ClickBank provides two different ways for vendors to respond to Customer Support requests. One is done directly through your ClickBank account, and the other being through a Master Account.
The customer support ticket system allows you to view and respond directly to all support requests submitted by your customers, including refund and cancellation requests. This system also gives you the ability to attempt to save a sale by providing support directly to the customer.
A Master Account is a feature of ClickBank's account management system intended for users with multiple ClickBank accounts or users who wish to give clerk users the ability to perform customer service tasks without having access to sensitive account information.
See the Master Accounts article for more information on creating a Master Account to manage your existing ClickBank accounts and customer support tickets.
**Keeping on top of your tickets is really important in reducing refund requests and chargeback issues.
NOTE – If you have questions about a charge from CLKBANK*COM or need technical support, a refund or cancellation for a product you purchased from a ClickBank vendor, visit our Customer Service site for immediate service.
The following subjects are covered in this article:
Overview
When a customer has an issue with a product sold through ClickBank and needs assistance, we track their request through a support ticket.
Support tickets can be created by the customer, by you, or by a ClickBank customer service representative. A support ticket has a type, depending on the customer's needs – refund request, cancellation request, or tech support request. Each ticket type is handled differently.
Whenever a customer support ticket is created, updated, closed, or resolved, an email notification is sent to you and to the customer with a link to the ticket.
As a vendor, you can create customer support tickets and manage existing customer support tickets. You can also offer additional support options, such as your own customer support email address or phone number; see the Updating Your Account Information article for more information. However, customers always have the option of contacting ClickBank for assistance.
Ticket Types
Each customer support ticket has a type based on the needs of the customer. Different customer support ticket types are managed differently by ClickBank. See the Managing Tickets section for information about viewing, editing, and closing support tickets.
Refund Tickets
Refund tickets are used when a customer is unsatisfied with a product and wants a refund. Customers can request a refund during the 60 days following a purchase.
When a customer or a ClickBank customer service representative creates a refund ticket for a digital product, the refund is processed after 24 hours, not including the weekends in your time zone. If the refund is requested on the same day as the purchase, the refund is automatically processed within 5 minutes.
For physical products, the refund is processed within the following timeframes, based on the order status:
- If requested on the same day as the purchase and the product has not been shipped: Within 5 minutes.
- If requested after the day of purchase and the product has not been shipped: Within 24 hours.
- If the product has been shipped and you have not provided return information: After 19 days.
- If the product has been shipped and you have provided return information: When you acknowledge that the product has been returned.
During the period before the ticket is processed, you can attempt to save the sale if you want. You can do so by contacting the customer and offering them assistance. If the customer is satisfied with your assistance, you can close the ticket. If the assistance will take longer than 24 hours, but the customer agrees to wait for assistance, you can change the ticket to a tech support ticket.
CAUTION – Changing the ticket type or closing the ticket without issuing a refund can only be done with the customer's consent. If you change or close refund tickets without the customer's approval, we will remove your ability to respond to these tickets, and instead issue refunds to your customers automatically.
When you create a refund ticket as the vendor, it is processed in 5 minutes, rather than 24 hours.
When a refund ticket is processed, either because the time has passed or because you choose to issue the refund, a confirmation email is sent to you and to the customer, and the refund ticket is closed. If the product is a recurring product, only the most recent recurring payment is refunded, and the subscription is automatically cancelled.
Cancellation Tickets
Cancellation tickets are used when a customer wants to stop an active subscription. A cancellation stops all future recurring charges, but does not refund any past charges. Cancellations can be requested for any active subscription.
When a customer or a ClickBank customer service representative creates a cancellation ticket for most product types, the cancellation is processed after 24 hours, not including weekends.
During the period before the ticket is processed, you can attempt to save the sale if you want. You can do so by contacting the customer and offering them assistance, either directly or by including your offer in the cancellation ticket. If the customer says in writing that they are satisfied with the assistance and no longer want to cancel their subscription, you can close the ticket. If the assistance will take longer than 24 hours, but the customer agrees to wait for assistance, you can change the ticket to a tech support ticket.
