Two situations trigger a cancellation at Padelya: the host or a joiner cancels manually, or the system auto-cancels an under-filled open match. This article covers both — when each happens, what your refund looks like, and how the host can override an auto-cancel.
When matches auto-cancel
Each club configures two thresholds in their settings:
- Minimum joiners (1 to 4) — the number of confirmed joiners a public match needs by the lead-time window. Below this number, the match is at risk of cancellation.
- Auto-cancel lead time (6h, 12h, 24h, or OFF) — how far ahead of the match start the system checks. OFF disables the feature entirely for the club; under-filled matches stay open until the standard T-2h expiry.
Concretely: if your club is set to "≥ 3 joiners by 24h", the system checks every public match 24 hours before its start. If fewer than 3 joiners are confirmed, the host (you, if you booked it) gets a notification. After a 2-hour grace window, if no one took action, the match is cancelled and joiners are refunded.
"Keep match anyway" override
When the system flags your match as at risk, you receive an in-app notification, a push, and an email. All three carry the same "Keep match anyway" button. Tap it and:
- The auto-cancel cron will skip this match in all future passes.
- The match stays public and joinable until the standard T-2h expiry.
- You can still cancel it manually at any time via the booking page.
You have 2 hours from the moment you receive the notification to decide. After that window, if the joiner count is still below threshold AND you didn't tap "Keep anyway", the system cancels the match.
Refund schedule
Refunds follow the cancellation policy your club sets, evaluated at the moment of cancellation. The typical scale is:
- Full refund — when the cancellation happens more than 24 hours before the start.
- Partial refund (50%) — between 24h and 6h before the start.
- No refund — within 6 hours of the start.
Auto-cancellations use the same scale: if your match auto-cancels at T-24h with a "free up to 24h" rule, every joiner gets a full refund. If a club has a stricter policy and the auto-cancel happens inside their no-refund window, joiners get no refund (though this is rare — auto-cancel windows are usually wider than refund windows by design).
How long refunds take
The refund is initiated immediately when the cancellation lands. Once it leaves Padelya, the bank typically takes 3 to 10 business days to credit your account. Cards take a few extra days vs. local Georgian bank accounts. You'll see a "Refund pending" line on the booking page until the bank confirms.
Manual cancellation
If you (as the host) decide to cancel a match yourself rather than wait for auto-cancel, open the booking page and tap Cancel. The same refund scale applies. The cancellation cascade refunds every joiner and removes the match from discovery.
If the club cancels (operator-initiated), every joiner sees a refund preview before the cancel lands — the operator can read it row by row so they know exactly how much money flows back to whom.
When the refund doesn't arrive
If 10 business days pass and you haven't seen the refund land, contact support with your booking number (the 8-character ID shown on the booking page). We trace the refund with Checkout.com and reissue if it stalled.
Last updated: 2026-05-14