Refunds & Returns for AI Agents: How to Close the Loop Without Chargeback Chaos

Your agent will buy the wrong thing.

Not because it’s malicious—because it’s software.

The goal isn’t perfection. The goal is a clean loop when the agent is wrong:

1. ▸detect mismatch
2. ▸attempt refund/return
3. ▸escalate if needed
4. ▸preserve evidence for disputes

Why chargebacks are the worst “default”

Chargebacks were designed for human purchases.

When an agent buys something you “didn’t mean,” the network may still treat it as authorized because you delegated authority.

See: AI Agent Chargebacks.

So: prefer refunds/returns over disputes whenever possible.

The refunds/returns workflow

Step 1: Identify a mismatch

Mismatch triggers:

• ▸wrong merchant
• ▸wrong amount
• ▸wrong item category
• ▸duplicate charge (retry loop)

Step 2: Collect evidence

Before contacting a merchant, attach:

• ▸intentId + purpose
• ▸transactionId
• ▸receipt/invoice
• ▸timeline (when intent created, when charge happened)

Step 3: Attempt merchant resolution

Agents can:

• ▸open support tickets
• ▸request cancellation within minutes (best window)
• ▸initiate returns when merchants support APIs

Step 4: Escalate to humans for edge cases

Escalation gates:

• ▸high amounts
• ▸merchants without clear support channel
• ▸possible fraud or compromise indicators

Step 5: Only then, dispute

If you must dispute, your best asset is the evidence log:

• ▸intent declared X
• ▸transaction executed Y
• ▸mismatch verified
• ▸merchant refund attempt failed

Preventing refunds by design

Refund loops are necessary. But prevention is cheaper:

• ▸merchant allowlists for ecommerce
• ▸velocity caps to stop duplicates
• ▸isolated cards to cap blast radius

See: Merchant Locks and Overspend Postmortem.

Bottom line

Agent commerce without a refund/return loop is incomplete.

Build the loop:

• ▸mismatch detection
• ▸evidence capture
• ▸merchant resolution first
• ▸dispute as last resort

That’s how you ship autonomy without chaos.