Customer Billing Ops

1---2name: customer-billing-ops3description: Operate customer billing workflows such as subscriptions, refunds, churn triage, billing-portal recovery, and plan analysis using connected billing tools like Stripe. Use when the user needs to help a customer, inspect subscription state, or manage revenue-impacting billing operations.4origin: ECC5---6 7# Customer Billing Ops8 9Use this skill for real customer operations, not generic payment API design.10 11The goal is to help the operator answer: who is this customer, what happened, what is the safest fix, and what follow-up should we send?12 13## When to Use14 15- Customer says billing is broken, they want a refund, or they cannot cancel16- Investigating duplicate subscriptions, accidental charges, failed renewals, or churn risk17- Reviewing plan mix, active subscriptions, yearly vs monthly conversion, or team-seat confusion18- Creating or validating a billing portal flow19- Auditing support complaints that touch subscriptions, invoices, refunds, or payment methods20 21## Preferred Tool Surface22 23- Use connected billing tools such as Stripe first24- Use email, GitHub, or issue trackers only as supporting evidence25- Prefer hosted billing/customer portals over custom account-management code when the platform already provides the needed controls26 27## Guardrails28 29- Never expose secret keys, full card details, or unnecessary customer PII in the response30- Do not refund blindly; first classify the issue31- Distinguish among:32  - accidental duplicate purchase33  - deliberate multi-seat or team purchase34  - broken product / unmet value35  - failed or incomplete checkout36  - cancellation due to missing self-serve controls37- For annual plans, team plans, and prorated states, verify the contract shape before taking action38 39## Workflow40 41### 1. Identify the customer cleanly42 43Start from the strongest identifier available:44 45- customer email46- Stripe customer ID47- subscription ID48- invoice ID49- GitHub username or support email if it is known to map back to billing50 51Return a concise identity summary:52 53- customer54- active subscriptions55- canceled subscriptions56- invoices57- obvious anomalies such as duplicate active subscriptions58 59### 2. Classify the issue60 61Put the case into one bucket before acting:62 63| Case | Typical action |64|------|----------------|65| Duplicate personal subscription | cancel extras, consider refund |66| Real multi-seat/team intent | preserve seats, clarify billing model |67| Failed payment / incomplete checkout | recover via portal or update payment method |68| Missing self-serve controls | provide portal, cancellation path, or invoice access |69| Product failure or trust break | refund, apologize, log product issue |70 71### 3. Take the safest reversible action first72 73Preferred order:74 751. restore self-serve management762. fix duplicate or broken billing state773. refund only the affected charge or duplicate784. document the reason795. send a short customer follow-up80 81If the fix requires product work, separate:82 83- customer remediation now84- product bug / workflow gap for backlog85 86### 4. Check operator-side product gaps87 88If the customer pain comes from a missing operator surface, call it out explicitly. Common examples:89 90- no billing portal91- no usage/rate-limit visibility92- no plan/seat explanation93- no cancellation flow94- no duplicate-subscription guard95 96Treat those as ECC or website follow-up items, not just support incidents.97 98### 5. Produce the operator handoff99 100End with:101 102- customer state summary103- action taken104- revenue impact105- follow-up text to send106- product or backlog issue to create107 108## Output Format109 110Use this structure:111 112```text113CUSTOMER114- name / email115- relevant account identifiers116 117BILLING STATE118- active subscriptions119- invoice or renewal state120- anomalies121 122DECISION123- issue classification124- why this action is correct125 126ACTION TAKEN127- refund / cancel / portal / no-op128 129FOLLOW-UP130- short customer message131 132PRODUCT GAP133- what should be fixed in the product or website134```135 136## Examples of Good Recommendations137 138- "The right fix is a billing portal, not a custom dashboard yet"139- "This looks like duplicate personal checkout, not a real team-seat purchase"140- "Refund one duplicate charge, keep the remaining active subscription, then convert the customer to org billing later if needed"