You can send money back to a traveler's card straight from their booking. A partial refund returns part of the money and keeps the booking running. A full refund returns everything paid by card and ends the booking.
Before you start
Refunding needs the Owner, Admin, Manager or User role.
The booking must be Confirmed, with money collected on it.
Refunds go to the card payments made through Samba, and only to the card that paid. You cannot refund to a different card or account.
GetYourGuide bookings cannot be refunded from Samba.
Payments you recorded as paid offline (cash, bank transfer, check) cannot be refunded through Samba. They don't stop you refunding the card payments — Samba skips them. Return that money to the traveler yourself, the same way you received it.
Partial refund | Full refund | |
Amount | Any amount you choose, up to what was paid by card | Everything paid by card and not yet refunded |
Booking | Stays Confirmed | Becomes Refunded and is canceled |
Seats | Kept | Released |
Payment plan | Keeps running. Scheduled installments are still charged on their due dates | Canceled, with every scheduled installment |
Refund part of a booking
Open the booking and select Actions → Partial refund.
Enter the Amount to refund in the booking's currency, for example
50.00. The dialog shows the most you can refund. The field starts with what the booking's cancellation policy would give today, based on what the traveler has paid so far. Replace it with the amount you want.
Choose a Reason and add Notes for your own records.
Select Confirm.
A refund can never be more than was paid by card and not yet refunded. If the amount is larger than one payment, Samba refunds the most recent payment first and works backwards.
If the card network refuses one of those payments part-way, Samba keeps a record of what did go back and tells you how much is left. Refund the rest again later, or settle it with the traveler yourself.
Refund the whole booking
Open the booking and select Actions → Full refund.
Check the amount in the dialog, choose a Reason and add Notes.
Leave Email the customer about this cancellation ticked to tell the traveler, or untick it to tell them yourself.
Select Confirm.
Full refund returns everything paid by card and not yet refunded — on a booking that is only partly paid, that is what has been collected so far. The dialog states the amount before you confirm.
A full refund cannot be undone. The booking is canceled, its seats are released, and any payment link still open for it stops working.
If the traveler had a cancellation request open, a full refund closes it as approved. They do not get the request-outcome email — only the cancellation email, if you left the box ticked.
What happens next
The money returns to the card used for each refunded payment, through your Stripe account.
After a full refund, the traveler receives a "Booking canceled" email if you left the box ticked. It states the amount refunded and that it typically appears within 5–10 business days. If you unticked the box, Actions → Send cancellation email on the booking sends it later.
Samba does not email the traveler about a partial refund. Let them know yourself, for example with Actions → Message customer.
Samba issues a credit note for the refund. The traveler finds it, and a refund receipt, in their booking portal. See Find transactions, receipts and invoices.
Samba's commission on the refunded amount is reversed, at the rate the booking was confirmed with. Stripe's own processing fees are not handled by Samba.
How is this different from canceling a booking?
How is this different from canceling a booking?
Canceling starts from the booking and its cancellation policy; refunding starts from the money. To cancel with or without a refund, or to answer a traveler's cancellation request, see Canceling and refunding a booking and Handling cancellation requests.
I lowered a booking's price. How do I refund the difference?
I lowered a booking's price. How do I refund the difference?
You do it in the booking editor. When an edit brings the price below what the traveler has already paid, the editor asks how to settle the difference, and the traveler receives a booking-updated email stating the amount. See Editing a booking.