If you need to cancel a class that hasn’t met the minimum number of students, or remove an individual student from a class, follow these steps to ensure students are appropriately compensated while adhering to your studio’s cancellation policies.
Removing a student: the options and what they do
When you remove a student from a class on the schedule, the options you see depend on the class type. There is no "Cancel With Refund" option.
Drop-in classes
Remove without refund: takes the student out of the class and returns no money or credit.
Remove with refund: takes the student out and refunds them in the way they paid. This option is for drop-in classes only.
Courses (term classes)
Remove from this class only: removes the student from that one date, with no refund.
Remove from entire course: before the course has started, you then choose Remove without refund or Remove with refund. Once the course has started, the student is removed from the remaining classes without a refund.
If make-ups are enabled on the class, you'll also see Remove & issue makeup and Remove from entire course & issue makeups, which issue make-up credits instead of money.
Bookings paid with a payment plan, and invited guests, can only be removed without refund.
How the refund is returned — in the same form the student paid:
Paid by card → the amount is returned to the student's Groovio wallet, not straight back to their card.
Paid by membership or package credit → returned as that same credit.
When a class booked with a membership or package is cancelled within the cancellation window, the activity log can show "$0 refunded". This is expected — the credit is returned to the membership or package rather than money being refunded. To check a membership credit came back, open the student's Memberships tab and click Billing Cycle Credit Use.
A removal refund does not go back to the original card. To send money back to the original card instead of the wallet, see "Refund Wallet Balance to Original Payment Method".
Note: card refunds are returned net of the Groovio/Stripe processing fee, so the amount returned to the student can be slightly less than the amount originally paid.
What Happens Automatically When You Delete or Cancel a Class
Deleting a drop-in class date (Cancel/Delete classes > This class only, or This and all future connected classes > Bulk Cancel) automatically refunds every booked student in the way they paid. Card payments go to their Groovio wallet. Membership and package credits are returned with their original expiry.
⚠️ Do not also credit these students manually. They have already been refunded, so a manual credit would compensate them twice.
Bookings paid with a payment plan are not refunded automatically when a date is deleted.
Deleting one date of a course only refunds students who booked that date as a drop-in spot. Students enrolled in the whole course are not refunded for that date. If you want to compensate them, use the options below.
Auto-cancelled classes (minimum numbers not met) refund automatically. Paid amounts go to the student's wallet, and membership and package credits are returned.
Delete complete schedule (for a course) isn't available while any student is still booked into the course. To cancel a course that has bookings, first remove each student with Remove from entire course (choose Remove with refund if you want to refund them), then delete the schedule.
Options for Issuing Credits or Refunds
When you want to compensate students who weren't refunded automatically (for example, course students when you delete one date of the course), there are three main options:
To issue a class credit, go to the student's profile and locate their active packages. Select the edit option next to the relevant package and adjust the number of credits to reflect the classes they missed. The added credits can then be used by the student to book other classes.
To add money to the student’s wallet, navigate to their profile and click Add Money under Wallet Balance. Choose Account Credit Adjustment as the payment method so it isn't counted as new revenue. Enter the amount you wish to add, which will appear as a balance in their wallet. This balance can be used for future bookings but is not automatically applied to payments. Students will need to manually use the wallet balance when making a booking.
To refund the original payment, go to the student’s profile and open their Transaction History. Locate the transaction and click the refund (U-turn) icon. In Send this refund to, choose Student Wallet or Original Payment Method. Note: this refunds the whole transaction. There is no amount field, so for a partial refund (for example, one week of a course) use option 2 instead.
Notes Regarding Refunds
Refunds generally take approximately 3-4 business days, depending on Stripe.
Remember that automatic and removal refunds return in the same form the student paid: card payments go to the Groovio wallet, and credit-based payments return as that credit. To return funds to the original card, use the student's Transaction History (see "Refund Transaction to Card Instead of Wallet"), and note that card refunds come back net of the processing fee.
Troubleshooting: refund didn't appear
If you chose "with refund" but nothing appears in the student's wallet or credit balance, do not assume the amount went to credit — this may be a failed refund. Contact Groovio Support to investigate rather than re-issuing another refund.
Best Practices for Canceling Classes
When you delete a drop-in class date, no manual action is needed. Booked students are refunded automatically, so don't add credits on top. To cancel a whole course that has bookings, remove each student with Remove from entire course > Remove with refund before the course starts, then delete the schedule. For individual dates within a course, use the options above to manage refunds or credits based on your studio’s policies.
Keep in mind that wallet credits are not automatically applied to payments. Ensure students are aware of this so they know to use their wallet balance when booking future classes.
This approach ensures students are appropriately compensated while maintaining transparency and fairness in your cancellation process.