A refund from a Korean store feels much slower than it is, because the confirmation and the money arrive weeks apart with nothing visible in between. Most of that gap is card network processing rather than the store sitting on your money.
The typical sequence
The store approves the cancellation, usually within one to three business days. The refund is submitted to the payment processor, another one to two days. The card network processes it, three to seven business days. Your issuer posts it, sometimes another one to three days. Total is commonly seven to fourteen business days, and up to twenty for cross-border transactions.
Why pre-order refunds take longer
If the original charge was authorised weeks earlier, the refund may not be able to reverse the original authorisation and instead has to be processed as a new credit. This adds days and occasionally means the refunded amount differs slightly from what you paid because the exchange rate moved between the two dates. A difference of one or two percent on a cross-border refund is normal, not an error.
Partial cancellations and shipping fees
Cancelling part of an order can trigger recalculation of a free-shipping threshold, meaning the refund is less than the item price because a domestic shipping fee is now owed. This surprises people constantly. Check the order total before and after rather than assuming the refund equals the item price. The same applies when a cancellation drops you below a promotion threshold, which can claw back a discount you had already been given.
When to actually chase
If the store has confirmed the refund and nothing has appeared after fifteen business days, contact the store with the order number and the confirmation date. If the store has not confirmed within five business days of your cancellation request, chase the store rather than the bank. Filing a card dispute before the store's process has run its course generally makes things slower, not faster.
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Start a buy-for-me order →Frequently asked
Can I cancel a pre-order?
Usually yes up to the point production allocation is fixed, which is often the pre-order closing date. After that many stores will not cancel because the inclusion has already been assigned.
What if I paid by bank transfer?
Refunds to a bank account require account details and often take longer, particularly across borders. Keep the transfer receipt, since it is the reference the store will need.
Will I get the exact amount back?
In won, yes. In dollars, the amount can differ by a percent or two because the conversion happens on the refund date rather than the purchase date.