Where is my refund?
A trip is cancelled. Maybe the client cancelled for personal reasons, maybe a supplier cancelled, maybe a flight schedule change made the trip unworkable. Whatever the cause, several suppliers are involved: the tour operator, a separately booked hotel, a transfer, an excursion, a car hire. Each has its own terms. Some refund in full, some deduct cancellation charges, some offer credit notes or vouchers, some take a long time.
You email each supplier, note what they say, and wait. The client emails you every week to ask where their money is. You search your inbox to piece together an answer. Some refunds arrive in your account without a clear reference, and it takes a while to work out which booking they belong to. One supplier's refund never arrives, and you realise months later.
Why refunds are hard to track
- Each supplier in a cancelled booking has different refund terms and timings.
- Some refunds come as credit notes or vouchers rather than money.
- Payments arrive with references that do not match your booking reference.
- There is no list of refunds owed, only email threads.
- Client updates are written one by one from memory.
What slow refunds cost
Clients waiting for money are anxious and likely to leave poor reviews, even when the delay is the supplier's. You spend hours on status emails. Refunds that are never chased are money lost, either to you or to the client. And unreconciled payments make your accounts harder to close.
Busy periods of widespread disruption, when many trips are cancelled at once, show the problem at its worst.
A refunds tracker per cancelled booking
- When a booking is cancelled, each component becomes a refund line: supplier, amount paid, cancellation charges, amount due back, and whether it is due as money, credit note or voucher.
- Each line has an expected date based on what the supplier said, and a follow-up date you set.
- Follow-ups are prompted with a draft email to the supplier, including their reference and the amount due.
- Refunds received are matched to refund lines. Bank feeds from Xero or QuickBooks help suggest matches for payments with unclear references.
- Credit notes and vouchers are recorded with their expiry dates, so they can be used before they lapse.
- The client can see a simple status page or receive an update showing each part of their refund and its state, in your words.
| Refund line status | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Requested | Asked the supplier, awaiting reply |
| Confirmed | Supplier agreed amount and method |
| Received | Money or credit arrived and matched |
| Passed to client | Client refunded or credit applied |
| Disputed | Supplier and agent disagree, needs action |
How refunds are handled for clients, and what they are entitled to, depends on the booking's terms, your arrangements and any protection that applies. The tracker records and follows up; it does not decide entitlement.
Answering the client in one click
When the client asks, you open the booking and see every refund line with its status. The update goes out with a click, or the client checks the status page themselves. Your follow-ups happen on schedule rather than when the client complains. Credit notes are used before they expire.
In a period of mass disruption, the tracker shows every refund owed across all bookings, sorted by supplier, which lets you chase each supplier once with a full list rather than booking by booking.
When the refund finally reaches the client, the booking closes with a complete record: what was paid, what each supplier returned, what was deducted and why, and when the client was refunded. If the client later raises a query or a card chargeback, you have the whole story in one place.
Is refund tracking a mess?
- Clients chase you repeatedly for refund updates.
- You track refunds owed in email threads.
- Supplier refunds arrive without references you recognise.
- Credit notes or vouchers have expired unused.
- You have found a refund that was never chased.