Dunning email sequences
How Garde's automated payment failure emails work, what each email type does, and how to customize the copy.
Dunning is the process of recovering subscriptions that lapsed because of a failed payment — not because the member chose to cancel. Garde's dunning system sends a sequence of emails to those members automatically, timed to maximize recovery without being pushy.
What dunning is
When Awtomic reports a billing failure on a member's subscription, Garde receives a signal and starts a dunning sequence for that member. The sequence is a series of emails sent over the next 10 days, each with a different tone and focus:
- Early emails focus on the card update (direct, practical)
- Middle emails add urgency through upcoming shipment content (FOMO)
- Later emails sound more personal — like a note from someone at the winery
If the payment succeeds at any point, the sequence stops automatically. No further emails are sent.
The five dunning email types
Garde has five email templates in the dunning sequence, each matched to a specific situation or timing:
Card update — Sent on day 0, immediately after the payment failure. Direct and action-oriented: "Your card was declined, here's how to update it." Includes a link to the Awtomic card update page. This is the most important email in the sequence — the sooner members update their card, the less likely you are to lose them.
FOMO (upcoming shipment) — Sent around day 5. Focuses on what's coming in the next shipment: the wines, the date. Members who are delaying because of inertia — not because they want to cancel — often respond well to a reminder of what they're about to miss.
Personal — Sent around day 9–10. Written to sound like a note from a real person at the winery, not an automated system. Lower urgency, warmer tone. A good last-attempt before the sequence ends.
Auth required — Sent when the failure code indicates 3D Secure or Strong Customer Authentication is needed (not a card problem — the card is valid, but the bank requires the member to re-authenticate). The copy explains this clearly so members don't assume their card was rejected.
Address issue — Sent when the failure is due to an invalid shipping or billing address. Different problem, different copy: "We couldn't process your order because your shipping address needs updating."
Garde selects the appropriate template based on the decline code Awtomic sends — you don't need to configure which template fires when.
Customizing the email copy
Go to Admin → Dunning to edit your email templates. Each template has:
- Subject line — the email subject members see
- Body — the full email content
Templates support variables using {{variable}} syntax. Available variables include:
{{memberFirstName}}— the member's first name{{wineryName}}— your winery's display name{{cardUpdateUrl}}— a direct link to the member's card update page{{nextShipmentDate}}— the date of their upcoming shipment{{nextShipmentWines}}— the wines in their next shipment{{memberTenureMonths}}— how many months they've been a member{{memberLtv}}— the member's lifetime spend
You can also set a from name (displayed as the sender name, e.g. "Sarah at Ridgeline Cellars") and a reply-to address so member replies go directly to your team.
How dunning interacts with the cancel flow
Dunning and the cancel flow handle two different member situations:
- Cancel flow — member actively chooses to cancel. They click a link, land on the cancel page, select a reason, and see a save offer.
- Dunning — member's payment failed passively. They may not even know the subscription is at risk.
These run independently. A member on a dunning sequence could also actively visit the cancel flow if they decide they want to cancel — in that case, both systems may fire simultaneously. The cancel flow takes precedence: if the member accepts a save offer (for example, a pause), the dunning sequence is not affected by that action directly, but if the Awtomic subscription status changes as a result, the dunning session will close on the next billing success or failure signal.
Next: Email notifications — what gets sent and when — the complete guide to staff notifications for cancel flow events.