type: user

role: user

content: Customer #4421 is requesting a refund for a failed annual renewal (EUR 640). The charge went through but the plan did not activate. They want the refund processed today.


type: assistant

role: assistant

content: The refund amount is EUR 640, which is above the EUR 500 manager-approval threshold. I cannot auto-approve. Let me check the renewal failure reason first.


content: What did the billing system show?


content: The billing log shows the renewal attempted twice and both failed with PAYMENT_GATEWAY_TIMEOUT, but the charge was captured on the second attempt. This is the known gateway-capture-without-activation bug. The fix is to manually activate the plan OR refund; the customer chose refund.


content: Process the refund. Route to the billing team if needed.


content: Because the refund exceeds EUR 500, I am escalating to the billing manager for approval rather than processing directly. Required diagnostics attached: gateway timeout log, duplicate capture evidence, plan-inactive status. I am NOT retrying the charge, since retrying a captured-but-inactive renewal creates a triple charge per the known gateway bug. Ticket held open pending manager approval.


content: Good. For future reference, any renewal where the charge captured but activation failed should NOT be retried. Always refund or manually activate.


content: Noted as a standing constraint: captured-but-inactive renewals must not be retried; the correct actions are manual activation or refund, never a re-charge. Escalation prerequisites for refunds above EUR 500 are: gateway log, capture evidence, and plan-status confirmation. Handing off to billing manager for approval on this ticket.