How it works

Follow these 2 simple steps to start receiving SMS alerts with key charge details the moment a Recharge subscription payment fails

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Recharge Charge Failed
This is what starts the workflow. Every failed Recharge charge fires this trigger instantly, capturing the charge record — customer email, amount, payment processor, and scheduled date — that gets formatted into the SMS in the next step.
This step listens for the charge/failed event from Recharge and fires the moment any subscription payment is unsuccessful. It captures the failed charge details needed to populate the alert, including the charge ID, customer email, total amount, currency, payment processor, and the date the charge was originally scheduled. No configuration is required — it activates automatically for every failed charge across all your subscribers.
Time to complete: Auto-configured (0 minutes)
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Send SMS alert
This is the step that gets the alert to your team. A concise, information-dense text message is sent immediately when a payment fails — so whoever's on point can investigate or reach out to the customer right away, even if they're away from a computer.
This step sends a pre-formatted SMS to the phone number or numbers you specify, containing the charge ID, customer email, total amount and currency, payment processor name, and the originally scheduled charge date. In the field labeled "Which phone number(s) should receive this SMS alert?", enter one or more phone numbers in E.164 format, separated by commas — for example, +15551234567, +15557654321. You can add as many recipients as you need: a support lead, an ops manager, or an on-call team member. The message content is already configured and requires no changes, but you can edit the message text in this step if you want to shorten it or adjust the format.
Time to complete: 2 minutes

Make it your own

Customize this workflow even further:

Route alerts to different numbers based on charge amount
Add a Paths step between the trigger and the SMS step to check the failed charge amount. Send high-value failures to a senior team member or escalation contact, and standard failures to your regular support line. This way urgent situations get immediate attention without every alert going to the same person.
Tag the customer in Shopify at the same time
Add a Shopify customer tag step to run alongside the SMS so the customer's profile is flagged in your store the moment the alert goes out. Your team gets notified via text while Shopify is updated in the same workflow run — useful if you use customer tags to trigger email flows or filter your support queue.

Frequently asked questions

What format do phone numbers need to be in?
Phone numbers must be in E.164 format — a plus sign followed by the country code and number with no spaces, dashes, or parentheses. For US numbers that looks like +15551234567. If a number isn't formatted correctly, the SMS step will fail to deliver for that recipient.
Will this send a separate SMS for every retry attempt if Recharge retries the payment?
Yes — this workflow fires for every charge/failed event Recharge sends, including each failed retry. If a payment is attempted three times and fails each time, three SMS alerts will be sent. If that's too noisy, add a filter step after the trigger to check whether this is the first attempt and only continue if it is.
Can I send the alert to a shared team number or SMS service instead of individual phones?
Yes, as long as the number accepts inbound SMS in E.164 format. Services like a shared team inbox, an on-call rotation tool, or a business SMS platform work fine — just enter that number in the recipient field the same way you would an individual phone number.
What is a template?
Templates are pre-made workflows by our team of experts. Instead of building a workflow from scratch, these have all the steps needed to complete the task.
Can I personalize a template?
Yes! Every step can be customized to meet your exact requirements. Additionally, you can even add more steps and make it more sophisticated.
Are templates free?
Yes! Our entire library containing hundreds of templates are free to use and customize to your exact needs.

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