How do I handle cancellations and the waitlist?

How do I handle cancellations and the waitlist?

Your published policy tells the student what may be refundable, but you remain responsible for reviewing the request and applying that policy. For online card payments, Find a Ski School issues a refund on your own Stripe account only after you approve the request. When a booking is cancelled, the vacated place can be offered to your waitlist.

Cancellation policies you set

You publish your own cancellation policy from the Policies section of your dashboard. Typical structures:

• Free cancellation up to X days before the lesson (e.g., 7 days) — full refund
• Partial refund window — a percentage refund within a closer window
• Non-refundable window — closer to the lesson, no refund
• No-show policy — no refund

The policy is shown at booking and retained with the booking record. When a cancellation is requested, the dashboard shows the request context and a general policy reminder; it does not currently display the stored booking-time policy snapshot. If your policy has changed since the booking was made, contact Find a Ski School support to confirm the terms recorded with that booking before deciding.

How a cancellation flows

1. The student submits a cancellation or refund request through their dashboard
2. You review the request context and applicable terms. If your policy has changed since the booking was made, ask Find a Ski School support to confirm the stored booking-time terms
3. If you approve an online-payment refund, Find a Ski School issues it on your own Stripe account, back to the learner's original payment method
4. The refund is paid from your Stripe balance, and our commission on that payment is returned in proportion to the amount refunded
5. The booking status is updated and the vacated slot can be offered to the waitlist

You may approve a goodwill refund outside your standard policy. Record the reason so the student and your team have a clear audit trail.

The waitlist

A waitlist does not automatically confirm a replacement booking or settle its payment. Review the relevant queue and offer a freed place using its dashboard actions. Group-class, date-based slot, and programme waitlists have different statuses and response rules; there is no universal 30-minute automatic reassignment promise.

See group lesson capacity and waitlists [blocked] for the class workflow. Contact the learner and reconcile acceptance, the roster, and payment before treating the replacement as confirmed.

Notify the next learner on a date-based waitlist

In the booking manager's Waitlist tab, select Notify beside a waiting entry on the desired date. This queues an opening email for the first waiting learner on that date, which may be a different entry from the one you clicked. Repeated clicks target the same learner while delivery is pending.

The delivery label shows whether the email is queued, retrying, sent, not sent, or failed. The learner stays waiting until the email provider accepts the message; only then does their status become notified and the 24-hour response window start. Sent means provider acceptance, not proof that the email reached their inbox or was read. Failed sends retry automatically; check the delivery status before following up. Not sent can mean the request changed before delivery or that sending was suppressed. Ask support to check the delivery record before trying again.

The email invites the learner to contact your school. It does not reserve capacity, confirm a booking, or collect payment. Check availability and agree the lesson details with the learner before confirming their place. These delivery labels and the 24-hour window apply to the date-based waitlist, not every class or programme queue.

Refunds and the platform commission

For the current full-refund path, Find a Ski School issues the refund for the full online payment on your own Stripe account, and returns its commission on that payment in proportion to the amount refunded — for a full refund, in full. The refund is paid from your Stripe balance, so Stripe holds it as pending if that balance does not yet cover it, and may fail it if the balance is not funded; refund the payment yourself in your Stripe Dashboard if that happens, and we record it against the booking. Stripe's own processing fee on the original payment is governed by Stripe's terms and may not come back.

Cancellations from your side

If you cancel and approve a full online-payment refund, Find a Ski School issues the refund on your own Stripe account, back to the student's original payment method, and returns its commission on that payment in full.