What Happens to a Deposit When a Rental Is Deleted?
What this article covers
Deleting a rental/order does not automatically refund the customer’s deposit.
Deleting an order and refunding a payment are separate actions. This gives you control over whether a deposit should be refunded based on your business policy.
What happens when an order is deleted
If you delete a rental/order, BRS does not automatically send money back to the customer.
This is intentional because many rental businesses have different deposit policies.
For example, some deposits may be:
- Non-refundable
- Partially refundable
- Fully refundable
- Applied to a future booking
You decide whether a refund should be issued.
Best practice before deleting an order
Before deleting an order, review:
- Whether the customer paid a deposit
- Whether the customer paid a remaining balance
- Whether the order should be canceled instead of deleted
- Whether you need to issue a refund
- Whether you need to keep the order record for your own records
In many cases, canceling an order may be better than deleting it because it preserves more order history.
How to refund a deposit
Go to: Orders → Billing → Payments
Search for the customer, order, invoice, or payment.
Find the payment row and use the available refund action.
If the customer paid both a deposit and a remaining balance, those may appear as separate payments. Refund the payment or amount that matches what you want to return.
For step-by-step help reviewing payments and issuing refunds, see How to View Payment History and Process a Refund.
If you need to review how deposits are configured, see Setting Up Your Deposit.
Important note
A refund may take several business days to appear on the customer’s card, depending on the processor and the customer’s bank.
If you still need help
If you deleted an order and need help finding the payment, contact support.
Include:
- Customer name
- Customer email
- Approximate order date
- Payment amount
- Screenshot of payment history, if available