Customer Blocklist

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What Happens When You Block a Customer

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How Blocking Matches Customers

• Every record with that email is covered. Checkout can create a new customer record for a returning email, so a block on a single customer ID could be bypassed. A block on the email cannot.
• Aliases are covered. Emails are compared in lowercase with any +alias removed, so buyer+promo@example.com and Buyer@example.com count as the same customer. Dots in the address are kept as they are.
• Scoped to your business. A block applies to your business only. The same email can still buy from other businesses on Dodo Payments.
• The email must belong to an existing customer. You cannot block an email that has never checked out with you, and a customer record without an email cannot be blocked.

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Blocking a Customer

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Managing Blocked Customers

• Total Customers Blocked: How many customers are currently blocked.
• Blocked entries: One row per block, with the Identifier you entered (email or customer ID), Blocked By (the team member who added the block), and Blocked On.
• Search Identifier and Filters: Find an entry by email or customer ID, or filter by who blocked it and when.
• Action: Manage the entry, including unblocking the customer.

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The Blocked Customer’s Page

• A Blocked badge next to the customer’s name, and an Unblock Customer button.
• Activity Log: When the customer was added to the blocklist, the reason, and any notes your team has added since. Click Add Note to record new context, such as the outcome of a chargeback. Notes can be edited later.
• Reference IDs: The customer ID linked to this block, ready to copy.

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Unblocking a Customer

• Checkout and Customer Portal changes are restored immediately.
• Cancelled subscriptions are not reactivated. The customer has to purchase again.
• The entry is kept as an audit record together with its notes, but it no longer appears in the active list.
• You can block the same customer again later. That creates a new entry.

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What the Customer Sees

• At checkout, the payment fails with a generic decline: “This payment cannot be processed.” The API returns HTTP 403 with the error code PAYMENT_NOT_PERMITTED, which names no cause. The real reason is written to Dodo Payments’ logs only.
• In the Customer Portal, everything is visible but every action is disabled. A blocked write returns PORTAL_ACTION_NOT_PERMITTED with the message “This action is not available.” The portal profile carries read_only: true so a custom portal integration can disable its own controls. The portal never exposes the blocklist entry or its notes.

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Using the API

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Block a Customer

import DodoPayments from 'dodopayments';

const client = new DodoPayments({
  bearerToken: process.env.DODO_PAYMENTS_API_KEY,
});

// Block by customer ID
const entry = await client.blocklist.customers.create({
  customer_id: 'cus_0NmichXWP8JYBB9Dw1Unj',
  reason: 'Chargeback on pay_0NmichXuYoNoapmr',
});

// Or block by email
const byEmail = await client.blocklist.customers.create({
  email: 'buyer@example.com',
  reason: 'Repeated refund abuse',
});

console.log(entry.id, entry.cancelled_subscription_ids);

import os
from dodopayments import DodoPayments

client = DodoPayments(bearer_token=os.environ["DODO_PAYMENTS_API_KEY"])

# Block by customer ID
entry = client.blocklist.customers.create(
    customer_id="cus_0NmichXWP8JYBB9Dw1Unj",
    reason="Chargeback on pay_0NmichXuYoNoapmr",
)

# Or block by email
by_email = client.blocklist.customers.create(
    email="buyer@example.com",
    reason="Repeated refund abuse",
)

print(entry.id, entry.cancelled_subscription_ids)

curl -X POST https://live.dodopayments.com/blocklist/customers \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $DODO_PAYMENTS_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "customer_id": "cus_0NmichXWP8JYBB9Dw1Unj",
    "reason": "Chargeback on pay_0NmichXuYoNoapmr"
  }'

{
  "id": "bcu_7Hq2mV9kRt4LxYw3Pz",
  "customer_id": "cus_0NmichXWP8JYBB9Dw1Unj",
  "customer_name": "wow guy",
  "customer_email": "wowguy@example.com",
  "identifier": "cus_0NmichXWP8JYBB9Dw1Unj",
  "reason": "Chargeback on pay_0NmichXuYoNoapmr",
  "source": "api",
  "blocked_by_email": null,
  "created_at": "2026-09-02T12:09:41Z",
  "unblocked_at": null,
  "cancelled_subscription_ids": ["sub_3Fk8pW2nQs6MzXc1"],
  "subscriptions_swept": true
}

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Check Whether a Customer Is Blocked

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Unblock a Customer

await client.blocklist.customers.delete('bcu_7Hq2mV9kRt4LxYw3Pz');

client.blocklist.customers.delete("bcu_7Hq2mV9kRt4LxYw3Pz")

curl -X DELETE https://live.dodopayments.com/blocklist/customers/bcu_7Hq2mV9kRt4LxYw3Pz \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $DODO_PAYMENTS_API_KEY"

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Best Practices

• Record the reason. A short reason on the block, plus notes for anything that happens later, gives your support team the full story without leaving the dashboard.
• Block after a chargeback. Open the customer from the dispute or payment and block them there, or automate it from the dispute.opened webhook with POST /blocklist/customers. See Disputes.
• Check subscriptions_swept. When you block through the API, repeat the call until the response reports true, so no live subscription is left behind.
• Refund separately. A block stops future purchases only. If you owe the customer money, refund the payment as usual.
• Review the list. Unblock customers whose issue is resolved. Unblocking is immediate and keeps the history.

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