# Refund and returns glossary for ecommerce > Plain definitions of refund, return, chargeback, RMA, store credit, audit trail, idempotency key, MCP and other refund operations terms. - Canonical URL: https://lumtry.com/glossary - Last updated: 2026-09-24 ## Refund and returns glossary Plain definitions of the terms that come up when you run refunds, returns and chargebacks, and how each one shows up in Lumtry. ### Refund A refund returns money to a customer for an order, in full or in part, through the payment method they used. In Lumtry a refund is executed at the processor only after the merchant's published policy, and a person when the policy asks for one, has approved it. ### Partial refund A partial refund returns part of an order's value rather than the full amount, for example one item from a larger order or a price adjustment. Lumtry records the refunded amount in minor units with its currency, so the audit trail shows exactly what was paid back and why. ### Return A return is the customer sending purchased goods back to the merchant. A return can lead to a refund, store credit or an exchange. Lumtry tracks the return beside the refund case, so the policy can wait for the parcel, accept a carrier scan, or skip the shipment entirely. ### RMA An RMA, or return merchandise authorization, is the approval and reference number a merchant issues before a customer ships goods back. It ties the parcel to the original order and the reason for the return, so the warehouse and support team can match what arrives to the right refund case. ### Return label A return label is the prepaid shipping label a customer uses to send goods back. Lumtry can buy the label through a connected carrier aggregator when the policy allows a return, and it keeps the label and tracking number on the case so support can answer where the parcel is. ### Returnless refund A returnless refund pays the customer without asking them to ship the item back, usually because return shipping would cost more than the goods are worth. Lumtry applies it only when a policy rule allows it for that case, and it records the rule that made the decision. ### Store credit Store credit is value the customer can spend in the same store instead of receiving money back on their card. Merchants often offer it to keep revenue while still resolving the complaint. Lumtry can issue store credit on supported storefronts when the published policy chooses it for a case. ### Exchange An exchange replaces the returned item with another one, often the same product in a different size or color, instead of refunding the money. Lumtry checks that the replacement variant is in stock before offering it, then records the exchange on the case like any other refund outcome. ### Retention offer A retention offer is an alternative put to the customer before a refund is paid, such as a partial refund, store credit or a replacement. It lets the customer keep the product and the merchant keep the sale. Lumtry makes the offer only when the published policy allows it. ### Chargeback A chargeback is a payment reversal the cardholder starts through their bank instead of asking the merchant. The bank pulls the funds back and usually adds a fee, and the merchant can contest it with evidence. Chargebacks count against the merchant's standing with the card networks and the processor. ### Dispute evidence Dispute evidence is the record a merchant submits to contest a chargeback: order details, delivery proof, customer messages, and the refund policy the customer agreed to. Lumtry assembles that evidence from the case and its audit trail, so the team starts from a complete file instead of gathering it by hand. ### Proof of purchase Proof of purchase shows that the person asking for a refund actually bought the item, such as an order number, a receipt or a matching payment. Lumtry lets a merchant set the minimum proof level a policy requires before a refund can go ahead, and it records what was presented. ### Refund policy A refund policy is the set of rules that decides which refunds a merchant pays, how much, and when a person must approve. In Lumtry the policy is written as explicit rules, published as a numbered version, and applied the same way to every case until a new version replaces it. ### Policy version A policy version is one published, unchangeable edition of a refund policy. Editing a published policy creates a new version instead of changing the old one, and every case records the version that decided it, so an auditor can see exactly which rules applied at the time. ### Approval workflow An approval workflow routes a refund the policy does not settle on its own to a person who can approve or decline it. In Lumtry approvers answer in the dashboard, in Slack or by phone, and the dashboard stays the source of truth for every decision that is made. ### Human in the loop Human in the loop means a person reviews and decides before an automated system takes an action that matters. In Lumtry, AI can read a case and advise, but it never pays a refund on its own: the published policy decides, and a person approves whatever the policy holds for review. ### Return abuse Return abuse is a pattern of returns or refund claims that breaks the spirit of a store's policy, such as serial claims that items never arrived or returning worn goods. Lumtry scores each case for abuse signals and lets the policy hold risky cases for a person to review. ### Wardrobing Wardrobing is buying an item, using it once, typically clothing worn for an event, and then returning