When we introduce BackToMe to a new user, the same question often comes up: “So, does it also handle refunds?”, or: “Does it replace my customer-service tool?” The answer is no, and that is not a shortcoming. It is a choice.
BackToMe is a simple, compliant infrastructure that lets professionals receive, centralise and track online withdrawal requests. Not a CRM. Not a helpdesk. Not customer-service software. Not a product-returns management tool. This article explains why the scope stays deliberately narrow, and what that choice concretely brings you.
The exact role of the product
When a consumer clicks the withdrawal button installed on your site, BackToMe does four things, and only four:
- Receive the request, in a form compliant with the withdrawal-button obligation (Directive (EU) 2023/2673EUR-Lex ↗) and the Consumer Rights Directive (2011/83/EU)EUR-Lex ↗.
- Send immediate proof to the consumer, as a timestamped, enforceable acknowledgement of receipt on a durable medium.
- Centralise the case in a multi-site dashboard, with its reference number, its proof hash, its documents.
- Track the status of the request: to process, in progress, closed, with the option to attach internal notes that are invisible to the consumer.
That is all. It is short. It is deliberate.
What BackToMe does not do, and why
BackToMe does not handle
- Refunds (which happen in Stripe, your e-commerce back office or your accounting)
- Product returns (which go through your logistics, your carrier, your return labels)
- Customer service in the broad sense (delivery questions, commercial warranties, complaints)
- Automating legal decisions (qualifying a withdrawal exception under Directive 2011/83/EU art. 16, refusing a request, etc.)
- Deep integration with your existing ERP or customer-service software
For each of these points, a better tool than BackToMe already exists in your stack: Stripe for refunds, your e-commerce solution for product returns, Zendesk/Intercom/Front for customer service, your legal adviser for sensitive decisions. Duplicating these tools inside BackToMe would force you to:
- reimplement what already exists elsewhere (and therefore do it less well),
- import into BackToMe data that has no business being there,
- create a dependency where you want simplicity,
- dilute the product’s value by multiplying surfaces.
The bet is the opposite: stay narrow, reliable, with no unnecessary surface. Secure the regulatory entry point, and leave everything else to your usual tools.
What this choice concretely brings you
An installation that stays plug-and-play
A single line of JavaScript to paste into the <head> of your site. No API to wire up to your ERP. No Stripe field mapping. No connector to configure. The product’s narrow scope is what makes installation trivial: there is almost nothing to integrate because there is almost nothing to integrate.
Clear responsibility
EU law requires you to offer a withdrawal mechanism, and since 19 June 2026 a dedicated button (a European obligation set by Directive (EU) 2023/2673, applicable across the 27 member states and, in Ireland, enforced by the CCPC). BackToMe covers this obligation, and documents it in an enforceable way. The rest (deciding to refund, handling return logistics, qualifying the case) falls under your commercial and legal responsibility, not ours. This clear line is what keeps the product honest and stops us selling you a “global compliance” that no third-party tool can seriously promise.
No proprietary lock-in
Because BackToMe does not store your orders, your customers, your refunds or your legal decisions, you can leave whenever you want without losing anything. A CSV export of withdrawals on demand, and that is all that lives with us. The product does not gradually become the base of your back office, by design.
A cost that stays predictable
25 € ex. VAT/month per activated site, with no tiers. This public pricing is viable precisely because the scope is narrow. A tool that claimed to handle the entire post-withdrawal chain would have to charge far more to cover the cost of development, integrations and specialist support. BackToMe does not have to.
“Closed” does not mean “refunded”
A point that often surprises on first use: in the dashboard, each request’s statuses are To process → In progress → Closed. But “Closed” does not mean “refunded by BackToMe”. BackToMe has no way of knowing whether you actually refunded your customer (you may have done it via Stripe, by bank transfer, by set-off, or refused it on grounds of a withdrawal exception).
The statuses describe where the request stands in your internal process, not where the money stands. It is up to you to move them along according to what you have decided. This nuance is deliberate: BackToMe does not substitute for your judgement. For the record, the legal refund deadline remains 14 days from receipt of the request, whatever tool passed the case on to you.
What to remember
If you are looking for a product that:
- leaves you in control of your decisions on each request,
- installs in five minutes with no integration project,
- covers the withdrawal-button obligation without spilling over into the rest of your stack,
- has a legible price because it does few things, but does them well,
…then BackToMe’s narrow scope is an asset, not a limit. If, on the other hand, you are looking for a tool that takes on the whole customer-service chain, from live chat to automatic refunds, you are not in the right product, and we will tell you before you pay.
This is exactly what we mean by “structuring and securing the regulatory entry point of withdrawal, while leaving the professional in control of their decisions”, the doctrine that guides every product trade-off at BackToMe.
Going further
- The product’s full scope, what BackToMe does, and what it does not (About page).
- Pricing and the multi-site grid, why the price stays flat at 25 € ex. VAT/month per site.
- 19 June 2026: everything that changes, the withdrawal-button obligation seen in its legal context.
- The 5 mistakes that will make you miss the deadline, the implementation pitfalls seen on the first sites.
- Am I concerned?, one question, an immediate sourced verdict.
Founder of BackToMe
Art. L.221-21 · 19 June 2026
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