Refunding / Returning Payments / Change Guest Quantity

In Xola, there are many ways to adjust the purchase value of a reservation, giving you flexibility to handle customer requests, operational changes, and accounting requirements with confidence. Whether you need to issue a partial or full refund due to cancellations, guest no-shows, dissatisfaction, or changes in reservation details, Xola makes it easy to process these adjustments while keeping accurate records.

Quickly update the guest count if someone drops out of a group, change a reservation’s value due to switching experiences or modifying add-ons, or issue a refund when a guest used the wrong payment method—all from a single, intuitive interface. Your refund options go beyond simple returns: you can send payments back to the original payer, split refunds across multiple payment methods if several people contributed, or process overpayments resulting from last-minute changes.

Xola’s refund workflow always prioritizes financial security: to protect you and your cash flow, you’ll only be able to refund if your Xola balance exceeds the amount being returned. If your refund exceeds available funds, Xola will prompt you to top up your balance before proceeding, keeping your accounting clean and avoiding operational hiccups.

No matter the scenario—unexpected weather, a guest error, or a business adjustment—Xola ensures you have the tools to deliver seamless service and maintain positive customer experiences, all while staying in full control of your reservation finances.

What's covered in this article:

• Reduce purchase value and return payment
• Return payment only
• Change guest quantity
• Refund to multiple methods of payment
• Refund excess payment

Reduce purchase value and return the payment

This option reduces the customer's total purchase value and sends full or partial payment back to the customer.

When to use: When you need to offer a customer a discount or full refund on their balance or payment. This might be due to something like bad weather conditions or placating an unhappy customer.

How to do:

• Navigate to the Purchase tab.
• Find the reservation and click the Refund button in the action bar.
• Select Reduce booking value and return payment.
• Ensure the total amount is populated in the Amount field. If this is a partial refund, type in the amount to be refunded into the field.
• Select the method to which you want to return the payment.

• Add a reason for the refund in the Comment field.
• Click Save Changes. 

Return payment only

What this does: Returns payment to one customer in order to collect that money either in a new form of payment or from another paying customer. Using the Return Payment feature will always open a balance on the purchase for the amount returned.

When to use: To split payment when one customer has paid for several guests, and those guests would like to pay their share. Or you can allow a customer to switch from cash payment to putting the balance on a credit card.

How to do: 

• Navigate to the Purchase tab.
• Find the reservation and click the Refund button in the action bar.
• Select Return payment only.
• Ensure the total amount is populated in the Amount field. If this is a partial refund, type in the amount to be refunded into the field.
• Select the method to which you want to return the payment.

• Add a reason for the return of payment in the Comment field.
• Click Return Payment. 
• In the Purchase, click Collect Balance.
• In the popup window, under Method, select how you would like to collect the balance (card, cash, etc).
• Click Collect.

Change guest quantity

What this does: Reduces or increases guest count and gives you the option to refund the full or partial price of the ticket or collect the balance.

When to use: It's important to reduce the guest quantity when a guest cancels or does not show up as part of a group. This will maintain an accurate guest count and allow you the option of refunding in full, in partial, or not at all.

How to do: 

• Navigate to the Purchase tab.
• Find the reservation and click the Refund button in the action bar.
• Select Reduce guest count or use the + or - by the demographic to add or remove guests. 

Tip: If you use Waivers or Questionnaire and the names are already filled in, you will need to use the  icon next to the guest's name to remove the particular guest from the purchase.

• Click the Refund dropdown menu, and select either Full, Partial or None as the amount to be refunded.
• Click Modify.
• If you select to issue a refund, you will be presented with an additional window to process the refund. 
• Ensure the total amount is populated in the Amount field. If this is a partial refund, type in the amount to be refunded into the field.
• Select the method to which you want to return the payment.

• Click Save Changes. 

You can also change the guest quantity by clicking Guests in the action bar on the Purchase instead of Refund and following steps 3 through 8 to achieve the same result. 

Refund to multiple methods of payment

You may process multiple customers' credit cards or payment methods on one purchase. As such, you may need to issue a refund to multiple methods of payment. 

• Navigate into the Purchase tab and click on a purchase for which two or more customers have paid.
• From the Actions Bar at the top, click Refund.
• In the popup window, you'll see a list of all the payment methods used on the purchase. 
• Under Refund Terms, click on the drop-down and select Partial, Full, or None for each guest. 
• Under Refund Method, click on the drop-down and select the method of payment for that guest.
• Click the Refund button. 

Refund excess payment

Several modifications, such as adjusting guest count, changing arrival, or switching experiences can decrease the balance on a purchase. The steps below detail how to refund excess payment on a purchase.

• As soon as excess payment is detected, a green Refund Excess Payment button will appear in the customer purchase. 
• Click Refund Excess Payment.
• In the window that opens, the Amount field will default to the full amount of the balance. If you're collecting the full balance, simply choose the method of payment and click Save Changes. If you only want to collect a partial amount, type in the amount, choose the payment method and then click Save Changes. 
• You’ll immediately see the balance adjust in the purchase to reflect full or partial settling.