Refunding or cancelling a booking
Cancelling voids a booking but never refunds automatically. You send any money back yourself, as its own step, from the Refund item in the More menu.
Where to find it
Bookings → open a booking → More menu → Refund / Cancel booking
Cancel booking voids the reservation, but it never refunds money by itself. Anything already paid shows as overpaid until you decide to refund it. Refund is the separate action that sends money back.
Where to find it
Bookings → open a booking → the More menu (top right) → Refund or Cancel booking. If a refund is waiting to go out, the menu also shows Cancel refund.
How it works
- Cancel booking — a confirmation window with an optional reason. If you have a cancellation policy set up, it tells you what the policy would suggest keeping or refunding, but it still moves no money. If there is an open deposit hold, choose Release the hold now or Keep it held, I'll resolve it later. Confirming sets the booking to cancelled and does not touch money already charged.
- Refund — opens a Charge / Refund window on the Refund side. Enter the Amount and a Reason (optional), then click Issue refund. The window shows how much is available to refund, and how much is already reserved by a pending refund.
- This is a price reduction — tick this to also lower the booking's total by the same amount, so the balance reads correctly afterward. Leave it unticked for a plain refund that does not change what the booking is worth.
- Grace period — a refund is not sent instantly. It waits about 15 minutes so you can change your mind, and Cancel refund stops it during that time.
Refunds when there was no card payment
If the rental was paid by cash or another way recorded in Renta, there is no card payment to reverse. In that case Renta only records the refund on the booking, so you hand the money back yourself. The refund can only be for money Renta has on record as paid. If you ask for more than that, the refund fails when it is processed with "no recorded payment to refund". Record the payment first, then refund.
Example
A customer cancels a boat rental two days before pickup after paying in full. Click Cancel booking to void the reservation. The payment stays on the booking as an overpayment. Then open More → Refund, enter the amount, and click Issue refund.
Good to know
- Cancelling frees the booking's items on your availability calendar for someone else, whether or not you have refunded yet.
- A refund gives back money you already charged. A deposit hold is money that was only reserved on the card. See Releasing vs. capturing a deposit hold.
- A cancelled booking can still be refunded, but it cannot be charged again.
- Every cancellation and refund shows up in the booking's change log.
Related articles
- Common questions: refundsQuick answers on sending money back to a customer, why a refund has not gone out yet, how much you can refund, what happens to Renta's fee, gift cards and cash, and the difference between refunding and releasing a deposit.
- What to do when a customer doesn't show up (no-shows)Renta has no no-show status or automatic no-show fee. A no-show booking turns red on the calendar, and you decide what to do - cancel it, keep or refund the payment, and release or keep the deposit hold.
- Managing bookings: common questionsQuick answers on finding a booking, creating one, blocking dates, the Start/Finish/Cancel buttons, refunds, discounts, rescheduling, statuses, and what customers can change themselves.
- Writing off an unpaid balanceMark a stuck, unpaid balance as uncollectible instead of chasing it forever.
- Booking statuses explainedWhat the status badges mean (Pending, Confirmed, Active, Returned, Cancelled, Expired), and what the calendar colours mean.
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