> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://help.dollarlabs.io/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://help.dollarlabs.io/dollarback-store-credit/troubleshooting-and-faq/customer-didnt-receive-cashback.md). # A customer didn't receive cashback Start with the order itself: open it in **Shopify admin → Orders**. When an order earned nothing, the **DollarBack summary** card shows **No cashback** with the reason ([Admin blocks on the customer & order pages](/dollarback-store-credit/analytics-data-and-account/admin-blocks-customer-and-order-pages.md)).
The Metafields card on a Shopify order with the No Credit Reason field marked.

When an order earns nothing, DollarBack writes the reason to the order's No Credit Reason metafield.

## What the reason on the order means The **No cashback** row shows one of these messages. Some messages cover several causes, so check each cause listed. | Message on the card | What it means | What to check | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | Order has no customer associated | The order was placed without a customer (a guest checkout with no customer record), so there is nobody to credit. | Check 1 below. | | No cashback configuration found for this store | DollarBack found no cashback programs at all for the store. | Create a purchase program: **Home → Cashback** tab → **Create cashback rule**. | | No active cashback configuration matches this order's sales channel | No purchase program was left after filtering. Despite the wording, the sales channel is only one of the causes. | Each of these: the program is switched off or **Expired**; the order is outside the program's start and end dates (check 7); the program isn't set for the channel the order came from (check 8); the order used a discount code and the program is set not to pay on discount codes (check 10); or the store has no purchase program, only signup, birthday, social or other programs. A store whose only matching purchase program pays a discount code also shows this message: look for the **Discount codes** row on the same card. | | Tiers are active but customer has no tier assigned | Tiers are on, and the customer isn't in a tier yet. | Check 3. | | Customer's tier '…' not found in tier configuration | The customer's tier is switched off or was removed. | Check 3. | | Customer's tier '…' has no cashback configs assigned | The customer's tier has no linked purchase programs. | Check 3: link programs to the tier. | | No active configurations match customer's tier '…' | The tier has linked programs, but none of them is active for this order (switched off, outside its dates, wrong channel, or set not to pay on discount codes). | Check 3, then checks 7, 8 and 10 for the linked programs. | | Cashback skipped: order paid with store credit or gift card (per store settings) | Your **Special Order Types** settings skip orders paid with store credit or a gift card. | Check 9. | | Cashback calculated to zero: no matching products or line items qualify | Programs matched, but no line in the order earned anything: the products aren't in the program, or discounts brought the qualifying lines to $0. | Check 10 and the program's **Applies to** setting. | | Customer excluded by tag-based exclusion rules | The customer has a tag from your store-wide **Exclude customers by tag** list. | Check 2. DollarBack only shows this when the order would otherwise have earned cashback. | If the card shows **No DollarBack activity on this order** and no **No cashback** row, DollarBack hasn't recorded anything for the order yet. Usually the trigger event hasn't happened (for example, the trigger is **Order Fulfilled** and the order isn't fulfilled; check 4), or the order was placed before DollarBack was installed. A **Cashback** row with a **Pending** badge means the credit is waiting out the holding period (check 5). If that doesn't settle it, run this checklist top to bottom, most common cause first. Keep the credit log (**DollarBack admin → Analytics → Activity**) beside the order. ## 1. Is there a customer on the order? **Look at:** the Customer section of the order in Shopify admin. **You'll see:** no customer, because the order was a guest checkout. Store credit lives on a customer account, so a guest order can't earn. **Fix:** expected. Ask customers to log in or create an account before checking out; you can credit this order manually once the customer has an account. ## 2. Is the customer excluded by tag? **Look at:** the customer's tags in Shopify admin, against the **Exclude customers by tag** list in **DollarBack admin → Settings → Advanced**. **You'll see:** a tag on the customer (e.g. `wholesale`) that matches your exclusion list. Excluded customers never earn; nothing appears in the credit log. **Fix:** remove the tag from the customer, or from the exclusion list, for future orders. Past orders can be credited manually, or in bulk with [Backfill cashback for past orders](/dollarback-store-credit/earning-cashback-programs/backfill-cashback-for-past-orders.md) on the Enterprise plan. ## 3. Are tiers active, and is the customer in the right tier? **Look at:** **DollarBack admin → Tiers**: whether tiers are active, and which cashback programs each tier is linked to. Then check which tier the customer is in. **You'll see:** while tiers are active, purchase cashback is paid only from the programs linked to the customer's tier. A customer with no tier, a customer whose tier is switched off, or a tier with no linked programs earns no purchase cashback. The customer tags you set on each program are also ignored while tiers are active; only the global **Exclude customers by tag** list still applies. **Fix:** link the program to every tier that should earn from it, and check that the customer has a tier. See [Loyalty tiers overview](/dollarback-store-credit/loyalty-tiers/loyalty-tiers-overview.md). ## 4. Has the trigger event happened yet? **Look at:** your trigger setting in **Settings → Trigger & Timing**: cashback issues when the order is *created*, *paid*, or *fulfilled*. **You'll see:** for example, trigger = fulfilled and the order still unfulfilled. No credit is expected yet. **Fix:** nothing is wrong. Complete the fulfillment (or payment) and the credit issues. ## 5. Is the credit pending, not missing? **Look at:** your holding period in **Settings → Trigger & Timing** (0–90 days), and the **Scheduled** tab in **Analytics → Activity**. **You'll see:** the credit listed as scheduled. If its status is **Denied**, the order was cancelled during the hold (or the program had ended by the release), so no credit is paid, by design. During the holding period the credit is not yet in the customer's balance, so the customer can't see it in the storefront widgets or spend it at checkout. Discount-code rewards wait for the holding period too. **Fix:** none needed; it releases automatically when the hold ends. Tell the customer the date. ## 6. Did a discount-code reward reach its limit? Purchase programs have no limit on how often a customer can earn. This check applies only when the program's **Reward kind** is **Discount code**. **Look at:** the program's **Limit issues per customer** field, and the codes the customer already got from that program (**Analytics → Activity → Discount codes**). **You'll see:** the customer already got the maximum number of codes from this program. The limit counts every code the program ever issued to that customer, with no time window. A code that was revoked (for example, after a cancelled order) frees a place; a code that was used does not. A blank field means no limit. **Fix:** expected behavior. Raise or clear the limit if it's too strict, or credit the customer manually as a goodwill gesture. ## 7. Was the order inside the config's date window? **Look at:** the config's start and end dates. **You'll see:** the order placed before the start or after the end date, so the config didn't apply. **Fix:** extend or reopen the config's dates for future orders. ## 8. Does the sales channel qualify? **Look at:** the order's sales channel versus the program's channel list. Channels are set per program, not in Settings: open the program (**DollarBack admin → Home → Cashback** tab **→ Manage configurations**) and, in its **Advanced** section, check **Restrict to sales channels**.
The Restrict to sales channels field of a cashback program with the help text Leave all unchecked to allow every channel and the checkboxes Online Store, Shop, Point of Sale and Draft orders, all unchecked.

