PAYMENT | Refund Reasons – Developer Portal - Support

What is a refund?

A refund is when a previously completed transaction is reversed and the payment is returned to the player's original payment method. When a refund is issued for a purchase made in your game, the corresponding amount is deducted from your payment balance. This reflects the fact that revenue from that transaction is no longer valid.

Why was a refund deducted from my balance?

Refunds can be issued for a number of reasons, ranging from suspected fraud to technical delivery failures. Each refund on your account will be assigned a reason code so you can understand why it occurred. The reason codes are explained below.

What do the refund reason codes mean?

Preemptive – Kongregate determined fraud - Kongregate identified this transaction as fraudulent before a formal dispute was filed. The refund was issued proactively to protect both the player and the platform. No action is required from you, but a pattern of these refunds in your game may warrant further investigation.

PayPal Dispute – User disputed transaction - The player filed a dispute directly through PayPal, claiming an issue with their transaction. The refund was processed as a result of that dispute and has been deducted from your balance accordingly.

Chargeback – User initiated reversed charges on credit card or Boku payment - The player contacted their credit card provider or Boku directly and successfully reversed the charge. Chargebacks bypass Kongregate and are typically the most costly type of refund, as they may also incur additional fees.

Courtesy (non-fraud) – User's purchase was never consumed by the game - The player paid for an item or currency that was never delivered in your game, likely due to a technical issue. This refund was issued as a goodwill gesture and is not fraud-related. If you are seeing a high volume of this type of refund, it may indicate an integration or delivery issue in your game worth investigating.

Friendly fraud (CC owner req) – User found using a payment method that was not authorized - A player made a purchase using a payment method they were not authorized to use — for example, a child using a parent's credit card without permission. The legitimate account owner requested the refund. Despite the term "friendly," this is still considered fraudulent use of a payment method.

QA Testing – Kong team testing payment system - This refund relates to a test transaction made by Kongregate's internal team to verify that the payment system is functioning correctly. These transactions are always reversed as they aren't 'real' purchases, and will not impact your balance in any meaningful way.

Chargeback (follow on) – Additional charges refunded from a chargeback - When an initial chargeback is filed, additional transactions tied to the same case may also be reversed. This code indicates that the refund is a secondary action stemming from an earlier chargeback, rather than a new dispute.

What should I do if I think a refund was issued in error?

If you believe a refund has been incorrectly applied to your balance, please contact Kongregate developer support developers@kongregate.com with the relevant transaction details and they will investigate.