refunds/exchanges no longer available

[SkateTech]

Suddenly Square no longer allows refunds or exchanges -- for instance, a customer exchanges an item for a different size.  You need to refund their credit card (fee) and create a new transaction.  That's three fees on one sale - the original sale, the refund & the exchange sale.  THIS IS NEW.  Additionally, you cannot credit an existing sale with a refunded item.  For instance, a customer is returning an item priced at $10 and buying an item priced at $20.  You cannot simply return the $10 item (without refunding) and charge the customer the difference.  THIS IS NEW.

This is how the process is described on Square website today Jan 17 2026 -- this is NOT POSSIBLE.

Option 1: Transactions

1. Open your point of sale app, then tap Transactions.
2. Locate the original transaction by either swiping your customer’s card or searching for the receipt number.
3. Tap Return or Exchange.
4. Select item(s) to restock or Skip this step > tap Next.
5. You can either issue a refund or search your item library to add additional items to the cart. The cart amount will automatically adjust, calculating the difference between the original and replacement items.

[Sammie_C]

Hi @SkateTech, welcome to the Square Community! I would be happy to help.

I had our Account Services team take a look on their side, and they said that they see no changes to this process. They are still able to make returns and exchanges as intended.

They were wondering, is there anyway that you could please update all of your devices and see if this resolves it for you?

Please let me know if that fixes it for you, and if not, then we can go from there.

[SkateTech]

We spent about 1 1/2 hrs. on the phone with Support on Saturday.  The first person I spoke with insisted that the only returns/exchanges that could be made was (a) refund to credit card or (b) purchase of a gift card.  The second and third people we spoke with spent a lot of time with us -- we sent pictures of our screen to them etc.  We tried EVERYTHING over the course of an hour or so  On the Support end, returns/exchanges were possible by crediting an existing transaction.  On our end, no.  Finally it was suggested that we upgrade our iPad and stand.  So over the weekend I ordered a new iPad/stand from Square (which have not been delivered yet).  Our shop was closed Sunday and Monday.

Today, Tuesday, my manager did some test sales/returns and reported that the system was working normally and the option to credit a transaction was available.

I have no idea what happened.  We've been customers since 2019 and are very familiar with the POS.   I can send along a picture of the screen we were getting last Friday/Saturday but I don't see how to do it in this message thread.

Susan

[Sammie_C]

I am sorry you are having to deal with this, as this sounds like a frustrating situation, but I am glad to hear it has been resolved. 

Customer Support may have already gone over this, but would you be able to check if your old devices are all up-to-date? As this could be why you are experiencing these issues.