Marko Banušić for SportyPlus

Posted on Sep 13 Originally published at sporty.plus

How to Handle Refunds for Cancelled Court Bookings Automatically

Online court payments make reservations easier for both players and clubs. But cancellations
can create additional administrative work.

A player pays for a court. Later, the reservation is cancelled. Now the club needs to
determine what should happen to the amount that was already paid.

Handling this manually for every cancellation quickly becomes repetitive, especially for
clubs processing many online reservations.

One solution is to automatically return eligible amounts to the player's club wallet —
a balance held at the club that the player can spend on their next booking. That is the
approach this guide describes, and it is worth being explicit about it up front: the money
stays in the club rather than going back to the card.

Start with a clear cancellation rule

Every club should first decide how late a player is allowed to cancel a reservation.

For example, a club may define a cancellation period such as:

cancellation is allowed until a defined number of hours before the reservation
cancellations after that deadline are no longer eligible for a credit

The important part is that the policy is clear and applied consistently. Different clubs can
use different cancellation periods depending on how they operate.

Why automate cancellation credits?

Without automation, the process may look like this:

Player cancels a reservation.
Administrator checks whether the booking was paid.
Administrator checks whether the cancellation was made within the allowed period.
Administrator manually adjusts the player's balance.
Player uses the credit later.

For a single reservation this is easy. For dozens of cancellations, it becomes unnecessary
administrative work.

How an automatic club wallet credit works

A more efficient process can look like this:

The player books and pays for the court.
The player later cancels the reservation.
The system checks the club's cancellation rules.
If the cancellation qualifies, the paid amount is automatically credited to the player's club wallet.
The court becomes available again.
The wallet balance can be used for a future reservation.

The administrator does not need to process the credit manually.

Why use a club wallet?

Returning the amount to a club wallet can make the cancellation process simpler.

For the player, the value of the cancelled reservation is immediately available for future
use in the club. For the club, there is no need to manually handle every eligible
cancellation.

For example: a player pays €20 for a tennis court. The reservation is later cancelled within
the club's allowed cancellation period. Instead of requiring an administrator to manually
process the situation, €20 is returned to the player's club wallet. The player can then use
that €20 toward another reservation.

The cancellation policy still matters

Automation should not mean every cancellation automatically receives credit. The club's
cancellation rules still determine whether the cancelled reservation qualifies.

For example, a club might allow cancellations until a certain number of hours before the
reservation. If the player cancels before that deadline, the amount can return to the club
wallet. If the cancellation happens too late, the club's normal late-cancellation policy
applies.

The exact deadline is defined by the club.

Make the rule clear to players

Players should know the cancellation conditions before they pay. A simple message can
explain:

Cancellations made within the allowed cancellation period will be returned to your club
wallet.

The exact cancellation deadline should also be clearly visible. This reduces questions and
misunderstandings.

The court should become available again

A cancellation is not only about the payment. The cancelled court should also return to the
booking calendar so another player can reserve it.

A good workflow therefore connects both actions:

reservation cancelled
    → court released
    → eligible amount returned to club wallet

This means one action by the player can complete the entire process.

Example

A player books a padel court and pays €32. The club allows cancellation until a defined
period before the reservation. The player cancels within that period.

The system:

cancels the reservation
makes the court available again
credits €32 to the player's club wallet

The player can use the balance when making their next booking. No manual refund handling is
required.

How SportyPlus can help

SportyPlus connects court reservations,
online payments and the player's club wallet.

When a paid reservation is cancelled and meets the club's cancellation conditions, the
corresponding amount can automatically be returned to the player's SportyPlus wallet. The
player can then use that balance for another booking.

This helps remove repetitive administrative work from the cancellation process while keeping
the club's cancellation policy consistent.

Practical recommendation

Keep the cancellation policy easy to understand. Define:

how long before the reservation a player can cancel
what happens after the deadline
that eligible cancelled payments are returned to the club wallet

Then let the booking system apply the rule automatically. For players, the process is
simple. For administrators, one more repetitive task disappears.

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