Refunds and chargebacks
Refunds
A refund gives money back to a customer who paid online: a cancelled booking, a rental cut short, a mistake at the counter.
What a refund costs
Two things, and both are worth understanding before you promise a customer a full refund.
The original transaction fee stays. We paid to process that payment and it was processed. The customer changing their mind afterwards does not un-process it.
The refund itself is chargeable, at its published rate, because it costs money to send.
So a refunded booking leaves you paying for the transaction twice, once to take the money, once to give it back. That is not a penalty; it is what the price list says, and it is why "we will refund you in full" costs you a little more than nothing.
There are several refund rates (ordinary, instant, card and terminal), each with its own price. See Payment methods.
What actually travels back
Only your share. Our fee was withheld when the payment came in and does not travel back with the refund.
When refunds are blocked
While your wallet is overdue, refunds are refused. If you have owed a balance for more than seven days, you cannot refund a customer until it is settled.
Top up your balance on the Payments screen and refunds work again immediately.
Deposits are not refunds
Releasing a card hold is not a refund and costs nothing, because no money ever moved. This is one of the good reasons to use a card hold rather than charging the deposit and giving it back.
Chargebacks
A chargeback is a customer's bank reversing a payment, usually after a dispute.
Two things follow:
- The money goes back to the customer. The payment happened, settled, and was then clawed back.
- It costs a fixed fee, charged the moment it lands.
A chargeback is not the same as a payment that never happened. The booking's payment status changes to Chargeback so you can see the difference at a glance, and so a "paid" booking that was later reversed is not mistaken for one that was never paid.
Reversed SEPA direct debits and unauthorised-debit claims are handled the same way and carry their own charges.
Avoiding them
Most chargebacks come from a customer not recognising a line on their statement. The things that help:
- A clear company name under Settings → General. That is the name they see.
- A signed contract, which is exactly the evidence a dispute asks for.
- A return inspection with photos when you keep part of a deposit, a withheld deposit that is documented is rarely disputed successfully, and an undocumented one rarely survives.