Fixing mistakes, and why the ledger matters

You fix a mistake by adding a line, never by rubbing one out. That one design decision is why your numbers can be trusted, and it is worth understanding before the first time you need it.

What the ledger is

Every point ever issued, spent or corrected is a permanent line in a ledger. Nothing is overwritten and nothing is silently deleted.

A balance, then, is not a number sitting in a box that people edit up and down. It is the sum of the lines. When you ask "how does this customer have 240 points?" there is a real answer — this sale, that sale, that reward they claimed in March — rather than a shrug.

Plenty of loyalty systems store a balance and edit it in place. It is faster to build, and it means nobody can ever answer that question afterwards. We would rather you could.

Correcting an over-award

Suppose you meant to give 50 points and typed 500. The customer's card now shows 500 and they have already seen it.

The fix is not to edit that entry down. It is to add a correcting line of −450. The balance lands on 50, and both lines survive: the 500 you gave and the 450 you took back. Anyone looking in six months can see exactly what happened and when, including you.

An under-award is easier still, because it needs no special concept: you simply award the difference. Gave 5 when the rate said 15? Award 10 more and get on with the day.

You make the correction the same way you made the mistake. On Customers, find the member, type the amount into the award box with a minus sign in front of it, and press Award. The box takes negative numbers exactly as it takes positive ones. The only value it refuses is zero.

A refunded purchase

A customer buys a €60 jacket and earns 60 points. On Saturday they bring it back. The sale is reversed, so the points that came from it should be reversed too — a correcting line for −60, exactly like the over-award.

There is a judgement call here that nobody makes for you. For small amounts, clawing points back is usually not worth it. Taking 6 points off a €6 refund buys you an awkward conversation at the counter and saves you the price of nothing. Pick a threshold, write it on the same card as your earn rate, and apply it the same way every time. Customers forgive a generous rule and resent an inconsistent one.

What to tell the customer

Say it out loud, do it in front of them, and keep it short. The instinct is to fix it quietly later, and it is the wrong instinct: a balance that changes with no explanation is the fastest way to lose someone's faith in the whole program.

Something like: "I've put an extra zero on that one — let me take it back off. You should be on 50. There you go." Then move on.

Three rules that cover almost every case:

• Say it before you do it, not after. Nobody minds a correction they were told about.
• Do not over-apologise. It is a typo, not a scandal. Long apologies make small mistakes feel large.
• If the error is small and in the customer's favour, consider leaving it. Ten points you did not owe is a cheap gift. The conversation costs more than the points.

The only genuinely damaging move is changing someone's balance without telling them.

Why this is what makes your liability number honest

Your Overview shows Outstanding liability — points customers still hold. It is a real obligation, not a vanity metric: those points are rewards you have promised and will one day hand over.

That tile is only worth having because of the ledger. It is derived from the lines, not typed by anyone, so it moves when real things happen and not otherwise. And because corrections are lines too, it stays accurate through your mistakes as well as your good days. A system that let you quietly edit balances would produce a liability figure you could not plan around.

It is also why changing a live program cannot reach backwards and erase what people already have. Raise your reward costs tomorrow and yesterday's lines still stand, because they are history rather than a setting. Editing a live program covers what does and does not change for existing members.

When a balance still looks wrong

Start with the customer, not the system. Most reported problems turn out to be a pending redemption, a second account, or the wrong program — customer can't find their points walks through them in order.