Prerequisites

Gorgias account on any paid plan (Rules are included on all paid tiers)
A team or set of agents designated to handle refund requests
A list of refund-related keywords your customers commonly use

Why Gorgias Rules?

Gorgias Rules are the fastest way to route refund requests. Everything runs natively — no external tools, no API keys, no code. Rules fire the moment a ticket is created and apply team assignment, tags, and priority in real time. Setup takes under 15 minutes for a basic routing Rule.

The trade-off is detection accuracy. Rules match keywords, which works well for explicit refund language ("I want a refund") but misses conversational phrasing ("this isn't what I ordered and I want my money"). Keyword-based detection typically catches 70-80% of refund requests. For the remaining 20-30%, use the Claude Code approach which reads the full message semantically.

How it works

Rule 1 fires on ticket creation, matches refund-related keywords in the subject and body, assigns to the Refund Team, and tags refund-request
Rule 2 detects high-urgency language (chargeback, dispute, attorney) and sets priority to Urgent before the general Rule fires
View filters to refund-request and refund-urgent tags so the refund team has a dedicated queue sorted by priority

Overview

Gorgias Rules let you detect refund language the moment a ticket is created and automatically assign it to the right team, add a tag, and optionally set priority. You'll create two Rules: one to detect and route refund requests, and a second to flag high-value refund requests for senior review.

Step 1: Define your refund keyword list

Before building Rules, compile the phrases customers use when requesting refunds. These vary by industry, but a strong starting set for e-commerce:

Category	Keywords
Direct refund language	refund, money back, get my money, reimburse, credit back
Return language	return, send back, exchange, swap, replace
Order issues	wrong item, damaged, defective, broken, never arrived
Cancellation	cancel order, cancel my order, don't want this, changed my mind

Keep this list in a shared doc — you'll update it as you spot gaps.

Check your recent tickets for missed keywords

Search your last 100 refund tickets in Gorgias for phrases that don't appear in your keyword list. Customers often say things like "I want my money" or "this isn't what I ordered" — phrasing that's clearly a refund request but uses none of the obvious keywords.

Step 2: Create the refund team in Gorgias

Go to Settings → Teams and create a team called Refund Team (or similar). Add only agents who are authorized to process refunds and issue credits.

If you already have a team structure, you can skip this step and assign to an existing team in the Rule action.

Step 3: Create the refund routing Rule

Navigate to Settings → Automation → Rules and click Add rule.

Rule name: Route: Refund Request

When: Ticket is created

Conditions (ANY of these match):

Message body contains: refund
Message body contains: money back
Message body contains: return
Message body contains: send back
Message body contains: exchange
Message body contains: cancel order
Message body contains: wrong item
Message body contains: damaged
Message body contains: defective
Subject contains: refund
Subject contains: return

Actions:

Add tag: refund-request
Assign to team: Refund Team

Use 'ANY' condition logic

Set the condition group to ANY (OR logic). A ticket mentioning "damaged" alone should trigger the Rule — it doesn't also need to mention "refund."

Step 4: Create a priority Rule for high-urgency refund language

Some refund requests signal higher urgency — chargebacks, legal threats, or repeat complaints. Create a second Rule to flag these:

Rule name: Route: Urgent Refund

When: Ticket is created

Conditions (ANY of these match):

Message body contains: chargeback
Message body contains: dispute
Message body contains: BBB
Message body contains: attorney
Message body contains: credit card company
Message body contains: filed a complaint

Actions:

Add tag: refund-urgent
Set priority: Urgent
Assign to team: Refund Team

Rule ordering affects which fires first

Gorgias executes Rules in list order. Place the urgent refund Rule above the general refund Rule so urgent tickets get the refund-urgent tag before the general Rule adds refund-request. Both Rules can fire on the same ticket — the urgent one just needs to run first so the priority is set immediately.

Step 5: Create a View for the refund team

Tags and assignments only help if your team can see them. Create a dedicated View:

Go to Views in the left sidebar → Add view:

View name: Refund Requests
Filters: Tag is refund-request OR tag is refund-urgent, Status is open
Sort by: Priority (urgent first), then oldest first

This gives your refund team a single queue with the most pressing tickets at the top.

Step 6: Test the Rule

Create a test ticket by emailing your Gorgias support address with a message body like "I'd like a refund for order #12345 — the item arrived damaged."

Verify within a few seconds:

The refund-request tag appears on the ticket
The ticket is assigned to the Refund Team
The ticket shows up in your Refund Requests View

Send a second test with "I'm going to file a chargeback if this isn't resolved" to confirm the urgent Rule fires and sets priority.

Troubleshooting

Common questions

How often should I update my keyword list?

Weekly for the first month, then monthly. Review untagged tickets that were actually refund requests to find phrases you missed. Common additions after the first week: "store credit," "wrong size," "not as described," and "refound" (common misspelling).

Should both the general and urgent Rules fire on the same ticket?

Yes. Gorgias fires all matching Rules on a ticket. A message containing "chargeback" triggers both the urgent Rule (which sets priority to Urgent) and the general Rule (which adds the refund-request tag). Place the urgent Rule above the general Rule so priority is set first.

Can I auto-approve small refunds instead of routing them?

Yes. Create a Gorgias Macro that triggers a Shopify refund via API for orders under your threshold (commonly $20-50). Attach it to a Rule that checks both refund keywords and order value. Audit auto-approved refunds weekly to catch abuse.

Cost

Gorgias Rules are included on all paid plans at no additional cost. No external tools or API usage required.

Route refund requests in Gorgias using native Rules