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).
If that doesn't settle it, run this checklist top to bottom, most common cause first. Keep the credit log (DollarBack admin → Analytics) 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 excluded tags list in DollarBack admin → Settings.
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 on the Enterprise plan.
3. Has the trigger event happened yet?
Look at: your trigger setting in Settings: 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.
4. Is the credit pending, not missing?
Look at: your holding period in Settings (0–365 days), and the scheduled rewards tab in Analytics.
You'll see: the credit listed as pending/scheduled. During the holding period it exists but isn't spendable, so the customer's checkout balance won't include it.
Fix: none needed; it releases automatically when the hold ends. Tell the customer the date.
5. Did the customer hit a frequency limit?
Look at: the cashback config's frequency limit, and the customer's earlier credits from that config in the credit log.
You'll see: the customer already earned from this config the maximum number of times in the window.
Fix: expected behavior. Raise the limit on the config if it's too strict, or credit manually as a goodwill gesture.
6. 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.
7. Does the sales channel qualify?
Look at: the order's sales channel versus your channel filters (web, draft orders, POS).
You'll see: e.g. a draft order while draft orders are excluded.
Fix: enable the channel in settings if it should earn.
8. 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.
9. 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.
Still unexplained after all these checks? Contact support with the order ID.
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