Cancelling a Session (Occurrence)

Overview

When unforeseen circumstances require you to cancel a session for all attendees — such as bad weather, staff illness, or a venue issue — you should cancel through Manage Occurrences, not through the Bookings page. This ensures every affected family is handled correctly and notified in one step.

[!IMPORTANT] Use Manage Occurrences, not the Bookings list. Cancelling individual bookings one by one is intended for personal circumstances (e.g., a parent withdrawing their child). To cancel a session date for everyone, always use the occurrence cancellation flow described below.


How to Cancel a Session Date

Step 1 — Open Manage Occurrences

  1. Go to Sessions in the left-hand menu.
  2. Find the session you need to cancel and click Manage Occurrences.
  3. Locate the date you want to cancel in the list.

Step 2 — Initiate the Cancellation

Click the red Cancel button next to the occurrence. You will be taken to a Review page before anything is processed.

Step 3 — Review Affected Families

The review page shows every family with an active booking for that date, grouped together so you can see:

  • The parent's name and email address.
  • Which children from that family are booked.
  • The total amount paid by that family.

Step 4 — Choose the Default Action

At the top of the page, select a default action to apply to all families with paid bookings:

Action What happens
Refund A full refund is processed automatically to the parent's original payment method via Stripe. Funds typically arrive in 5–10 business days.
Add to credits wallet The amount paid is added to the parent's credit wallet. They can use it towards any future booking with you — no expiry date.
No financial action The booking is cancelled but no money is moved. Use this if you plan to handle compensation separately or if no payment was taken.

Step 5 — Override Per Family (Optional)

If you need a different action for a specific family — for example, refunding most families but crediting one — use the individual dropdown in that family's row to override the default.

Step 6 — Edit the Email Message

A pre-written cancellation email is ready to send. You can personalise the message before sending. The following placeholders are replaced automatically per family:

  • {{Parent Name}} — the parent's first name
  • {{Session Name}} — the name of the session
  • {{Date}} — the cancelled date
  • {{Time}} — the session start time
  • {{Refund Status}} — automatically replaced with the correct sentence based on the action chosen for that family (refund, credit, or no payment taken)

Step 7 — Confirm

Click Confirm Cancellation. The system will:

  • Mark the occurrence as cancelled immediately — it disappears from all parents' dashboards right away.
  • Process Stripe refunds for families where you chose Refund.
  • Add credits to wallets for families where you chose Add to credits wallet.
  • Send one email per family with the personalised message.
  • Create an in-app notification for each parent.

Bulk Cancellation

To cancel multiple dates at once (e.g., the final three weeks of a term):

  1. Tick the checkboxes next to each occurrence you want to cancel.
  2. Click Cancel Selected in the header bar.
  3. You will go through the same review flow, with all affected families listed together.

What Parents See

  • The session disappears from My Bookings → Upcoming as soon as you confirm the cancellation.
  • If a credit was issued, parents will see the updated balance in their Credit Wallet and can use it when booking their next session.
  • If a refund was issued, parents receive the email notification and the funds return to their card within 5–10 business days.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I still cancel even if the booking is past the cancellation deadline? Yes. The cancellation deadline applies to parents requesting a refund themselves. When you cancel a session, there is no deadline restriction — you can choose to refund regardless of when the session is.

What if a family had a free or unpaid booking? Free and cash-pending bookings are cancelled automatically with no financial action required. They will still receive the email notification.

Can I undo a cancellation? Yes. On the Manage Occurrences page, cancelled occurrences show a Restore button. This makes the date bookable again, but it does not automatically reinstate refunded payments or credits. You would need to re-invite or contact affected families separately.

What if a Stripe refund fails? If a refund cannot be processed (e.g., the original card is closed), the booking is kept in a Paid status in your Bookings list so you can see it needs attention. The email is still sent. You can then issue a manual refund via your Stripe dashboard or offer a credit instead.

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