When a refund is issued (due to cancellation or dispute resolution), it is processed through Stripe back to the original payment method. We initiate refunds immediately on our end when applicable, but your bank or card provider may take a few days to post the money back to your account. In general:
- Expect about 2–5 business days for a refund to appear on your credit/debit card statement. Often it’s faster, but it can vary by bank.
- You will get an email confirmation of the refund from VanLife Connect or Stripe when it’s processed, so you have a record.
- If you used a non-card method (e.g., Apple Pay), it still ultimately goes back to the underlying card or account that funded it, with similar timing.
- If a charge was pending (for example, you requested a booking that wasn’t accepted and then it was auto-cancelled), that wasn’t a captured charge and will simply not finalize. In those cases, you might see the pending charge drop off your statement in a few days, but no money is actually taken.
In short, refunds aren’t instant on your statement, but they are on their way. If you have not seen a refund after a week, let us know and we can help track it. (Sometimes we can provide an ARN – Acquirer Reference Number – that your bank can use to locate the transaction in their system.)