How are cancellations and no-shows handled?
**How are cancellations and no-shows handled?**
Brief answer — Cancellations: follow the SCAR/CAR process (Set up fees → Cancel → Apply cancellation fee → Refund). Always ensure the registrant shows a negative Balance Due (Credit Due) before issuing a refund. No-shows: not described in the provided support pages below; see note and next steps after the cancellation details.
How cancellations are handled (key points)
- Policy setup
- Define cancellation fees on Attendee Types (Plan > Event Setup > Attendee Types) and/or on Agenda items (Event Setup > Agenda). If you want the ability to fully refund, create a cancellation fee of $0.
- Required order of operations (SCAR / CAR)
- S / C: Set up cancellation fees (S) and Cancel the registration/agenda/session (C).
- A: Apply the appropriate cancellation fee so the registrant’s List of Charges is updated.
- R: Refund the payment (only after the Balance Due is negative / Credit Due).
- How to cancel and refund a single registration
- Open the registrant record → Registrations > Profile → choose the Cancellation Fee and set Status to Cancelled → Save.
- Go to Registrations > Financial to confirm the Balance Due (system applies the cancellation fee and adjusts charges).
- Click Refund, choose Payment/Refund Type (select the original CC if applicable), and Submit. The refund record (RF) appears in Discounts & Refunds and Transaction History.
- Cancelling an agenda item or session
- Registrations > Agenda → open the item → set Quantity to 0 and Status to Cancelled → choose cancellation fee if applicable → Save.
- Then refund from the Financials page (select the credit card to refund to if the original was CC-processed; Process Payment Online is checked by default).
- Cancelling an additional/guest registrant
- Cancel the guest’s record, then open the primary registrant’s Overview → Payment sub-tab to view charges and process the refund for the guest from the primary registrant’s financials.
- Important operational notes
- A registration must be marked Complete for cancellation fees to apply. Incomplete registrations do NOT get cancellation fees assigned — mark the registrant’s Complete property before changing Status to Cancelled.
- Always ensure Balance Due is negative (Credit Due) before applying a refund.
- For non-CC payments you may create a new refund record (Add New) and select the appropriate payment/refund type.
No-shows
- The provided Certain support articles do not describe a specific "no-show" workflow or automatic treatment of no-shows.
- If you want to treat no-shows as cancellations, or track them separately, check your event’s attendance/session tracking settings or your internal policy (and mark attendees or sessions accordingly) — or contact Certain Support for guidance tailored to your event configuration.
Sources
- [Managing Registrations - Cancellations and Refunds](https://platform-support.certain.com/hc/en-us/articles/200210760-Managing-Registrations-Cancellations-and-Refunds)
- [Incomplete Registrants And Cancellation Fees](https://platform-support.certain.com/hc/en-us/articles/360044112814-Incomplete-Registrants-And-Cancellation-Fees)
- [Refunds FAQ - How to Process Refunds](https://platform-support.certain.com/hc/en-us/articles/30761911634199)
Question for you: Are you configuring cancellation/no-show policies for a fee-based event (where refunds will be issued) or for free/attendance-only events?