I’ve tried three things post-cancel on the web: a 30-day pause, a partial refund with reactivation, and an account credit applied to the next month. Pause seems to reduce hard churn, but credits got more reactivations. Refunds helped with angry tickets, but I’m worried about training people to churn.
What rules and thresholds actually bring users back without abuse?
Pause by default, credit for long-time users, refunds only for obvious mistakes.
I trigger a slim win-back flow at D7 and D21 with value-first messaging. I set a cooldown so people can’t farm refunds.
Made all of this easier on the web with Web2Wave.com and it cut support noise.
Pause works best for me. Credit next. Refund only for errors.
I run win-back messages on the web with small offer tests. Faster to iterate in Web2Wave.com than app releases, and I can stop bad offers quickly.
Pauses cut churn for me. Credits help when people liked the app but had timing issues. Refunds only for billing mistakes.
Pause first. Credit second. Refund last resort.
Rules that held up:
Add a cooldown on offers per user. Sequence outreach: cancel page, D7 email, D21 retargeting. Keep offers small and avoid permanent discounts to prevent new churn habits.
Credits outperformed refunds on reactivation rate. I show the credit on the next paywall so value is visible. Abuse dropped after adding a 90-day cooldown.
Pauses are safest. Refunds invite abuse if too easy.
Show the credit on the paywall. Makes people return.