# Refunds & chargebacks When money goes the other way — back to the traveller, or pulled from your account by the card issuer — Adrasis handles it through a structured surface. Refunds are voluntary; chargebacks are not. Both have their own flow and operator screen. ## Refunds A **refund** is money you send back to a traveller. Common reasons: * **Cancellation within the refund window** — the rate plan's policy applies; the refund amount is computed automatically. Example: a 4-night Hotel Sunrise booking for EUR 720 cancelled 48 hours before check-in under a *Free until 24h* policy → full EUR 720 refund. * **No-show waiver** — operator goodwill; you choose to refund despite the policy. * **Service failure** — the property failed to deliver; you refund as part of resolution. * **Overpayment** — a billing error on the booking that you correct. ### How a refund flows
Cancellation → policy lookup → refund computation → original payment method

The platform reads the cancellation policy, computes the refund amount, and triggers it on the original payment method.

The refund record carries: who triggered it, when, the amount, the reason (free-text), the original booking, the resulting financial entries. ### Multi-currency refunds If the traveller paid TRY 24,000 and the booking ledger holds EUR 600 (because the Hotel Sunrise contract is in EUR), the refund flows in TRY back to the traveller's original payment method. The payment view shows the original conversion, the refund-time conversion, and the variance between them. This is the same conversion logic that runs at booking time — see [Settlement & reconciliation](/console/payments/settlement-and-reconciliation.md). ### Partial refunds For bookings with multiple components (rooms, ancillaries, packages), refunds can be partial: * Cancel one of three rooms; the other two stay; the refund amount reflects the cancelled portion. * Refund the late check-out fee but keep the rest of the booking. * Refund the upgrade fee while keeping the room booking. The refund record breaks down which components were refunded; the booking remains active for the rest. ### Refund controls * **Cancellation refunds within policy** — typically automatic or operator-confirmed. * **Waivers and goodwill refunds** — recorded with a reason. * **Bulk refunds** — preview before applying. ## Chargebacks A **chargeback** is a transaction reversal initiated by the cardholder through their bank. Unlike a refund, you do not initiate it — the bank pulls the funds out of your account first, and you have a defense window (typically 7–14 days) to respond. Chargebacks are an industry-wide reality of taking card payments; what matters is how cleanly you can defend the legitimate ones. ### How a chargeback flows
Cardholder disputes → bank pulls funds → defense window → outcome

The defense window is the operator's chance to submit evidence before the disputed funds are settled.

### What gets attached to the case When a chargeback opens, Adrasis automatically gathers the context: * The booking record — dates, room, rate plan, traveller details. * The rate plan's cancellation policy at the time of booking. * Communications with the traveller (cancellation requests, no-show notices). * The supplier's record of the stay (if available — check-in, check-out, ancillaries). * Any operator notes attached to the booking. You add or refine evidence before submitting. Adragent can help: *"Pull the full evidence package for chargeback CB-2389."* ### Common chargeback reasons | Reason | What it usually means | | ---------------------------------------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | *Service not received* | The cardholder claims they did not stay. Counter with check-in / check-out evidence. | | *Fraudulent transaction* | The cardholder claims they did not authorize the booking. Review IP, email, payment-method patterns. | | *Duplicate transaction* | Two charges for one booking. Often legitimate; refund and concede. | | *Cancelled booking, refund not received* | The traveller cancelled but did not see a refund. Check the refund history; if missing, refund and concede. | | *Different amount than agreed* | The amount charged differed from the displayed total. Compare booking total to settlement; resolve. | Adrasis tags each chargeback with its reason code and surfaces likely defenses based on the case context. ### Chargeback economics Chargebacks cost more than the disputed amount: * The funds are pulled, then either returned (if you defend successfully) or kept by the cardholder. * Most payment gateways charge a per-chargeback fee regardless of outcome. * Excessive chargebacks against a organization may affect gateway standing. You see chargeback rate per organization per period in the console. Adragent can sweep: *"Show chargebacks open for more than 14 days, grouped by reason."* ### Chargeback controls * **Reading chargeback cases** — open the case from the booking or payments queue. * **Submitting defenses** — attach evidence and submit the response. * **Conceding (accept the loss)** — recorded with reason. * **Bulk concession** — preview before closing stale cases. ## Refunds vs. chargebacks — a quick comparison | Concern | Refund | Chargeback | | ------------- | --------------------------- | -------------------------------------------------- | | Who initiates | You | Cardholder via their bank | | Time pressure | Per cancellation policy | Defense window from the bank (typically 7–14 days) | | Recoverable | N/A — voluntary | Funds pulled until defense outcome | | Cost | The refunded amount | The amount + chargeback fee + handling time | | Case history | Created by your refund flow | Externally driven; full case context auto-gathered | A clean operation prefers refunds — proactive, cheap, traveller-friendly. Chargebacks are what happens when refunds did not happen in time, or when the dispute is opportunistic. ## Adragent and refunds / chargebacks Common phrases that map to Adragent operations: * *"Process the refund for booking BK-12345 — the cancellation just landed."* * *"Find every chargeback open for more than 14 days and pull their evidence packages."* * *"Show me cancellations in the last week where no refund has been issued."* * *"Concede the chargeback CB-2389 — we are not going to win this one."* Read operations return immediately; writes preview before applying. ## Where to next * **The settlement and reconciliation flow refunds tie into** → [Settlement & reconciliation](/console/payments/settlement-and-reconciliation.md) * **The contracts that drive refund-policy terms** → [Contracts](/console/contracts-and-onboarding/contracts.md) * **The notification surface that flags chargebacks** → [Notifications](/console/notifications-and-ops/notifications.md) --- # Agent Instructions: Querying This Documentation If you need additional information that is not directly available in this page, you can query the documentation dynamically by asking a question. Perform an HTTP GET request on the current page URL with the `ask` query parameter: ``` GET https://adrasis.gitbook.io/console/payments/refunds-chargebacks.md?ask= ``` The question should be specific, self-contained, and written in natural language. The response will contain a direct answer to the question and relevant excerpts and sources from the documentation. Use this mechanism when the answer is not explicitly present in the current page, you need clarification or additional context, or you want to retrieve related documentation sections.