Canceling a Reservation

A canceled reservation is not deleted from the system, it simply has a Canceled status set so that it will not show up on certain reports.  You can cancel a reservation using the Cancel option on the right-click menus in the tab views, or you can click on the Canceled check box on a Reservation Details dialog.

Note: If a reservation is already checked in and now you need to cancel it (either due to a mistake or because the customer did not stay the night), you need to first change the status to Pending by checking the Pending box on Reservation Details.

When doing a cancellation, you will have a chance to select the Type of cancellation and (optionally) a Reason for the cancellation, and enter notes about the cancellation (it's always a good idea to note who requested the cancellation and why, so you have some proof in case they forget that they canceled it).  

Cancel Type -- This is a fixed list of options which become the Status of the reservation.  This is a broad explanation of the type of cancellation that was done  -- e.g. if they called to cancel, or didn't call but didn't show up, or showed up but didn't stay, or if you canceled the reservation due to a mistake or for some other reason.  This list cannot be changed.  You can set a default Type selection in Maintenance / Program Options / Reservations.

Cancellation Reason (new as of version 11.0) -- These selections come from the Cancel Reason Pick List, which you can define.  Select an appropriate reason that the cancellation was done.  These will show along with the Type/Status in most cases.  You can set a default Reason to be selected for each different Cancel Type, in Maintenance / Program Options / Reservations.

If you have the appropriate operator access, there will also be a button to the right to Edit pick list.  You can click on that to directly jump to the Pick List editing function for the Cancel Reasons, without leaving the Cancel Reservation dialog.

Notes -- Any notes will be part of the reservation's Notes field, so if notes already exist you can add the cancellation notes to the end of the existing notes. Also remember that the date, time, and operator making the cancellation will be recorded, which you can see on the Reservation Details dialog.  

After entering the details and clicking Save, the Transaction dialog will appear so that you can check the transactions for any refund needed or delete any charges for the reservation, or charge a cancellation fee.  Don't leave unpaid charges on a canceled reservation or else your reports will be inaccurate, showing charges that were never paid.  When canceling a reservation, the account should be "balanced out" so that the balance due is $0.00.

You can undo a canceled reservation if a cancellation is done by mistake, or if the customer changes their mind.  You can do this by clicking on the Pending check box in the Reservation Details dialog.  A simple confirmation will be shown, at which point you simply click Yes to undo the cancellation.  Manager access is required for this function.

You can also change the cancellation type or reason through Reservation Details, by clicking on the checkbox next to the current canceled status (which may also show "No-Show", "No-Stay", "Mistake" or "Other" depending on the current status).