Build a record the support team can follow

Imagine returning a NT$4,800 item bought from a Taiwan online shop. Start with the order number, receipt, purchase currency, return approval and the merchant’s refund reference. Keep any local invoice or electronic receipt alongside the order details; a card notification alone may not identify which item was returned when one order contained several products.

Ask the merchant whether the original payment was only authorized or had already settled. Cancelling an uncompleted authorization and refunding a completed purchase follow different records. Check the matching app status rather than treating every temporary deduction as a finished sale. Record the merchant’s processing date, not just the date you first submitted the return request.

Explain the currency difference with numbers

Here is a deliberately simplified example, not a quoted exchange rate: NT$4,800 divided by NT$32 per USD equals US$150 at purchase. If the same NT$4,800 refund converts at NT$32.5, it equals about US$147.69. The merchant can return the full TWD price while the USD credit differs. This calculation excludes every fee and does not predict your card’s rate.

Ether.fi says refund conversion uses the rate at refund settlement. RedotPay explains that a merchant refund excludes the original transaction fee. Keep those as separate explanations rather than attributing the whole difference to exchange rates. Compare the original debit, merchant refund amount, credited balance and retained charges; ask support which balance received the refund if the asset is unclear.

• Original: receipt currency, settled debit and fee.
• Return: merchant reference, processing date and amount.
• Credit: date, asset or currency, amount and remaining difference.

Close the loop after the credit arrives

A merchant email saying “refunded” starts your tracking; it does not prove the card balance has recovered. RedotPay separates merchant processing from crediting after receipt. If a promised date passes, send support the original transaction and merchant reference in one message. Ask which stage remains pending instead of repeatedly submitting the same return to the shop.

Once the credit posts, update your Taiwan budget using the recorded purchase and refund values. Leave any unresolved amount visible. If rewards were reversed, record that adjustment separately so the purchase does not appear to earn a benefit after being returned. Keep the evidence until the balance, refund and any support case all agree.