This article explains how to refund, cancel, and reinstate a participant registration, how to answer a customer's cancellation request, and what happens to your account after a refund. To move a registration to another session instead, see Transferring Registrations and Answering Transfer Requests.

Where to process refunds/cancellations

In the provider dashboard, open the session roster (this also applies to Drop-ins), select one participant registration, and click Cancel and refund. The same action is in the participant drawer. It opens the Cancel/refund dialog, which has up to two sections:

• Cancel registration (or Reinstate registration if the registration is already cancelled)
• Issue refund (shown only when part of the original charge can still be refunded)

Key concepts (important for choosing the right option)

• Cancel and refund are separate. Cancel changes the registration status and frees the spot. Refund returns money to the customer's original payment method. You can do either one, or both.
• Standard refund. You can refund up to what you received for the registration (your payout). The dialog shows the fees as Non-refundable fees, and Maximum refund available is your remaining payout for that registration after any earlier refunds.
• Full refund with override. Override for full refund refunds the entire amount the customer paid, fees included. It fills in the remaining amount the customer paid (original total minus earlier refunds) and locks it, and it adds a required consent checkbox. When you confirm, we charge your organization's saved payment method for the fee amount, recover the payout for that registration from your account, and refund the customer in full. Override is blocked if your organization has no saved payment method.

Worked example

A customer paid $100.00 for a session, and your payout for it was $94.60 (fees of $5.40, using the figures in Understanding Your Fees as a Provider).

Step-by-step instructions by scenario

Every scenario starts by opening Cancel and refund for the registration and ends with Confirm. Wherever you cancel or refund, you can check the box to send the customer a notification email.

Partial refunds

Refund some money and keep the registration active: check Issue refund, leave Cancel registration unchecked, and enter an amount no higher than Maximum refund available.

Full refunds

Option A: Full refund up to provider payout (no fee refund)

Check Issue refund and set the amount to the Maximum refund available.

Option B: True full refund (refunds fees too) using "Override for full refund"

Use this when the customer should get back everything they paid. Check Issue refund, then Override for full refund, then the required consent checkbox. The amount becomes read-only at the remaining amount the customer paid, and you are charged the fee amount.

If you have no saved payment method, you will see "You do not have a payment method on file. Please visit Organization settings > Billing to add a payment method first." Add one under Organization settings > Billing and plans, then try again.

Refunds with no cancellation

Leave Cancel registration unchecked and check Issue refund. Everything else works as above.

Cancellations with no refund

To remove the participant from the roster without returning money, check Cancel registration only. If you send the email, it tells the customer the registration is cancelled and no refund has been issued.

Refunds after cancellations

You can refund a registration that is already cancelled. Open Cancel and refund; you will see Reinstate registration in place of Cancel registration. Leave Reinstate registration unchecked, check Issue refund, and enter the amount (or use the override). If you check Reinstate registration, the action becomes a reinstatement and does not issue a refund.

Reinstating cancellations

To restore a cancelled registration, check Reinstate registration and click Confirm. The status returns to paid, or to refunded if the registration's refunds already equal or exceed the original item total. Reinstating does not undo earlier refunds, and it does not send a notification email at this time.

Answering a customer's cancellation request

Customers can ask to cancel a registration from their dashboard. You get a bell notification and an email, the participant's row on the roster shows a red Review refund request button, and the participant drawer shows a Cancellation request card with the customer's reason. The button offers three answers:

If you would deny a request only because of the date, offer Transfer instead... where another session works: the customer is told they have moved rather than that their request was not approved. After a cancellation request is denied, the customer cannot ask to cancel that registration again, but they can still ask to move it to another session.

What happens to your account after a refund

The customer is refunded right away, to their original payment method, whatever your balance is that day. We then recover your portion from your account in the background. On a standard refund, the amount recovered matches what the customer received; the fees are not taken back. In almost every case there is nothing for you to do.

1. We recover your portion from your payouts. This is the same account your payouts go into. When it settles, it appears in your Payout Report as a refund line under the originating payout.
2. If your account is quiet, we retry daily for about 7 days. This is common in the off-season, when there is no recent activity to draw from. As soon as funds are available, the recovery goes through on its own.
3. After 7 days, it moves to an automatic invoice. The invoice is charged to the saved payment method in your billing settings. That charge is your portion of a refund the customer already received, not a new fee.
4. Only if that charge fails, or there is no saved payment method, you get one email titled "Action needed: refund clawback invoice" with a link to pay the invoice. Adding or updating a payment method in your billing settings also lets the next automatic attempt collect it.

Common errors and how to resolve them

• "The refund amount cannot be greater than maximum refund amount": the amount is more than you can refund in standard mode. For a full refund including fees, use Override for full refund.
• "No refundable amount remaining for this charge.": the original charge has already been fully refunded.
• "This charge is disputed. The customer's bank is reviewing it, so it can't be refunded until the bank decides.": the customer disputed the charge with their bank. You cannot refund it during the review, but you can still cancel the registration.
• Missing payment method (override only): add one under Organization settings > Billing and plans and try again.

Emails the customer receives

• Cancel only: the registration is cancelled and no refund has been issued
• Refund only: the amount refunded
• Cancel + refund: both, with how long the refund takes to appear
• Deny request: your reason, as you wrote it
• Transfer instead: where the registration has moved

Cancel and refund emails are sent only when you check the notification box. Examples of every customer email are in Emails Your Customers Receive.

FAQ

Why can't I refund the full amount the customer paid?
A standard refund is capped at your payout for the registration, because the fees were already collected. To return everything, use Override for full refund; you are charged the fee amount.

Why was the customer refunded before anything was recovered from me?
So the family never waits on your balance. The customer is refunded first in every case, and your portion is recovered afterward.

I issued a refund in the off-season and nothing came out of my account. Did it work?
Yes. The customer was refunded. Recovery retries daily for about 7 days, then moves to an invoice charged to your saved payment method.

Is the charge on my payment method a new fee?
No. It is your portion of a refund the customer already received, billed there only because it could not be recovered from your payouts.

What do I do if I get the "Action needed" email?
Pay the invoice from the link in the email, or add or update a payment method in your billing settings. If you add one, the next automatic attempt collects the amount and the invoice closes on its own.

Will the customer's refund be reversed if you cannot recover it from me?
No. The customer keeps their refund. Recovery is handled separately and never affects what the family received.

Does reinstating a registration undo a refund?
No. Reinstating restores the registration's status only; earlier refunds stay in place.