Introduction to Managing Cancellations

The Cancellations Screen provides quick access to all the tools you need to manage cancellation of room reservations, Resort Scheduling bookings, and Vendor Activities all from a single screen while also providing the opportunity to charge cancellation fees, credit any advance deposits back to the reservation, or process immediate refunds to the credit card on file.

Note: The Manage Cancellations screen functionality must be specifically enabled if you intend to use it in your organization. See: Enabling the Cancellation Screen

Important Note: In order for your cancellation process to work as expected, your system should be configured to reflect your business practices. For a list of configuration that will need to be completed prior to using the Manage Cancellations screen, see: Cancellations Configuration

The Manage Cancellations screen can be launched from any booking that has an active Cancel option.  Depending on the type of booking, the button to launch the screen may be different.  The following are the screens from which you can launch the Manage Cancellation screen.

Note: If there are multiple bookings associated with the booking you are trying to cancel, all bookings are displayed, but only the items selected are checked (included) by default.

Launching the Manage Cancellation screen

The Manage Cancellation screen will display whenever you select the cancel option from the following screens within SMS|Host:

  • Room Reservation

  • Booking Center Itinerary

  • Group Management Tile - Reservation Zoom screen (Individual Reservation)

  • Group Management Tile - Advanced Reservation Zoom

  • Resort Scheduling Spa, Class, or Golf booking

  • Scheduled Services Screen - Scheduling 5

  • Guest Itinerary - Recreation 6

Note: In the case of Resort Scheduling bookings, there are multiple ways in which you can access the Cancel option. Any of these options will launch the Manage Cancellation screen.

The Manage Cancellation screen will NOT display when you select any of the batch cancellation options from the following screens within SMS|Host:

  • Group Management Tile - Reservation Zoom screen (Batch Cancel)

  • Group Management Tile - Cancel 6 (Cancels Group)

  • Character-based menu B - Additional Options, E - Batch Cancel Reservations

Note: The Batch Cancellation screens will continue to function as they always have. No changes were made to any of the batch cancellation options.

Using the Manage Cancellation Screen

Many factors determine what happens when you attempt to cancel a booking. There are system configuration options that always stay the same, such as whether or not your system is setup to allow cancelling with a balance as well as individual user clearances that determine what functions each user has access to.

There are also some other factors that determine what happens to the individual booking at the time you cancel:

  • The type of booking

  • How far in advance of arrival you are canceling the booking

  • Whether there was a deposit taken

  • If there is a cancellation policy that applies and whether the booking is canceled inside or outside the penalty window

To begin the cancellation process:

  1. Select Cancel

  2. When the Manage Cancellation screen opens, the booking or bookings are displayed at the top of the screen

    • If there's more than one booking, the check-mark to the left of the booking allows you to determine which specific bookings you are cancelling

    • Place a check-mark next to any booking you wish to cancel. Remove the check-mark if you do not wish to cancel a particular booking

  3. If you see a red ring around any of the fields, this indicates that there is a problem. You can hover your mouse over the arrow in the upper right corner of the field to display information about the error.

    • Some errors are informational only; while others must be dealt with

    • An expired credit card is an example of an error that must be fixed

    • In the example below, because the golf bookings are being cancelled with plenty of lead time, there is no penalty so the forfeit field is not available.

  4. Basic information about the booking is displayed including the value of the booking and if there is a balance that may need to be dealt with

    • The Value column indicates how much the booking is worth

    • The Balance column tells you if there are any postings associated with the booking. These would typically be deposits, but the balance could also include any charges

    • The Settle To column tells you what, if any, payment method was used to hold the booking

    • The Refund, Forfeit, Credit Itin, Credit Res, and Amt Rem columns are automatically calculated based on your cancellation policies and determine what must be done with any deposits that were paid. In some instances, there may not be a deposit but the guest could still be required to pay a penalty. This is common with Resort Scheduling bookings.

  5. If the credit card that was used to secure the booking is no longer valid or if the guest would like to use a different card, you can select the Add Card button to add a new credit card that can be used to process the cancellation.

  6. If the amounts calculated by SMS|Host are correct, you can proceed to cancel; otherwise, you can modify these amounts if you have the clearance to do so

    • If your system is setup to allow cancelling with a balance, the Amt Rem field does NOT need to be $0.00

    • If your system is setup to prohibit cancelling with a balance, then the Amt Rem field must be $0.00 before you can proceed with cancelling

  7. The settlement totals tell you if there will be a refund issued to the payment method on file or if the guest owes money and a charge will be processed.

  8. Depending on your configuration, you may need to select a cancellation reason from the drop down as well as enter a short description of the reason for the cancellation.

  9. Once you are satisfied that everything is correct you can select the Cancel Bookings button and the following will happen

    • Any bookings that had a check-mark will be canceled

    • The amounts in the Settlement Totals will be automatically charged to the card either in the form of a refund or an additional charge

    • The booking's status will be updated to CAN and the edits log on each booking will be updated with the appropriate cancellation information.