Restrict to sales channels is in the Advanced section of each cashback program.

**You'll see:** e.g. a Point of Sale order while the program allows only Online Store. {% hint style="info" %} When every channel is unchecked, the program allows all channels. Check a channel only to limit the program to it. {% endhint %} **Fix:** check the channel on each program that should earn from it (or uncheck all channels to allow every channel), then save. ## 9. Was the order paid with store credit or gift cards? **Look at:** the order's payment breakdown, and the "pays with store credit" / "pays with gift cards" settings. **You'll see:** an order fully covered by store credit or gift cards while the setting is "no cashback" (or "real money only" / "non-gift-card portion" with nothing left over). The cashback base is $0 by design. **Fix:** expected under your settings. Change them only if you *want* credit- or gift-card-paid amounts to earn. ## 10. Did a discount bring the item to $0, or switch the program off? **Look at:** the order's discounts, the program's reward type, and its **Give cashback when discount codes are used** option. **You'll see:** a 100%-off code (common on test orders), a fixed reward bigger than the discounted item price, or a program set to skip discount codes. Each means no cashback by design. **Fix:** see [A discounted order earned less (or no) cashback](/dollarback-store-credit/troubleshooting-and-faq/discounted-order-earned-no-cashback.md). ## 11. Does the program's customer-tag filter leave the customer out? This check applies only while tiers are **off**. (While tiers are on, the program's tag filters are ignored; see check 3.) **Look at:** the program's **Include customer tags** and **Exclude customer tags** fields, against the customer's tags in Shopify admin. **You'll see:** the program has **Include customer tags** and the customer has none of them, or the customer has one of its **Exclude customer tags**. That program pays nothing on the order; the card usually shows "Cashback calculated to zero". **Fix:** add or remove the tag on the customer, or change the program's tag fields. ## 12. Was the item a gift card? **Look at:** whether the order was for a gift card product, and **Give cashback when customers purchase gift card products** in **DollarBack admin → Settings → Special Order Types**. **You'll see:** the setting turned off. Gift card products then earn nothing, so an order with only gift cards earns no cashback. **Fix:** turn the setting on if gift card purchases should earn. This is different from paying *with* a gift card (check 9). ## 13. Does the customer owe store credit? **Look at:** the **Store credit owed** card on the customer's page in Shopify admin ([Admin blocks on the customer & order pages](/dollarback-store-credit/analytics-data-and-account/admin-blocks-customer-and-order-pages.md#store-credit-owed-on-the-customer-page)). **You'll see:** an amount owed, usually from a refund or edit that clawed back credit the customer had already spent. New cashback goes to paying down that amount first, so the customer receives less, or nothing, until it's cleared. **Fix:** expected. To forgive the debt, set **Set amount owed** to 0 and click **Save**. Still unexplained after all these checks? Contact support with the order ID. ## Related articles * [A discounted order earned less (or no) cashback](/dollarback-store-credit/troubleshooting-and-faq/discounted-order-earned-no-cashback.md) * [When credit is issued](/dollarback-store-credit/earning-cashback-programs/when-credit-is-issued.md) * [How cashback is calculated](/dollarback-store-credit/earning-cashback-programs/how-cashback-is-calculated.md) * [Settings](/dollarback-store-credit/settings.md) * [Exclude customers from earning](/dollarback-store-credit/earning-cashback-programs/exclude-customers-from-earning.md) * [Loyalty tiers overview](/dollarback-store-credit/loyalty-tiers/loyalty-tiers-overview.md)