Sometimes you need to return money to a guest: a cancellation, a change of plans, dropping an add-on, or switching payment methods. TripWorks lets you refund a payment in full or in part, right from the trip's Payments tab.

Full and partial refunds

• Full refund: return the entire payment.
• Partial refund: return part of it, for cases like a guest downsizing to a smaller experience, fewer travelers than booked, or removing add-ons or products.

Open the trip, go to the Payments tab, and issue the refund on the payment you want to return.

Choosing Refund doesn't refund anything yet

Selecting Refund... on a payment opens a refund form. No money moves until you submit it, so it's safe to open the form and check the numbers.

1. On the trip's Payments tab, select Refund... on the payment you want to return.
2. The Refund Amount field starts at the most you can refund on that payment, shown as "up to" the maximum. Leave it for a full refund, or type a smaller amount for a partial refund.
3. Add a note in Comment/Notes explaining why. A note is required.
4. Review the amount on the button, which reads Refund followed by the amount, then select it to process the refund.

Close the form without submitting and nothing changes. Some limits to know:

• One payment at a time. Each refund comes from a single payment. If a guest paid in two payments, refund each one separately.
• You can't refund more than the payment. The maximum is the payment's amount minus anything already refunded from it. You can come back later and refund more, up to what's left.
• A card refund can't be canceled once submitted. It goes to the guest's bank or card issuer right away.
• Tips come back proportionally. If the payment included a tip, the tip (or a matching share of it, on a partial refund) goes back to the guest too. You can't refund just the tip from a payment that also covered the booking. A tip the guest paid as its own separate payment can be refunded on its own, in full or in part.
• Cash, check, and other payments use the same form, with a Refund Type to record how you paid the guest back (cash, check, wire transfer, or other). TripWorks records these refunds but doesn't move the money for you.

The Refund... button appears on successful payments once your account is live, for team members with the Refund payments back to customers permission (see the User permissions reference). For bookings paid through an OTA or reseller, see Refunds on OTA and reseller bookings.

You can also refund from the TripWorks app on iPhone or iPad, with the same full or partial amounts. See Take payments, refunds, and print receipts in the TripWorks app.

Refunding many trips at once

Refunds are issued one payment at a time, from each trip's Payments tab. There's no bulk refund. When you cancel a whole day, activity, or timeslot from the manifest, the bookings are cancelled together, but no money is refunded automatically. Open each trip afterward and refund its payments. See Canceling trips from the Manifest.

The Booking Fee on a refund

If the guest paid a Booking Fee, a card refund gives it back to them: all of it on a full refund, or the matching share on a partial refund. The Refund Amount already includes it (the form reads "including booking fee"). TripWorks doesn't return its fees on a refund, so the Booking Fee given back to the guest comes out of your balance. See Understanding your fees.

Are processing fees refunded?

Usually not, and this is an industry standard, not a TripWorks choice. When a card payment is refunded, the card networks generally keep the processing fee on the original transaction. If you pass fees to your customers at checkout, plan for the fact that refunding a booking doesn't automatically claw back that processing cost. Factor it into your cancellation policy so a refunded booking doesn't quietly cost you the fee.

"I refunded them, but they don't see it"

If you issue a refund on the same day as the original charge, it's handled as a reversal. A reversal removes the charge entirely, so instead of showing a separate refund line, it simply disappears from the guest's statement (and often from any "pending" list too). If a guest is worried they don't see a refund line, that's why: advise them to contact their bank to confirm the original charge didn't go through.

"Unable to process this refund — insufficient Refund Reserve balance"

Refunds are funded from money you actually have. Before processing one, TripWorks checks that the refund amount doesn't exceed three things added together:

• Your Stripe balance — both funds already settled and funds still pending from recent sales (pending money still counts toward this).
• A standing $1,000 house credit every account gets automatically.
• Any Refund Reserve you've arranged with TripWorks ahead of time (see below).

If the refund is larger than all three combined, it's blocked with this message instead of going through.

This shows up most often in the off-season, or right after a slow stretch, when there isn't much recent revenue moving through Stripe to draw from. Two ways to resolve it:

• Wait for new sales. As bookings come in, even pending/unsettled ones add to your available balance, and the refund may go through once there's enough.
• Set up a Refund Reserve. This is a funded cushion of extra money, held on your behalf, specifically to cover refunds when incoming sales aren't enough. There's no self-service way to fund one — go to Setup Reserve and request one; a TripWorks support rep will follow up on the amount and timing.

Frequently asked questions

Related

• Reschedule, unschedule & cancel a trip
• Receiving payouts
• Take payments, refunds, and print receipts in the TripWorks app