CAUTION – Changing the ticket type or closing the ticket without issuing a refund can only be done with the customer's written consent. If you change or close cancellation tickets without the customer's approval, we will remove your ability to respond to these tickets, and instead process cancellations for your customers automatically.
When you create a cancellation ticket as the vendor, it is processed in 5 minutes, rather than 24 hours.
When a cancellation ticket is processed, either because the time has passed or because you choose to process it, a confirmation email is sent to you and to the customer, and the cancellation ticket is closed.
Tech Support Tickets
Tech support tickets are for any customer issue where the customer is having difficulty using the product. This can include customers having issues logging in to a subscription site, customers having issues downloading or opening the product, or customers who have not received a product.
When a tech support ticket is created, the creator includes information about their specific issue. You can then respond to the information in the ticket and provide assistance to the customer. See the Managing Tickets section for more information about viewing and managing tickets.
If there is no activity on a ticket, our system responds based on which person most recently updated the ticket.
If the ticket was most recently updated by the customer, and you have not replied in 48 hours, we send a ticket inactivity warning to you and the customer, reminding both parties to either respond or close the ticket. We send a second reminder after four days. After six days of no activity (not including weekends), our system closes the ticket automatically.
If the ticket was most recently updated by you, the customer has seven business days in which to respond, either with further requests or by closing the ticket. After that time, we send a reminder email. After seven more business days, our system closes the ticket automatically.
The email reminders prompt both you and your customers to resolve the issue and close the ticket when the issue is resolved. Each reminder email also notifies the customer that, if they are not satisfied with the tech support, they can change their ticket into a refund ticket.
Email Notifications
When a ticket is created or updated, a ticket email is sent to your Customer Service Email Address. If there is no specific address for customer service, the emails will be sent to your Account Email Address. We recommend that you specify a Customer Service Email Address that is different from your Account Email Address so that ticket emails are not intermingled with important client communications from ClickBank.
All ticket emails follow a consistent format that includes a message at the top indicating the reason for the email, followed immediately by the most recent comments. The body of the email contains standard information including a link back to the ticket, the ticket details, the order details, and at the bottom the entire history of comments on the ticket (for reference).
The system will generate the following emails, always sending them to both you and the customer:
- Open ticket – Sent whenever any ticket is opened.
- Reply – Sent whenever either party replies (comments) on the ticket.
- Ticket changed – Sent whenever the type of the ticket is changed, for example from a refund ticket to a tech support ticket, or vice versa.
- Ticket closed – Sent whenever a ticket is closed, so that both parties have the entire history of the ticket for reference purposes.
- Ticket inactivity warnings – Sent when a tech support ticket has had no activity for a period of time (time varies depending on who last edited the ticket, you or the customer).
You can view a PDF with samples of all email formats here: http://accounts.clickbank.com/pdf/TicketSystemEmailDoc.pdf
Managing Tickets
You can create customer support tickets, view existing tickets, and manage tickets created by you or by your customers.
The following subjects are covered in this section:
Creating a Ticket
You can create a customer support ticket. This ticket can be for a customer's tech support request, for a refund, or for a cancellation.
You can only create refund tickets for sales or bills within the past 90 days.
When you create a refund or cancellation ticket, the ticket is processed in 5 minutes, rather than the usual 24 hours. It is assumed you do not want to try to save the sale if you enter the request yourself.
Creating a Refund Ticket
A refund ticket is a request to refund some or all of the customer's payment. See the Refund Tickets section for details about how refund tickets are handled.
NOTE: If a customer submits a refund ticket through CLKBank*com, closing the ticket does not issue a refund. Allowing the ticket to close automatically after 24 hours will allow the refund to be processed.
- Log in to your ClickBank account.
- Click the Reporting tab.
- Click Transactions.
- Locate the transaction for which you want to create a ticket.
- Click the View/open ticket for transaction icon (
). - Select the Refund Request type.
- If the transaction included a quantity other than one, select a quantity.
- Select a reason for the refund from the dropdown menu.
- If you have the partial refund feature enabled, select full or partial for the refund type.
- (Optional) Enter additional comments. These comments are visible to anyone who views the ticket.
- Click Send.
Creating a Cancellation Ticket
A cancellation ticket is a request to cancel all future payments for a recurring product. See the Cancellation Tickets section for details about how cancellation tickets are handled.
