Refund a payment when a direct booking failed

A client bought a single class with Direct Purchase. The card payment was captured, but the booking could not be created because the last place became unavailable, the class was cancelled, or another booking rule prevented it.

This payment needs to be refunded manually in Stripe because Clovo does not issue the refund automatically.

How you find out

Clovo sends your team a notification headed "Refund needed: paid class was not booked" — Refund needed on a phone. It names the client, the class, the amount, and the reason the booking was refused:

• Client — who paid
• Class and When — what they thought they were buying
• Amount to refund — the figure to give back
• Reason — Class full, Class cancelled, Already booked, and so on

The client already knows

Before you do anything, the client has been sent "We could not book your class", telling them the payment went through, that they were not booked in, and that your studio will arrange a refund.

This confirms that the client does not have a booking and sets the expectation that the studio will arrange a refund. Process the refund promptly and keep the client informed if there is any delay.

Refund it in Stripe

Clovo does not have a refund button for this. The charge lives in your Stripe account, and that is where you give it back.

1. Open the client's record in Clovo.
2. In the About panel, click the Stripe cus_… customer ID. It is a link, and it opens that client in your Stripe dashboard.
3. Find the payment matching the amount and date from the notification.
4. Refund it in full.

The customer link is visible to Owner and Finance roles. If you cannot see it, either you do not hold one of those roles or the client is not connected to Stripe yet.

Refund the full amount because no class booking, credit, or pass was issued for the payment.

What happens once you have

After the refund:

• The client is sent "Your payment for a class booking has been refunded."
• Your team gets a Payment refunded notification with the client, item and amount.
• The refund is logged against the client's record.

There is nothing else to mark off in Clovo.

Do not use the Failed Payments queue for this

Operations → Failed Payments does not apply to this situation. That queue is for membership renewals that did not clear, while this payment was captured successfully without creating a booking. Sending a payment request from that queue would incorrectly ask the client to pay again.

Reduce future occurrences

The usual cause is the last place going between the moment the client starts paying and the moment the payment settles. A few things reduce it:

• Review classes that regularly fill. A waitlist gives clients another option when those classes reach capacity. A full class with an open waitlist cannot be purchased directly, reducing the chance of a place becoming unavailable during payment.
• Cancel openings early. A class cancelled after someone has paid produces this same failure. See Cancel upcoming classes.
• Assign the notification for prompt follow-up. The refund remains outstanding until a team member processes it in Stripe.