Why isn't my refund showing up?

The benign causes, in the order they actually happen

1. It went to your Amazon balance. Any gift-card or balance-funded part of the order refunds to your balance. Check the balance activity page — a shocking share of "missing" refunds are sitting there.
2. Amazon issued it; your bank hasn't posted it. Card refunds post days after issue — longer across weekends. "Issued" in Amazon's email is the start of the bank's clock, not the end.
3. It's partial, and the missing part is a deduction. Return shipping or a condition reduction can shrink a refund without a clear notice. See partial refunds.
4. You're watching the wrong card. Refunds return to the original payment method — an old card, a replaced card (banks usually route it through), or the card of whoever paid.
5. The return is still "in transit" in Amazon's system even though the carrier delivered it — a scan gap. Your tracking page is the counter-record.

The real one: the refund never completed

If none of the five fits — the balance is empty, the bank window has long passed, the full amount is missing, tracking shows delivery — then your case is the failure Amazon named in its own settlement statement: a refund "issued without the payment completing." That failure is the heart of a $309.5 million settlement covering returns from September 5, 2017 to February 12, 2026.

Your fight from here is the refund-not-received playbook: tracking + weight receipt + the refund email, through the decision-email reply, the appeal form, executive relations, and the BBB — and check the settlement if your return is in the window.