Refunds - Did you know...?
Did you know that most payment processors such as Sage, have a limit
for how long they will issue a refund
after the payment has been made? Most of them will only process a refund up to 6 months after the date of the payment
. After that, you will not be able to issue a refund on the processor's website or through TouchPoint. If you think about it, that makes total sense!
Solution
If you are going to giving them a refund after that time frame, write them a check. Then go to the Transactions Log (or the Member Dialog if they are still enrolled in the organization) and make an Adjustment to indicate that the person never actually paid anything.
Suggestion - A Better Solution
Why let yourself get in this situation in the first place? Taking payments, then issuing refunds does cost the church the amount of the processing.
If you are using Terms for an online registration (from the Messages tab), indicate that no refunds will be issued after a certain number of days. If you do not use terms, make that point clear in the Instructions on the registration and again in the Confirmation email. For some registrations, you may not issue refunds at all. Those cases should definitely be made clear to the registrant prior to their completing the registration.
Each church should set its own policy regarding refunds in general. But the key here is to think about this issue and actually set a policy for your church.
Helpful Info
The Transactions Log (where you issue refunds and lots more) has tons of information and a lot of functionality. If you have not looked at the help article recently, you should probably take a refresher look at it.