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 matches none of your customers, and you cannot block a customer record that has no email.

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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, and Blocked On. Blocked By shows the team member who added the block, or API for a block added with an API key.
• Search Identifier and Filters: Find an entry by email or customer ID, or filter by Blocked By and Blocked Between.
• Action: See Details opens the blocked customer’s page, and Unblock removes the block. Team members with the Viewer role cannot unblock.

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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. You can edit a note later through the API.
• 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 that changes the account is refused. A refused action returns HTTP 403 with PORTAL_ACTION_NOT_PERMITTED and 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’s page from the dispute or the 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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