01
Pick one window and write it in one sentence
The policy should fit in one sentence a front-desk manager can say from memory. Cancel more than 24 hours before the start and the payment is refunded. Cancel later and it is not. 12 hours works for clubs with a strong waitlist, 48 hours for clubs where evening slots are hard to resell.
Show the sentence at 3 points: on the booking page before payment, in the confirmation email, and on the booking in the player’s account. If the player has to search for it, the club will end up arguing about it.
- The window in hours, measured from the booking start time
- What is refunded: the full amount, or a credit to the player account
- How to cancel: one button in the player account, no email or phone call
- Whether members on a plan follow the same rule or a strike count
02
Refunds inside the window should be automatic
A refund inside the window should go back to the card without anyone at the club touching it. When the player taps cancel, the slot frees, the waitlist is notified, and the card refund is issued. Staff see it in the report the next morning.
Manual refunds fail in predictable ways. They wait for the one person who has the Stripe login. They get forgotten on busy Saturdays. And each one costs a conversation, which is why clubs with manual refunds quietly stop offering them.
03
What happens to a late cancellation
Inside the window, the default is no refund, and the slot goes to the waitlist anyway. If the waitlist fills it, some clubs refund the original player as a credit. That is generous and it is fair: the club was not out of pocket. Decide in advance whether you do this, because a rule applied sometimes is the rule players argue about.
Whatever you choose, the player should see the outcome on screen at the moment they cancel: refunded, credited, or not refunded, with the reason.
04
When the club cancels
When the club cancels a booking, for a flooded court or a coach who is ill, the refund is always full and always automatic, and the message should go out before the player leaves home. Offer to rebook in the same message. A club-side cancellation with a same-day refund and a rebooking link is remembered as good service. The same cancellation discovered at the gate is remembered for years.
05
Rain, injury, and the regular who always asks
Rain on an outdoor court is the classic edge case. Write the rule down: if the club closes the court, full refund. If the player decides not to play in light rain, the normal window applies. Injury is the other one. Most clubs refund as a credit on request, once, and note it on the player record.
Then there is the regular who asks for an exception every month. Give staff a written line for that: the rule is the same for everyone, and the credit option is available inside the window. A rule staff can quote is a rule that stops being negotiated.
- Court closed by the club: full refund, automatic
- Player chooses not to play: the normal window applies
- Injury or illness: credit on request, noted on the record
- Repeated requests: the same written answer every time
06
Classes and open play need a different rule
Classes and open play sessions have a roster, not a single booking, so the rule can be softer. A late cancel on a class that has a waitlist costs the club nothing if the spot refills. Many clubs use a shorter window for classes and count late cancels per player, with a pause on booking after a set number in a month.