Sometimes studios notice that a client canceled a class within the allowed cancellation period, but the client says they do not see any refund in their bank account.
Zenamu first places a temporary authorization on the client's card. If the booking is canceled within the cancellation window while the amount is still only authorized, the payment is not captured, so the bank simply releases the blocked amount.
Because the payment was never actually charged, there is nothing to refund. Some banks do not show the release of an authorization, so the transaction simply disappears instead of appearing as a refund.
How card payments work in Zenamu
When a client books a class with a card payment, the payment is usually first authorized, not immediately charged.
This means:
The bank temporarily reserves the amount on the client's card.
The money is not yet transferred to Stripe.
It is captured later.
Zenamu captures the payment at the latest when the class starts or 6 days after the booking, whichever comes first.
This approach helps studios avoid unnecessary Stripe transaction fees when bookings are canceled.
What happens when the client cancels in time
If the client cancels within the allowed cancellation window while the payment is still only authorized:
the payment is not captured
the authorization is automatically released
the studio does not pay any Stripe transaction fee
Because the payment was never actually charged, there is no refund transaction in their bank.
If the payment has already been captured (for example, the client booked more than 6 days before the class), Zenamu refunds the money to the client's card instead.
What the client may see in their bank
Banks handle card authorizations differently. The client may see:
a temporary pending charge that later disappears
a temporarily blocked amount that is released
no visible change at all
Some banks do not show the release of an authorization as a separate transaction, so it may simply look like the payment never happened.
How to verify the payment status
If you want to check what exactly happened with the payment, you can verify it directly in your Stripe Dashboard.
Go to Payments.
Search for the client's payment.
In Stripe it may look similar to the example below:
