Cancellation policy on your website: what to choose and how money is refunded
By GuestChat Team ·
On a booking site, the site handles the cancellation policy and the refunds. On your website, the promise is yours and the money is in your account. That's why it's worth understanding what you choose and what happens when someone cancels.
Where to set it up
In My website, in the Bookings step, with Accept bookings and payments turned on. To turn it on, you need your Stripe account connected.
The three policies
- Free: the guest can cancel at no cost.
- Until X days: free until however many days before check-in you decide; after that, no refund. The guest is shown the exact date, not the number of days, so there are no misunderstandings.
- Non-refundable: no one gets their money back if they cancel, no matter what. The dashboard sums it up well: you sell less, but what you sell is guaranteed.
It's locked in with each booking
The guest sees the policy before paying, and it gets locked in with their booking. If tomorrow you switch from free to non-refundable, anyone who already booked keeps the free one. You can change it by season without worrying about breaking anything.
Letting guests cancel online
Right below is Let guests cancel online. When it's on, the guest can cancel from the link in their confirmation email, following the policy. When it's off, they'll have to ask you.
How the money is refunded
When a booking from your website is canceled and the policy says a refund is due, the refund is made in your Stripe account, without you having to go into Stripe. It doesn't matter who cancels:
- If you cancel from the dashboard.
- If the guest cancels from their link.
Both paths go through the same place, with the same rules, so the outcome never changes depending on who clicks. And it's protected against double clicks: a booking that's already been refunded won't be refunded twice.
When a booking is canceled, the nights open up again on all your channels so they can be sold again.
The booking conditions
In the same step there's a Booking conditions field, which is shown right above the pay button. Use it for the security deposit, the house rules, or any detail the guest should accept before paying. Keep it short; don't paste in a contract.
Other settings in the same step
- Minimum nights: shorter stays aren't offered on your website.
- Days of notice: 0 lets people book for today.
- Ask if they travel with a pet: only on properties that allow pets.
Which policy to choose
- If your website is mostly for returning guests: Free or Until X days with a generous window. They already know you.
- If you sell to strangers in high season: Until X days with a deadline that gives you time to rebook.
- Non-refundable only if your direct price is clearly better than the booking site's. If not, the guest will prefer the flexibility of the booking site.
Common mistakes
- Choosing non-refundable with the same price as on the booking site.
- Writing a different policy in the conditions from the one you chose.
- Turning off online cancellation and then not answering emails from people who want to cancel.