between a refund that arrives and one you tell a story about later.