Refunds for all payment types are initiated from the software by selecting the desired payment (or portion of payment) to refund.  Refunds to credit cards are transmitted to your gateway for processing and will generate a confirmation message for the transaction.  Refunds of cash or check payments are recorded as made, but you will need to deliver the funds directly to the guest/buyer.

A general understanding of how credit card refunds are handled by gateways and merchant processors is helpful for understanding what the buyer can expect to see on their credit card statement:

1.  Credit card charges are transmitted through the gateway to your merchant processor.  Your merchant processor collects your transactions in a batch and will transfer the funds from a batch to your designated bank account anywhere from 18 to 36 hours after the original charges were made.  Settlement is used to describe when the money is moved from the merchant processor batch to your bank account.

2.  If a refund request is made soon after the charge and BEFORE settlement, the request for refund will usually void the initial charge and replace it with a new charge with the revised amount.  When you process the refund, the confirmation message usually indicates if the transaction was voided or refunded.   When transactions are voided, the customer's credit card statement will only show a single charge with the correct amount.  If a guest contacts you because they don't see the refund on their statement, first verify the amount charged on their statement against their order and/or check the refund transaction details to see if the charge was voided.  

3.  If a refund request is made after Settlement has occurred, a refund reverses the process, removes the money and credits it back to the guest.  The timing of when the refund is credited to the customer's account varies and is determined by the merchant processor and card issuer.  If you have received successful confirmation that the refund was processed but it is not reflected in the customer's statement yet - provide them with the transaction ID and details and have them contact their credit card company re: their policies for holding funds.