What are refunds? Why do I see refunds I didn't initiate?

Since Patreon only provides the venue upon which transactions between users are made, we do not issue refunds on behalf of creators.

If a patron would like to request a refund, they will need to contact the creator in order to do so. Creators can issue refunds from their Patron Manager by going to patron list for the paid post or post month a refund is due for and clicking the refund button on the right-hand side of the patron's information.

If a creator wishes to issue a refund, but is having difficulty in doing so, they can reach out to us for assistance. 

*Please note: once a refund is issued, it can take up to 5-7 business days to process. 

I'm seeing refunds I didn't initiate listed. What is a fraudulent refund? 

While Patreon does not handle refund requests from patrons, there are instances in which an automated refund might take place due to fraudulent activity. These are considered fraudulent refunds.  

When a patron is suspected of fraudulent activity, their account is disabled and the funds from their pledges are returned to the cardholder if we do not hear back from them within 10 days of the notice. Our Trust & Safety team is working tirelessly to make sure there's more notification of fraudulent activity on a creator's account ;potentially in the form of email notifications and more information within your Dashboard. It's extremely important that you have access to this information and we working on adding more notifications around this.

What is a failed refund?

A failed refund can occur if you attempt to refund a patron without having funds in your account balance. It can also occur if there was a technical error our end. You'll see these failed refunds as refunds of $0 in the refund column of  your dashboard. You have the ability to reattempt a failed refund at any point from your Patron Manager.

If you have further questions about the types of refunds listed on your account, please send a note to the support team here.