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Charge for what you delivered, refund what you didn't deliver

Once the service is already in use, it's not all or nothing: you divide the price across units and refund only what's left to deliver.

By Yodai · Published September 6, 2026 · Updated October 12, 2026

4 min read

When a customer asks for a refund, it's not always a simple yes or no: there's a third case, somewhere between a full yes and a full no, for when the customer has already started using what they bought. A customer bought a package of five physical therapy sessions for $200. They've been to two, are moving to another city, and email asking for their money back. Do you refund the full $200, the $120 left for sessions they didn't use, or nothing because the package didn't include refunds?

Here, the service already started, and that changes the question: it's no longer yes or no, it's how much.

The answer isn't about how much you like the customer or how awkward the conversation feels. It comes down to a calculation you can do in ten seconds: "what you already delivered gets paid for, what you didn't gets refunded."

Charge for what you delivered, refund the rest

To charge for what you delivered, you need a price per unit, not a price per package. If a package of five sessions costs $200, each session is worth $40, whether you've spelled that out or not. The per-unit price exists even if you've never written it down anywhere.

With that number, the refund stops being a negotiation: the sessions used, at that price, are yours to keep; the ones not given are refunded. Two sessions used means $80 is yours. The three sessions left are $120 that belongs to the customer.

The same goes for a package of ten yoga classes, a punch card for six haircuts, or a contract for ten hours of consulting. Divide the total price by the units you promised, multiply by the ones still left to deliver, and that's the number you say out loud, not one you negotiate session by session.

The message with the math already done
Hi Maria, of course. You've used 2 of your 5 sessions, so those are charged ($80), and I'll refund the 3 you didn't use: $120. It'll go back to the card you paid with. I'm processing it today, and depending on your bank it can take 5 to 10 business days to show up. It's been a pleasure working with you these past few weeks.

When there are no sessions to count

Not everything is sold by the unit. A monthly lawn care plan, a gym membership, or a subscription doesn't have a "session two of five": it has a period that's already underway by the time the cancellation comes in.

There, the unit is the day. If you charge $60 a month and the customer cancels on day 10, they've used 10 of 30 days: $20 is yours, $40 gets refunded. It doesn't need to be exact down to the penny, but it does need to be a calculation, not a number you pick based on your mood that day or how insistent the customer is.

By days used, or by the month already underway
Refunding by days used
  • The customer sees a clear calculation and leaves satisfied, even though they're leaving
  • Requires calculating every cancellation, even with a simple formula
  • Fits services you charge for actual use: lawn care, cleaning, maintenance
Not refunding the month already underway
  • Simpler: the current month is charged in full, the next one isn't charged
  • This only holds up if you said so before charging, and the customer can keep using the service until that month ends: once they cancel, the law doesn't allow you to charge an individual for services that haven't been provided.
  • Works when you also have a fixed cost for that period: a reserved spot, a space blocked off just for them.

Which one to choose: If the service is billed by actual use, prorate by the day: that's what anyone who already overpaid for something they won't receive would expect. Save the full month, no prorating, for cases where you said so in your terms from the start, and say it in these exact words: cancellation takes effect the following month.

That calculation is yours to make. The next one is imposed on you by someone else: the customer disputes the charge directly with their bank, without going through you.

The costly mistake: refunding the whole package just to make the problem go away
Refunding the full $200 because you don't want the hassle looks like the easy way out, but you're teaching that customer, and anyone who hears about it, that a half-used package can be cashed in twice: once when they bought it, and again when you refund it in full after they got two free sessions. It costs you more on the tenth package than on the first.
5-session package at $200: what's yours and what gets refunded
Sessions used (2)80€
Sessions remaining (3)120€
What you'll walk away with
  • You have a per-unit price for every package or bundle you sell, even if you've never advertised it that way
  • You can calculate in ten seconds how much is yours and how much gets refunded, without negotiating it every time
  • You have the message with the math already done, ready to send as is
  • You've decided, for what you charge by the period, whether to prorate by the day or close out the current month, and you have it written into your terms. One case remains: when you're not the one doing this math for the customer, it's their bank doing it to you.
NextIf they dispute it with the bank, don't argue with them: document it for the bank