- Log in to your ClickBank account.
- Click the Reporting tab.
- Click Transactions.
- Locate the transaction for which you want to create a ticket.
- Click the View/open ticket for transaction icon ().
- Select the Cancellation Request type.
- Select a reason for the cancellation from the dropdown.
- (Optional) Enter additional comments. These comments are visible to anyone who views the ticket.
- Click Send.
Responding to a Tech Support Ticket
A tech support ticket is a request for assistance with accessing or using a product. See the Tech Support Tickets section for details about how tech support tickets are handled.
NOTE – Do not open Tech Support Tickets on the customer’s behalf. The system will automatically close the ticket.
- Log in to your ClickBank account.
- Click the Reporting tab.
- Click Transactions.
- Locate the transaction for which you want to create a ticket.
- Click the View/open ticket for transaction icon ().
- Select the REPLY type.
- Under Additional Comments, respond to the information in the ticket and provide assistance to the customer. These comments are visible to anyone who views the ticket.
- Click Send.
Escalating to ClickBank
An escalation to ClickBank is a ticket requesting assistance from ClickBank to handle the request. This can be anything from refunding outside of the 90-day refund period, updating customer information, or subscription management.
- Log in to your ClickBank account.
- Click the Reporting
- Click Transactions.
- Locate the transaction for which you want to create a ticket.
- Click the View/open ticket for transaction icon ().
- Click the >>Escalate to ClickBank link under actions.
- A pop-up window will appear. Please explain why you are escalating the ticket in the comments box.
- This action should be for any request you are unable to process, for example, updating a customer’s email address, subscription management, or refunding outside of the 90-day refund period.
- Click Submit.
Viewing a Ticket
You can view the details of an existing ticket.
- Log in to your ClickBank account.
- Click the Reporting tab.
- Click Transactions.
- Locate the transaction for which you want to edit the ticket.
- Click the View/open ticket for transaction icon ().
The ticket is displayed.
Updating or Closing a Ticket
You can edit an existing support ticket to add new information, close the ticket, or issue a refund.
- Log in to your ClickBank account.
- Click the Reporting tab.
- Click Transactions.
- Locate the transaction for which you want to edit the ticket.
- Click the View/open ticket for transaction icon ().
The ticket is displayed. - Select an action:
- Reply – This action adds text that is visible to anyone who views the ticket, including the customer, you, and ClickBank.
- Close Ticket – This action closes the ticket without taking any further action. If the ticket is a refund ticket, this action does not issue a refund.
- Change to Tech Support – Changes the ticket type to Tech Support. This action is available for refund and cancellation tickets.
- Please Refund – This action issues a refund within five minutes.
- Change Refund Type – This action specifies whether to issue a partial or full refund.
- Escalate to ClickBank – This action requests assistance from ClickBank in resolving the ticket. If you select this action, a new window is displayed. Enter an explanation for why you are escalating the ticket, then click Submit.
- (Optional) Enter additional comments. These comments are visible to anyone who views the ticket. This field is required if you are replying to a ticket.
- Click Send.
FAQ
Q: How do you determine when the weekend starts for my location?
A: You can specify your time zone within your account by editing your Contact Information on the My Account page on the Account Settings tab. We will use the time zone to determine when your weekend officially starts. Any tickets that are set to expire on Saturday or Sunday (based on your time zone) will not expire until Monday.
Q: Can I have customers contact me for refund requests, instead of contacting ClickBank?
A: You can provide customers with a customer service email address, phone number, or site, and manage their requests. If you enter these contact methods in your account information, we will provide them to customers when asked. See the Updating Your Account Information article for more information.
However, these methods are in addition to ClickBank's customer service department, not a replacement for it. Customers can always contact us directly for refund requests or tech issues.
Related Articles
- Refunds & Chargebacks – This article explains how refunds and chargebacks work, and how to minimize them.
- Troubleshooting Customer Issues – This article explains how to identify and fix common customer issues.
- Selling Recurring Products – This article explains how to sell recurring products.
- Return and Cancellation Policy – This legal document explains the requirements for returns and cancellations.