Overview
One of the most common points of confusion for new WaveRez users is the relationship between cancellations and refunds. In WaveRez, these are two separate actions that must be processed independently. Canceling an order does not automatically refund the guest. Adjusting the price on a trip does not automatically charge or refund the difference. The refund must always be processed as a separate step on the Payments tab inside the order. This article walks through every scenario: full cancellations, partial cancellations, price adjustments, and how refunds appear in both WaveRez and Stripe.
Prerequisites
You must have access to WaveRez Admin with permission to edit orders.
You must be able to access the order you need to cancel or refund. Orders can be found through the Orders tab in the left navigation menu or by clicking a guest's name on the Manifest tab.
Important: Cancellations and Refunds Are Separate Steps
Before following any of the steps below, understand this core rule:
Canceling an order does not process a refund. When you cancel an order or change a reservation status to canceled, WaveRez updates the order status but does not automatically return any money to the guest. You must go to the Payments tab and process the refund manually as a separate step.
WaveRez will remind you of this during the cancellation process. At the bottom of the cancellation confirmation screen, there is a required checkbox that reads: "I understand that processing this cancellation does not process the refund. It must be done manually on the payments tab inside of this order." You must check this box before the cancellation will save.
How to Cancel and Refund an Entire Order
Follow these steps when you need to cancel all trips in an order and refund the guest in full (or with a cancellation fee applied).
Step 1: Cancel the Order
Open the order in WaveRez Admin. You can find the order by navigating to Orders in the left menu and clicking View next to the order, or by going to the Manifest tab for the relevant date and clicking on the guest's name.
On any tab within the order details screen, locate the status badge in the upper-left area of the order header. This badge displays the current status of the order (for example, Paid or Confirmed).
Click the status badge. A dialog box will appear with the heading Status Change.
Click the New Status dropdown and select Canceled.
Below the status dropdown, you will see a list of items in the order with checkboxes. If the order contains only one trip, that trip will already be checked. If the order contains multiple trips, all trips will be checked. Confirm the items you want to cancel are selected.
Click Set Status. A second dialog box will appear with the following fields:
Reason (required): Enter the reason for the cancellation. This field must be filled in before you can proceed.
Does this cancellation have a fee associated with it? This is a toggle slider, off by default. If you turn it on, an additional field will appear where you can enter the cancellation fee amount. The system will subtract this fee from the refund due amount shown at the bottom of the dialog.
Send customer cancellation email and Send SMS text message: Both are enabled by default. You can toggle either one off if you do not want the guest to receive a cancellation notification.
"I understand that processing this cancellation does not process the refund. It must be done manually on the payments tab inside of this order." This checkbox is required. You must check it before you can save.
7. Click Save. The order status will change to Canceled.
Step 2: Process the Refund
After the cancellation is saved, the order header will update to show the refund amount due in the upper-right area of the screen. You must now process the refund separately.
Click the Payments tab within the order.
In the Payment Details section, locate the payment transaction record for the original payment. This will show the Payment type (such as Cash or a credit card with the last four digits), the Amount, the Invoice #, and the Date.
Below the payment transaction record, you will see a small circular arrow icon (a rewind-style arrow). Hover over it and it will display the tooltip Refund payment.
The screenshot below shows the Payments tab with both the original payment record and a processed refund visible. The original Cash payment of $107.00 is shown at the top of the Payment Details section, with the refund arrow icons below it. Below that, a refund record of -$10.70 is displayed with its own Invoice # and Date, confirming the refund has been processed.
4. Click the refund arrow icon. A dialog box will appear asking for the refund amount. The amount will be auto-filled based on the cancellation you just processed. If you need to adjust the amount, you can edit it here.
5. Click OK to process the refund. If the payment was made by credit card, the refund will be processed through Stripe automatically. The refund will appear as a separate line item in the Payment Details section showing a negative amount, its own Invoice #, and the date and time it was processed.
How to Cancel a Single Trip in a Multi-Trip Order
If an order contains multiple trips and you only need to cancel one of them, do not use the order-level status badge. Instead, cancel the individual trip from the Trips tab.
Open the order and click the Trips tab.
Each trip in the order has its own section on this tab. Locate the trip you want to cancel.
Find the Reservation status dropdown for that specific trip. It will display the current status (for example, Paid).
The screenshot below shows the Trips tab with a single trip displayed. The trip section includes the Arrival date, Schedule time, and Equipment fields at the top, a Move trip button, and the Reservation status dropdown with a Save status button next to it. Below that, the Tickets section shows the ticket type, booked quantity, and price. The Options section appears at the bottom.
4. Change the Reservation status dropdown to Canceled.
5. Click Save status next to the dropdown. The same cancellation confirmation dialog will appear as described above (reason, cancellation fee, email/SMS toggles, required refund checkbox).
