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Refunds and payment checks

When plans change, review the session outcome and its payment decision together. Cancelling a session and returning money remain distinct recorded actions; a cancelled status alone does not prove a refund happened.

Check the payment first

Owners and admins can open Payments in the booking to see confirmed Stripe payments and the amount available to refund. Check the original amount, receipt and any refunds already in progress. This includes phone and walk-in appointments paid through InkWell; open the original appointment rather than creating an enquiry.

For money collected outside InkWell, use the provider or payment method you originally used. InkWell cannot automatically refund a cash or bank-transfer payment.

Review and submit a refund

For a cancellation or missed appointment, open the calendar entry or Session actions in the booking's Session section and choose Cancel booking or Record no-show. The shared Cancellation & no-show drawer guides you through:

1. Choose Client cancelled, Studio cancelled or No-show, record when it happened and add a private studio note. No-show is available after the start and any agreed grace period; you do not need to wait for the session to end.
2. Review the policy agreed for this booking, cancellation notice, confirmed payments, previous refunds and refunds still being checked. A newer studio policy does not replace the original agreement. Missing terms or an unallocated shared deposit require manual review.
3. An owner/admin can record Retain available payment · no further refund, approve a full or partial Stripe refund, or leave the decision for review. Explain manual decisions and changes from the suggestion. Assistants and artists record the outcome with an owner/admin review task, without access to the financial decision.
4. Review the client notification and recipient, then confirm. Private notes are excluded from the email. Where booking emails are unavailable or switched off, contact the client yourself.

Approved refunds use the original receipts and payment methods. The amount is reserved before Stripe is contacted. Only a confirmed provider refund counts as returned money. Check this refund reuses the saved operation after a lost response; it does not create another refund.

For several sessions sharing one booking, choose This session only or All remaining sessions before deciding. Cancelling one session requires an explicit retention allocation, including zero. Any unrefunded amount you do not retain stays credited to the other sessions; the booking total is not automatically repriced. Review the agreed allocation instead of treating the whole shared deposit as forfeited.

Outstanding decisions and refunds needing a check appear under Cancellation & no-show reviews on the owner/admin dashboard. Review outcome opens the same drawer. A retention decision records an explicit no-refund outcome, rather than simply leaving money untouched.

An existing payment request or Stripe checkout needs attention too. Use Withdraw payment request in the drawer when cancelling all the work it covers. A payment already processing may still arrive and require review. Cancelling one session must not withdraw payment for other work in the booking.

The suggestion is for review, not an automatic penalty or additional card charge. Consider the agreed terms and the studio's actual loss; CMA cancellation guidance explains why a non-refundable label alone does not make retention fair.

For a refund unrelated to a cancellation, the existing payment controls remain available:

1. Review the agreed terms and the client's request with the responsible studio manager.
2. Under Refund a payment, select Choose refund amount for the original payment.
3. Enter the full available amount or a smaller amount in pounds.
4. Choose Review refund and check the exact amount.
5. Choose Confirm refund when ready.

The refund returns to the original payment method. New payments have no InkWell commission to refund. If a historical payment carried an InkWell application fee, supported refunds return the corresponding portion from its original record. Stripe processing fees may be retained. A refund does not cancel the appointment.

Tell the client the amount you've submitted and the payment it relates to. Bank posting time can vary, so explain the displayed status and check the final result before saying the refund is complete.

Check the outcome

A refund marked Processing or Outcome needs checking has not yet been confirmed as returned money. Its amount remains reserved while it is checked. Choose Check refund status or Check this refund for the existing refund rather than creating another one.

If Stripe requires action, check the original refund in Stripe. If it failed or was cancelled, review the status before arranging a new refund. Contact Support if the outcome remains unclear.

Confirmed refunds update the recorded balance. Keep the original reference and amount in your accounting records, including partial refunds.

Handle appointment changes separately

Use Change time or station to reschedule. For cancellation or no-show, use the guided outcome drawer above. A refund issued separately from Payments does not cancel a session.

Archiving or marking an enquiry as spam also does not refund money or cancel appointments. Handle those actions separately.

Get help with a refund

Contact Support with the payment reference, approximate time, expected amount and displayed status. Never send full card details or passwords.

For merchandise, use the refund controls in Merchandise → Orders. Merchandise refunds do not restock items automatically. See Merchandise.

Client payments · Payouts and reconciliation