Follow this procedure to refund money to a customer, or to escalate a customer's request for a refund to the Payments Processing team (to investigate the issue and apply the payment refund, if required). This procedure is for active accounts only. If a refund is required for an account that is disconnected, see Procedure - apply a refund on a disconnected account.
When
A refund may be required when:
- the customer paid the wrong amount
- the customer was overcharged
- a direct debit was not cancelled as requested
- the customer paid the unrecovered equipment fee, but returned the equipment
- there is an unclaimed credit balance adjustment on the account
- A customer has overpaid in error
Who
All agents can apply a refund for a customer.
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2. Rules Note: Team leader approval is required before offering a temporary refund and the team leader must leave a note on the account confirming they are the team leader approving the request.
The mailing address needs to be confirmed for all refunds. If required CORE must be updated with the correct mailing address prior to raising the refund
Temporary refunds
A temporary refund may be required in the following scenarios: Direct debit has not been removed as requested by the customer, a payment has been debited in error, the payment amount (that is not currently due) has been processed incorrectly by agent or Customer.
To issue a temporary refund contact Payments Processing (see, FoxPages directory - Foxtel departments) during business hours. If outside of business hours please email Payments processing team with the relevant details.
A credit adjustment should never be applied by the agent or TL. The temporary credit is completed by the Payments processing team.
A TL approval CI note is required before the request has been made - We are unable to proceed without this being completed and reflecting in CORE.
The due date and amount to be paid for the current billing period needs to be confirmed and agreed to by the customer and included in the CI note. A CI note must be made including the following:
- Reason for temporary refund request
- Agreed date of payment
- Amount to be refunded and refund timing
- If a payment extension/plan required include the plan details
Goodwill credits must not be refunded
Goodwill credits are used as a one-off reduction of a monthly charge and must not be refunded back to the customer.
Refunds cannot be requested for payments made via BPAY
In some scenarios we can refund payments made through BPAY. Alternatively, the customer can contact the BPAY area of their bank to arrange a reversal.
This includes BPAY overpayments or payments made in error (for example, payments made to a disconnected account in error or customer accidently overpaid the account in error).
For regular scheduled payments set up through their bank, customer should be encouraged to stop the scheduled payments via their Financial institution. Refunds for scheduled overpayments made in error will only be done as a once off.
Broadband/home phone billed after transferring service to new provider
A maximum 1 month credit may be applied where a customer advises that they continued to be billed by Foxtel after transferring their broadband and/or home phone service to another provider (as a result of the provider failing to notify Foxtel).
Do not proactively offer refunds to active customers
If a customer has an active Foxtel accounts, you must not proactively offer them a refund. Credits applied to their account should go against their next bill and refunds should only be applied at the customer's request.
Unclaimed CR Balance Adjustment
An unclaimed Credit balance adjustment is a credit on a disconnected account. Six months after disconnection the credit automatically changes to ‘unclaimed’. If the credit is valid a refund can be organised - contact Payments Processing who will need to reverse the unclaimed credit and raise the refund.
Ensure your customer is aware of the below and a CI note is made with all the details:
- Refund arranged back to original payment method (BPAY payments via cheque)
- Refund timing – 5 business days for direct debit, credit or debit cards or up to 15 business days for cheque
- Confirmed mailing address for all refunds
- CI note confirming all of the above
Refunds for part-month credits
If you place an off-cycle disconnection, pro-rata credits will generate on the customer's next bill cycle. The credits will be calculated from the day the service was disconnected until the end of the bill cycle.
Follow the steps below to ensure the customer will be provided with a refund for the pro-rata credits from the off-cycle disconnection.
- Open the Off Cycle DSO Refund form.
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Fill out the required fields.
Note: Ensure you confirm the customer's details.
- Click Submit. The customer will receive an SMS after the final bill is generated to advise them that the refund has been applied.
- Advise the customer of refund timings and refund method.
Note: If the customer made payments via credit or debit card, the refund will go back to the same card and can take up to 5 business days. If the customer made payments via Australia Post or BPAY, a cheque refund will be issued and can take up to 15 business days.
Confirm mailing address for cheque refunds
If you issue a cheque refund to a customer, you must confirm the customer's mailing address is correct. CORE needs to be updated if the customer confirms a different/alternate mailing address. CI notation must include that the mailing address has been updated and/or confirmed
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3. Tasks
2. Check the customer's eligibility for a refund
3. Apply the refund
4. Escalate the refund request
- Determine the customer's reason for the refund request.
| If... | Then... |
|---|---|
|
the customer has eligible credit on their account and wants this refunded |
go to task 2. |
| the customer has returned their equipment and wants the unrecovered equipment fee refunded | go to task 3. |
|
the customer has had a problem with a payment process, including:
|
go to task 4. |
- Open the customer's account in CORE.
- On the Account Summary screen, click View Billing.
- Click the Refund tab.
- Check the eligible amount to refund in the Eligible Amount section.
| If... | Then... |
|---|---|
|
the eligible amount is:
|
go to task 4. |
| the eligible amount is equal to or more than the amount the customer would like refunded | the customer is eligible for a refund. Go to task 3. |
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3. Apply the refund
- On the Refund screen, select the refund reason from the Reason drop-down list.
- Enter the amount to be refunded in the Refund Amount section.
- Enter any notes required (e.g. why the amount was refunded) in the Additional Notes section.
Note: If a cheque is being sent, ensure that you have confirmed the customer’s mailing address and you include the full address information in this section. The new address must be updated in CORE.
- Click Refund.
- Advise the customer that:
- refunds may take up to 5 business days for direct debit, credit or debit cards or up to 15 business days for cheque refunds
- refunds will be made via their original payment method.
- refunds to a credit card, debit card or bank account will be attempted twice; if the second attempt is also unsuccessful (e.g. if the bank has declined it, or it is a system issue), then a cheque refund will be issued
- if the credit card, debit card or bank account is closed, we are still required to attempt refunding back to the source. It can take up to 3-5 business days for the bank to decline the refund and it is at this stage that a cheque will be issued. In this instance, advise the customer up to 20 business days for arrival of cheque.
- all refunds via cheque will be issued in the name of the Foxtel account holder and can take up to 15 business days to be received by mail
- if multiple credit card payments are to be refunded, then these will be done individually, while direct debit or cheque refunds can be refunded as either multiple amounts or a bulk amount.
- Click OK. The refund will appear in the Refund History section as a Requested/New refund.
- Add a CI (Customer Interaction) note in CORE detailing the reason for refund, the refund amount, if the customer has been made aware of the correct refund timeframe and if the mailing address has been updated (if sending a cheque refund.
Note: If Team Leader approval is required, a separate CI note must also be added in CORE from your Team Leader.
End of procedure.
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4. Escalate the refund request
- Contact Payments Processing (for transfer information, see FoxPages directory - Foxtel departments).
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Advise the Payments Processing team of all the relevant information from the customer.
Important: This is an internal team only, do not transfer the customer to this team.
- The Payments Processing team will investigate the issue and advise you what to tell the customer. If a refund is required, the Payments Processing team will apply this.
End of procedure.
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