We tried a win-back flow inside the web funnel that offered personalized discounts and refunds to users who cancelled. It felt risky but two things happened: some users accepted the offer and re-activated, and many gave specific feedback that explained why they left.
The refunds part was bold. For a small subset we issued partial refunds and followed up with a tailored offer. Financially it worked for a few cohorts and it left customers with a better impression than a hard stop. Still, refunds add operational work and risk of chargebacks, so you need rules and monitoring.
Has anyone run a refund-first win-back and tracked its long term effect on retention?
We offered a 50% refund plus a discounted year to a small churn segment. It was manual at first and then we automated with a tool that reads web events and issues refunds.
It kept some users and gave valuable feedback. Just watch chargebacks and have strict eligibility rules.
We ran a win-back with tiered incentives. Small discount first then a larger refund option if they returned within 7 days.
It recovered decent LTV from a niche segment and taught us why people cancelled. Automating the flow on the web made iteration fast and measurable.
We used a short survey at cancellation then offered a tailored discount. Some came back and stayed.
The survey answers were the real win. They told us what to change.
Refunds are heavy but they buy goodwill
Win-backs work when they are targeted and based on signal. Instead of blanket offers, build triggers: high usage then sudden drop, or trial users who never hit a key activation event.
Run experiments on who to target and what to offer. Track not just reactivation but month 3 retention and chargeback rates. If refunds increase retention without excessive chargebacks they can improve LTV.
We segmented churners by reason and only offered refunds to those who reported product issues. That kept our refund costs lower and recovered users more often.
Make win-back offers time limited and tied to behavior. A one week window with clear next steps works better than vague promises.
We found refunds gave good PR but require clear rules. Otherwise Stripe disputes spike.
Start small. Test on a narrow segment before rolling out a broad refund policy.