I was charged twice - how do I get refunded?

First: don't panic

Apparent “double charges” are rarely real double charges. Most often, they're pending bank authorizations that resolve automatically. Read this article all the way through before worrying.

Case 1 - Pending bank authorization

When you pay by bank card, your bank temporarily holds the amount on your account (that's the bank authorization). You then see two lines:

1. The actual transaction sent to Ktkarena via Stripe.
2. The pending authorization held by your bank.

Visually, you see the same amount twice on your statement. In reality, only one was billed. The authorization is released automatically by your bank within 3 to 7 business days, and your balance is restored.

How to check that this is what's happening

• Check the status of both lines in your banking app. If one is marked “Pending” or “Provisional”, it's an authorization.
• Compare with your Ktkarena balance: you should see ONE credit for the amount, not two. If you see two credits, it's a real double charge (see case 2).
• Wait 7 days before worrying. If the authorization still hasn't been released, contact your bank (not us).

Case 2 - Real double charge

You really see two identical validated transactions on the Ktkarena side (two credits to your balance) and two confirmed lines on your bank statement (not “pending”).

It's rare, but it can happen because of:

• Double-clicking the Pay button too quickly.
• A temporary bug between Ktkarena and our payment provider.
• A mishandled timeout on the bank's side.

Refund procedure

1. Go to Wallet → History → Select ONE of the two identical transactions.
2. Tap Report a problem → Double charge.
3. The form automatically detects the twin transaction and asks you to confirm.
4. Submit the request.
5. Our team checks the request.
6. If the double charge is confirmed, full refund.

You don't need to provide any evidence: we have access to the Stripe / Mobile Money / Yellow Card logs and we can see the duplicate operation directly.

Case 3 - Mobile Money double charge confirmed by the operator

This is the trickiest case: your Mobile Money operator (Orange, MTN, Wave) really did charge you twice for the same operation, without Ktkarena ever receiving both payments.

It's rare, and it's a problem on the operator's side, not ours. But we'll help you resolve it.

Procedure

1. Get the two transaction numbers from your operator's SMS messages.
2. Contact your operator first (Orange, MTN, Wave) to report the double charge.
3. If the operator doesn't resolve it within 48 hours, contact support@ktkarena.com with:
   • The two transaction numbers.
   • A screenshot of both SMS messages.
   • The number of the request opened with the operator.
4. We contact the operator on our side with our partner access to speed up the resolution.

What you absolutely must avoid

• Do NOT redo the transaction while you wait. If it was a pending authorization, you'd end up with a REAL double charge.
• Do NOT contact your bank to dispute a Ktkarena transaction without contacting us first. Chargebacks are costly for us and can get your account suspended for suspected fraud.
• Do NOT pay any “refund fee” demanded by someone claiming to be Ktkarena. All our refunds are free.

How long to get my money back