Event Creators - Refunds & Exchanges

1. How to refund or exchange a booking
2. How to refund for a cancelled event
3. How to refund a ticket using Stripe
4. How to cancel a booking without a refund
5. Customer hasn't received their refund
6. Can a customer contact TicketSource for a refund?
7. Refund issed to cancelled and expired cards

1. How to refund or exchange a booking

• Credit/debit card payments

The refund will be processed immediately and will take up to 10 days to appear on the customer's credit/debit card statement.

• In-house refund

You will be required to organise the actual refund of cash, cheque, etc to the customer.

To refund a booking:

1. Go to Customers and select Search Customers.
2. In the text box (top right), enter the customer name or booking reference.
3. Select the customer from the list provided..
4. Click the Customer Bookings tab.
5. Next to the relevant booking, go to Actions and select Refund Booking.
6. Follow the onscreen prompts.
7. If refunding, you can choose to refund in full or just part of the booking.

To exchange a booking:

1. Go to Customers and select Search Customers.
2. In the text box (top right), enter the customer name or booking reference.
3. Select the customer from the list provided.
4. Click the Customer Bookings tab.
5. Next to the relevant booking, go to Actions and click Exchange Booking.
6. Follow the on-screen prompts.

2. How to refund for a cancelled event

If you are looking to refund customers due to a cancelled event, please follow the event cancellation procedure within your account.

3. How to cancel a booking using Stripe

You can exchange or refund a Stripe booking by following the standard TicketSource exchange or refund procedure above.  

Individual refunds can also be processed directly from your Stripe account if you wish the customer to receive a different amount to cover the cost of the booking fee and any other charges. 

A normal refund through your TicketSource account will refund the face value of the ticket, less the booking fee and any delivery charges. TicketSource only refunds the booking fee in case of a cancellation or significant change to the event. 

4. How to cancel a booking without a refund

The Cancel Without Refund feature allows you to release tickets for sale and retain the ticket money received for the original booking (i.e. the customer will not receive a refund).  This feature is useful if a customer advises that they cannot attend an event but are happy for the event creator to re-sell their tickets. On your sales report, the booking will have an additional line that reads "refund of 0.00", and the tickets will instantly go back on sale.

To cancel a booking without refunding it:

1. Go to Customers and Search Customers. 
2. In the search box, enter the customer's surname or booking reference.
3. Select the customer from the list.
4. Go to the Customer Bookings tab.
5. Next to the relevant booking, go to Actions and select Cancel Booking Without Refunding.
6. Follow the prompts to select if you want to cancel without refunding the whole booking or only the selected tickets.
7. Click Cancel Booking Without Refunding to process.

5. Customer hasn't received their refund

It can take up to 10 days for a refund to appear back on a customer's card. If a customer contacts an event creator to advise that their refund has not been received, please follow these steps:

1. Check their booking within your account to ensure the refund has been processed (Customers > Search Customers).
2. If the refund was processed less than 10 days ago, please ask the customer to be patient and reassure them that the refund is on its way.
3. If the refund was processed over 10 days ago, please refer the customer to the TicketSource support team at support@ticketsource.com

In most cases, the customer may be checking the wrong credit or debit card. We will send them a refund receipt which will provide the last four digits of the card to which the refund has been issued. We will also provide them with the Acquirer Reference Number (ARN) a unique tracking reference attached to their refund that they can provide to their card provider to trace the refund if they cannot locate it on their statement.

6. Can a customer contact TicketSource for a refund?

If a customer contacts TicketSource to request a refund or exchange, we will direct them to the event creator via the Contact us link or via a telephone number/email address (if a public number/email address has been provided).

However, if the refund is due to event cancellation, postponement or major variation to venue or headline act, etc, TicketSource will refund the customer in full - including the booking fee.  

If we receive a customer request for a refund due to cancellation, postponement or major variation to venue or headline act and we have not received any notification from the event creator, we will make contact with the event creator to seek clarification before refunding the tickets. 

7. Refunds issued to expired or cancelled cards?

A customer may contact the event creator or TicketSource after receiving a refund notification, advising that they no longer have the card used to make the original booking.  Once a refund has been processed, it cannot be retrieved.  

Replacement card

If the customer's card has been replaced (e.g. it expired, was lost or damaged, and a new card has been issued), the customer account which sits behind the card remains the same and therefore, the refund will reach the customer. The refund may take a couple of extra days to reach them.

The card account has been closed

If a customer has closed their credit or debit card account, it is very rare for a card provider to return the funds and will usually hold on to the money until it is claimed by the customer.

Closed card accounts

TicketSource merchant services

If the customer advises that they have closed their card account, please refer the customer to our support team at support@ticketsource.com We can provide the customer with a refund receipt which provides further detail about the refund and also the acquirer reference number (ARN), which is a unique tracking number attached to the refund. The customer will need to forward the refund receipt and the ARN to the card provider and ask that they trace and locate the refund. The card provider must then arrange to forward the refund to the customer.

Stripe integrated accounts

As you are using your own merchant services, you will need to provide the customer with details of the refund, which you can obtain by logging in to your Stripe account:

1. Log in to Stripe
2. Search for the customer in the search box by either their booking reference or email address
3. Select the refund from the list 
4. Locate the Acquirer Reference Number (ARN) under the Timeline. Provide the ARN to the customer. 
5. Scroll down to receipt history, and click 'send receipt' to send the customer a refund receipt.

The customer will need to forward the refund receipt and the ARN to the card provider and ask that they trace and locate the refund. The card provider must then arrange to forward the refund to the customer. The Stripe support team will be able to assist you further with any queries you have regarding refunds to closed cards.

Updated on: 15/07/2025