Refunds, cancellations and attendee status

Orders and attendee records are two separate things. Refunding an order does not change the attendee list, and cancelling an attendee does not refund anything. This page covers keeping the two in step.

The separation, stated plainly

Every real case therefore needs both actions, in a deliberate order.

The buyer cancels

1. Handle the refund in WooCommerce according to your terms.
2. Open the event.
3. Move their row to Cancelled in the attendee panel.
4. Promote a waiting-list person into the released place.
5. Contact the promoted person — nothing is sent automatically.

Do not delete the attendee record. Cancelled keeps the history, which you will want if the person disputes the refund.

You cancel the event

1. Decide the refund policy and apply it in WooCommerce.
2. Export the attendee list before touching anything — it is your contact list.
3. Contact every attendee, using the exported addresses.
4. Publish the cancellation on the event page rather than unpublishing it, so anyone with the link learns why.
5. Keep the attendee list until refunds are settled.

A paid buyer lands on the waiting list

This is the case to decide before you sell: an event that fills while an order is in progress enrolls the buyer on the waiting list, after payment.

Choose a policy and publish it in your terms:

• Refund automatically, and say so;
• Hold the place for the next edition;
• Keep them on the list and refund only if no place opens.

Whichever you choose, the buyer must be able to read it before paying. Discovering it on the confirmation page is not acceptable.

Preventing it

Two practical measures:

• Manage product stock to match the event capacity, so the shop stops selling before the event fills. The two are not synchronized, so keep them aligned manually.
• Keep the event capacity slightly above what you sell, leaving a margin for orders in progress.

Neither is automatic. Whichever you use, check both numbers as the event fills.

Partial refunds and changes

A partial refund, a transfer to another edition or an upgrade are all order operations. None of them changes the attendee record.

After any of them, look at the event and make the attendee list say what is true:

• moved to another edition → cancel on the old event, and get them onto the new one;
• upgraded → nothing to change in the attendee list;
• partially refunded but still attending → nothing to change.

No-shows

A no-show is neither a refund nor a cancellation. Decide as a policy whether you move them to Cancelled after the event or leave them confirmed, and apply it consistently. See Track attendance on the day.

Keep a reconciliation habit

Because nothing is synchronized, the only reliable safeguard is a routine check:

1. Weekly, and again before each event, list the paid orders for the event's product.
2. Compare them with the attendee list.
3. Resolve the differences in both directions: paid orders with no attendee, and attendees with no valid order.

Export both if the volume makes eyeballing impractical.

Verify your policy once

1. Complete a purchase, then refund it in WooCommerce.
2. Confirm the attendee is still in the list — as expected.
3. Move them to Cancelled.
4. Confirm the confirmed count reflects the change.
5. Write the two-step routine somewhere the team will find it.