Naming it
The platform paid the refund and the seller kept the money — what is that called?
It is usually called an **unreversed transfer**: the refund was issued without `reverse_transfer`, so the buyer’s money came from the platform while the connected account retained the original transfer. You will also see "stranded transfer" or "absorbed refund" informally — same phenomenon. Naming it precisely matters practically: searchable terminology connects you to the fixes, and precision defeats the vague dread that keeps teams from investigating.
The anatomy, once more with names attached
Charge → transfer out (minus fee) → refund issued flagless → buyer made whole from platform balance → transfer remains outstanding in seller account. Four facts, zero errors logged. The term for the residue: an unreversed transfer carrying the seller’s retained share.
Is it fraud by the seller?
Almost never. Sellers received transfers through ordinary flows; a default value declined to reclaim anything. Treating it as seller misconduct poisons the recovery conversations that actually retrieve the money — treat it as plumbing and the plumbing fixes politely.
Immediate remediation path
Compute owed proportionally from live state; reverse while balances remain reachable; notice sellers per template; fix flags on every issuing path; monitor continuously so the next occurrence finds you before month-end does.
Common questions
Is there an official Stripe term?
"Transfer reversal" describes the correction; the stranded state itself has no single official name — unreversed transfer is the precise community usage.
How common is this?
Common enough that entire tooling categories exist for it. Run the scanner; anecdotes end where numbers start.