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A customer issue means the customer came to you first

The customer clicks Report an issue in the Consumer Portal, and you reply and resolve it on the Risk page in your Dashboard. Handle it well and it never turns into a chargeback.

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Customer Issues vs. Chargebacks

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Where Customer Issues Come From

The customer signs in to the Consumer Portal with the email they bought with, clicks Report an issue on a payment or subscription, picks a topic, describes what happened, and submits. Customers may also complain through an e-wallet’s own complaint channel (WeChat Pay, for example). Those issues appear on the Risk page too and are handled the same way; the response deadline is the one shown in the issue details.
  • A payment can have only one open issue at a time. For subscription issues, the limit applies per subscription.
  • When a customer enters the portal through a link on your site (such as a Manage orders button), Report an issue is not shown. Those customers contact you directly, or sign in to the portal with their purchase email and report it there.
  • The conversation is shared three ways: your store, the customer, and Pancake Support all see the same thread. There is no private channel. Customers see this notice before they submit.

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How an Issue Is Handled

1

The customer submits it and you see it immediately

The issue appears on the Risk page right away with status Needs action. The response deadline is the submission time plus 72 hours. You also receive a customer issue email.
2

Respond within 72 hours

Replying to the customer or marking the issue as resolved both count as a response. Once you respond, the deadline is no longer shown.
3

Resolve the problem

Reply, refund, or mark as resolved — see the table below.
4

The customer accepts or reopens

After you mark the issue as resolved, the customer can reopen it within 7 days. A reopened issue goes back to Needs action with a fresh 72-hour deadline. After 7 days it cannot be reopened; the customer has to report a new issue.

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Three things you can do

  • You can mark an issue as resolved without replying first.
  • After you reply, the issue stays in the Needs action group on the Risk page until you mark it as resolved.
  • A payment that already has a chargeback cannot be refunded. Follow the chargeback process instead.
  • Resolved and closed issues cannot be replied to. Closed issues are read-only.

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If you miss the deadline

If there is no first response within 72 hours, the status becomes Overdue and the deadline turns red. After that, the Pancake platform steps in and may refund the customer directly.
Issues left overdue are more likely to turn into chargebacks, which carry a chargeback fee and count toward your chargeback rate.

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Issue Statuses

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Notifications

  • For every new issue, Pancake Support sends you a customer issue email with the issue details and the response deadline. It goes to the Support Email in your store settings (or your account email if none is set), with the customer in CC. This email is always sent and is not affected by your notification settings.
  • Replies to the email are not synced into the conversation on the Risk page. Reply on the Risk page so the customer and Pancake Support see the same thread.
  • After a refund succeeds, the customer receives a refund confirmation email.
  • There are no webhook events for customer issues.

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FAQ

No. Fees only apply if an issue turns into a chargeback.
Test-mode and live-mode issues are kept apart. Switch to test mode and the Risk page shows only issues submitted in test mode.
No. A refund does not change the issue status. Reply to let the customer know the refund is on its way, or mark the issue as resolved.

Risk

View and handle customer issues and chargebacks in your Dashboard.

Chargebacks

What happens when a cardholder goes straight to their bank: process, fees, and evidence.

Refunds

Refund rules and timing.

Customer Portal

What customers can do in the portal.