How do I manage cancellations/failed payments/refunds for instalments?
How long does it take for Stripe to retry payments if the payment is unsuccessful?
Stripe will retry 4 times within a week. Learners will receive emails from Stripe to update their payment details.
What happens after Stripe has retried 4 times?
The status of the instalment plan will become past_due.
Learners will still be able to update their payment details via Stripe’s customer portal and pay for their outstanding invoices.
Once the payments have been processed, the instalment plan status will change back to Active.
However, if the payments have been outstanding for more than 15 days, the instalment will be automatically cancelled. The course provider will have to make a decision about their enrolment.
A plan cannot be reactivated once it has been cancelled. We assume if it takes more than 15 days for one to process the outstanding payments, then they will probably won’t make the payments anymore. If the learner is experiencing financial difficulty or has special reasons, the course provider can choose to keep the learner enrolled.
Edge case scenario
Learner has outstanding payments. Instalment plan shows as Past_due
Course provider accidentally removed the learner from the course or the learner accidentally removed themselves from the course
If the instalment plan status is past_due, the learner will be able to pay for their outstanding invoices. The instalment plan will be back to Active. The learner will be able to re-enrol into the course again without going through the payment flow
However, if the instalment plan status has changed to cancelled, the learner will have to pay to enrol into the course again. Alternatively, the course provider can also manually enrol the learner into the course.
Can learners cancel the instalment plan on their own?
No, learners will not be able to cancel the instalment plan from the Manage instalment plan page (Stripe). They will have to send a request to their course provider.
What is the payment refund process if a learner requests to cancel an instalment plan?
In general, the cancellation and refund policy for instalments is the same as paying course fees in full. The learner will not be eligible for a refund 7 days after enrolment. Course providers will have to cancel instalment plans on their end to prevent the learner from being billed when the next payment is due. Course providers will also have to enter a cancellation reason to minimise mistakes in cancelling plans.
If the learner cannot be enrolled before all payments have been completed, they can request for a refund anytime before they enrol. They will be eligible for a full refund of what they’ve paid
If the learner has made one payment and is enrolled immediately, and requests for a refund after 7 days of enrolment, they will not be eligible for a refund. We can however, cancel the instalment plan to prevent further billing.
How long does it take for the refund to be processed if it’s processed by OpenLearning?
Once the refund gets approved, Finance will normally process the refund on the same date and it takes approximately 1-3 business days for the fund to hit the learner’s bank account.