Cancellations
Choose whether customers cancel at the end of the term or immediately, how refunds for unused time are worked out, and what staff can do.
Under Settings → Billing → Cancellations you decide how customers end a service and whether they get money back for unused time. Staff are never restricted by these settings.
The two settings#
| Setting | Options | Default |
|---|---|---|
| When a cancellation takes effect | At the end of the billing term, Immediately, Let the customer choose | At the end of the billing term |
| Refund the unused time when a service is cancelled immediately | On or off | Off |
At the end of the billing term#
The service stays active until its next due date. It is flagged, and the daily billing run cancels it on that date (for Active or Suspended services). No further renewal invoice is created for it. The customer sees "This service is set to cancel on ..." and the button on their service page reads Request cancellation.
An invoice that was already created before the cancellation request stays open. Renewal invoices are created 14 days ahead by default, so for a short time before the due date you may need to void the invoice yourself. See Invoices.
Immediately#
The service is cancelled straight away and the account on the server is removed. The customer's button reads Cancel service.
With the refund setting on, the unused days of the period the latest paid invoice covered are refunded, by the day and including tax. The refund is sent through the payment that covered it, up to what that payment still allows. Setup fees are not refunded, and nothing is refunded for services that were never paid for.
For example, a monthly service paid for 1 to 30 November and cancelled on 21 November has 10 unused days of a 30-day period, so one third of the paid amount is refunded.
If the gateway refuses the refund, the cancellation still goes through. The customer is told you will refund them by hand, and the failure is recorded in the activity log. See Payments and refunds.
Let the customer choose#
The cancel box on the service page shows two options under When should it end?: At the end of the billing term and Immediately. If a refund would be paid, the immediate option says how much.
Always immediate#
Whatever the setting, these end at once, with nothing refunded because nothing was paid for:
- services that have not started yet (Pending);
- free trials. See Free trials.
Staff#
On the service page, under Danger zone:
- Cancel service always cancels now and removes the remote account. When a refund is possible, a checkbox reads "Refund ... for the unused time". It starts ticked if the refund setting is on, and you can untick it for a single cancellation.
- Terminate service deletes the remote account and marks the service Terminated. It does not refund anything.
Usage that was recorded but not yet billed on a metered product is billed on a final invoice when the service ends. See Usage-based billing.
The REST API can cancel services too, with options for ending immediately and refunding. See REST API.