6. Complete the cancellation dialog and click Save. Only the selected trip will be canceled — any other trips in the order will remain at their current status.
7. After saving, the refund amount for the canceled trip will be displayed in the order header. Go to the Payments tab and process the refund using the refund arrow icon as described above.
How to Process a Partial Refund (Price Adjustment)
If you need to give a guest a partial refund — for example, applying a manual discount, correcting a pricing error, or adjusting the order total for any reason — you do this by changing the ticket price on the Trips tab, then processing the resulting refund on the Payments tab.
Open the order and click the Trips tab.
In the Tickets section for the relevant trip, locate the Price field. This field is editable.
Change the Price to the new amount. For example, if the original price was $100.00 and you want to give the guest a $10 discount, change the price to $90.00.
Click Save (the teal button at the bottom-right of the screen). The Price breakdown panel on the left side of the screen will update to reflect the new totals, including the recalculated tax amount.
Check the Balance due field in the Price breakdown panel on the left side of the screen:
If Balance due shows a negative amount (for example, -$10.70), that means you owe the guest that amount and need to process a refund.
If Balance due shows a positive amount (for example, $10.70), that means the guest owes you that amount and you need to collect an additional payment.
6. To process the refund: click the Payments tab, click the refund arrow icon below the original payment, enter or confirm the refund amount, and click OK.
How to Process an Additional Charge
If you increase the price on a trip or add tickets to an order, the Balance due in the Price breakdown panel will show a positive amount, meaning the guest owes additional money. To collect this:
Navigate to the Payments tab within the order.
Click the Add Payment Type button in the upper-right area of the Payment Details section.
Select the payment method and process the additional charge for the balance due amount.
How Refunds and Voids Appear in Stripe
When you process a refund in WaveRez for a credit card transaction, the refund is automatically sent to Stripe. However, Stripe treats same-day cancellations differently from refunds processed on a later date.
Refunds (different day than original transaction): If the original payment was processed on a previous day and you refund it today, Stripe processes this as a standard refund. The guest will see a credit appear as a positive amount on their bank statement. In WaveRez, the transaction status on the Payments tab will display as Refunded.
Voids (same day as original transaction): If the original payment was processed today and you refund it today, Stripe processes this as a void rather than a refund. A void cancels the pending transaction instead of issuing a credit. The guest will not see a refund credit on their bank statement — instead, the original pending charge will simply disappear. In WaveRez, the transaction status on the Payments tab will display as Canceled instead of Refunded.
This distinction matters because guests sometimes call confused about not seeing a refund on their statement. If the cancellation and refund happened on the same day as the original payment, explain to the guest that the charge was voided and the pending transaction will disappear from their bank account, typically during their bank's overnight processing. It will not show as a separate refund credit.
Voids are also beneficial from a fee perspective: Stripe charges transaction fees on refunds but does not charge transaction fees on voids, since the original transaction is simply canceled.
How Stripe Handles Refund Payouts
If you have automatic payouts enabled in Stripe (which most partners do), and your Stripe account does not have a sufficient balance to cover a refund at the time it is processed, Stripe will withdraw the refund amount from the bank account you have on file. Stripe needs the funds in your account before it can send the refund to the guest. You can monitor this on your Stripe dashboard by checking for any negative balance or pending withdrawals from your bank account.
Never Process Refunds Directly in Stripe
All refunds and additional charges must be processed inside WaveRez Admin within the order, not directly on the Stripe dashboard. If you process a refund in Stripe, the guest will receive their money back, but the order in WaveRez will not reflect the refund — creating a mismatch between your Stripe records and your WaveRez order records.
The only exception is in rare circumstances where WaveRez support explicitly instructs you to process a refund on Stripe's side, or where support processes one on your behalf. If this happens, the support team will explain how to handle the order going forward.
Troubleshooting
You canceled an order but the guest says they haven't received a refund: Canceling does not process the refund. Open the order, go to the Payments tab, and check whether the refund was processed. If there is no refund line item in Payment Details, click the refund arrow icon to process it.
The guest says the charge is still pending but you already refunded same-day: This was likely a void, not a refund. The pending charge will disappear from their bank account during overnight processing. It will not appear as a separate refund credit.
Balance due shows a negative amount but you already processed the refund: Verify the refund amount in the Payment Details section matches the expected amount. If the refund was only partial, the balance due may still show a remaining negative amount.
You accidentally processed a refund directly in Stripe: Contact WaveRez support immediately so they can help reconcile the order records.
Stripe withdrew money from your bank account unexpectedly: This likely happened because a refund was processed when your Stripe balance was insufficient. Check your Stripe dashboard for recent refund activity and pending payouts.