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Booking statuses explained

Definition of complete booking, checkout booking and cancelled booking

Anni avatar
Written by Anni
Updated over a week ago

A booking can hold one of four statuses - Complete, checkout, cancelled and owes.

This article covers:


Complete

A booking is marked as complete once the customer finishes the following within the checkout period:

For free events:

The customer completes any mandatory fields in the booking form and selects Continue

For paid events:

The customer completes any mandatory fields in the booking form

and

The customer either pays online or agrees to pay later, then selects Complete Booking.

We show the customer the 'Booking Complete' page, and they will receive the confirmation email.

💡 To note: The system will only send the confirmation email (containing the booking reference number) to the customers, attendees and admins once the booking is complete.


Checkout

When the customer selects the Book now button on the public pages, a booking enters the' checkout' phase.

We will reserve the place(s) for the duration of the 'checkout reservation period' (you can change this in your Booking options). A booking remains in the checkout status even if abandoned.

💡 To note: If a customer completes the booking form but hasn't paid or agreed to manual payment, it will show a 'checkout' status on the 'latest bookings' list on your overview page. These bookings are incomplete and don't take up space, and Bookwhen doesn't send any emails at this stage.

Completing a booking on behalf of a customer

You can 'force complete' a checkout booking by selecting Complete this booking under Options within the booking:

Screenshot of booking with an arrow pointing at the 'Complete this booking' option under 'Options', highlighting to users where to click to complete the booking on behalf of the customer.

This forces the booking into a "Completed" status. If payment is required, it will be marked as 'Pay later.'

However, this may not be possible if:

  • The event password hasn't been entered,

  • The booking form isn't filled out, or

  • The ticket allocation form is incomplete.

In these cases, the customer must complete the booking again.


Cancelled

A booking can be cancelled by the customer, attendee, or you (the admin) according to the cancellation rules as defined on the booking options page. We will send a cancellation email to the customer, attendees, and admin users.

Once you or the customer cancels a booking, the places will be released to people on the waiting list and then the public (if you have this enabled).


Owes

When you (the admin) or the customer (if permitted) cancel a booking and money is owed, the status shows as 'owes.' A booking also shows as 'owes' for those who do not yet have payment recorded.

✨ You can learn more about refunds here.


💬 Any questions or feedback? There are two ways to get in touch:

Thank you! 🕺

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