it as if it were new. It is a common form of return abuse. Merchants counter it with inspection on receipt, return windows and policy rules that hold repeat patterns for review. ### Audit trail An audit trail is the ordered record of everything that happened to a case: who or what made each decision, under which policy version, and when. Lumtry writes it as append-only events that no workspace user can edit or delete, so it holds up in a dispute or an audit. ### Correlation ID A correlation ID is one identifier carried through every request, workflow step, log line and audit event that belongs to the same operation. It lets a support or finance team follow a single refund from the customer's request to the processor's response without guessing which records belong together. ### Idempotency key An idempotency key is a unique value sent with a request so that retrying the request cannot perform the action twice. Lumtry sends one with every refund it executes at a processor, so a network retry or a repeated click never pays the same refund two times. ### Processor refund A processor refund is the refund as the payment processor executes it, for example in Stripe or PayPal, returning funds to the original payment method. Lumtry decides the refund under the merchant's policy, then calls the processor and records the processor's reference beside the decision in the audit trail. ### MCP (Model Context Protocol) MCP, the Model Context Protocol, is an open standard that lets AI assistants call tools on external systems in a structured way. Lumtry runs an MCP server so an assistant can look up cases and propose refunds, while the merchant's policy and approvers still make every final decision. ### AI agent An AI agent is software that uses a language model to plan and take steps toward a goal, often by calling tools. In refund work an agent can gather order facts or draft a decision, but in Lumtry it only proposes: the policy and people decide what actually happens. ## Related - [Home](https://lumtry.com/index.md): Decide refunds by a versioned policy, send the exceptions to your team in Slack or the dashboard, and keep every step on the record. Start free. - [Features](https://lumtry.com/features.md): Versioned refund policy, AI reasoning only where rules leave room, Slack and dashboard approvals, Stripe and PayPal execution and a full audit trail. See it all. - [Pricing](https://lumtry.com/pricing.md): Lumtry plans by case volume and seats, from Free to Enterprise, with add-ons and capped outcome fees. Start free or hear when billing opens. - [About](https://lumtry.com/about.md): Why Lumtry exists: refunds should be decided by a policy you can defend, reasoning you can inspect and approvals your team controls. Read the story. - [Privacy](https://lumtry.com/privacy.md): How Lumtry collects, uses, shares and protects personal information, isolates tenant data, records AI rationale and lists sub-processors. Read the policy. - [Terms](https://lumtry.com/terms.md): The binding terms for using Lumtry: policy plus AI reasoning with a human approval gate, plans and billing, and the limits of liability. Read them in full. - [Trust](https://lumtry.com/trust.md): How Lumtry secures merchant data, keeps AI inside a deterministic refund policy, lists every sub-processor and explains data flow and retention. Review it. - [Solutions](https://lumtry.com/solutions.md): Four ways Lumtry puts policy, approvals and an audit trail around the money you give back: refunds, returns and labels, chargebacks, retention and abuse. - [Demo](https://lumtry.com/demo.md): Run a sample refund through intake, AI signals, policy, approval and audit in your browser. Change a rule, rerun the case and share the link. Try it now. - [Integrations](https://lumtry.com/connectors.md): Connect Lumtry to Shopify, WooCommerce, BigCommerce, Amazon, eBay, Stripe, PayPal, Slack, Gorgias, Zendesk, EasyPost and Shippo. Browse every integration. - [Contact](https://lumtry.com/contact.md): Questions about Lumtry, launch pricing, integrations or security? Send a message and the team replies by email. Tell us about your refund volume. - [Get started](https://lumtry.com/get-started.md): Pick the refund problem to fix first, choose a plan and create your Lumtry account. Start on the Free plan and connect your store when you are ready. - [Developers](https://lumtry.com/developers.md): Send signed refund webhooks to your tools, call the REST API and let your AI assistant work with Lumtry cases over MCP. Explore the developer tools. - [Refund cost calculator](https://lumtry.com/calculator.md): Estimate a year of manual refund handling and return abuse leakage from your own numbers, then see which Lumtry plan fits your volume. Run the numbers. - [Roadmap](https://lumtry.com/roadmap.md): What Lumtry has shipped, what is coming next and what is further out across refunds, returns, disputes and integrations. Get notified when items ship. - [Compare](https://lumtry.com/compare.md): Lumtry side by side with the tools SMB merchants use for refunds today, built from each vendor's own public pages. Find the right fit for your store. - [Guides](https://lumtry.com/guides.md): Answer-first guides to refunds, returns, chargebacks, approvals and audit trails for Shopify, WooCommerce and BigCommerce merchants. - [MCP server](https://lumtry.com/developers/mcp.md): Connect an AI assistant or your own agent to your refund workspace through the Model Context Protocol. Read cases and propose actions, never move money. - [llms.txt](https://lumtry.com/llms.txt)