Smart Policies Troubleshooting

Scheduled payments (charges, authorizations, or captures) may fail to run for the following reasons:

1. Your payment gateway does not support automation

• CBPay supports all Smart Policy automations.
• Third-party gateways only automate the initial charge or authorization.
• No gateway connected means all actions must be processed manually.

2. Smart Policy was turned off after a manual financial action

When Smart Policy is active and pending scheduled payments exist, certain manual financial actions display a warning that continuing will turn Smart Policy off for the reservation.

These actions include:

• Adding a manual payment
• Processing a refund
• Canceling a scheduled payment
• Voiding a payment or releasing an authorization
• Adding an item and charging for it during the same workflow

If the user continues, pending scheduled payments are canceled and Smart Policy is turned off. Future scheduled payments will therefore not run.

If no pending scheduled payments remain, these actions follow their regular workflow and do not trigger this Smart Policy warning.

3. The payment method failed

• Card was declined
• Card expired
• Issuing bank blocked the charge
• Authorization reversed by the bank

Staff should update the payment method and retry manually.

4. Reservation changes recalculated the scheduled payment

Some reservation changes can recalculate the remaining balance and update an upcoming scheduled payment. These include:

• Changing the stay dates
• Moving the reservation to a room or rate plan with a different price
• Using Adjust Charge to reduce the reservation total

When Adjust Charge reduces the total, the pending scheduled payment is reduced to match the new remaining balance. If the amount already collected fully covers the adjusted reservation total, the scheduled payment is reduced to $0.00 and canceled.

This charge-adjustment behavior does not apply to checked-in reservations or to adjustments that increase the reservation total.

5. Automation runs only at midnight

All Smart Policy automations run at 12:00 AM (midnight) local property time. Payments will not run during daytime hours.

Smart Policies calculate cancellation fees, but the charge may not process automatically for these reasons:

1. Your payment gateway does not automate cancellation charges

• Only CBPay automates cancellation fees and no-show penalties.
• Third-party gateway users must process penalties manually.

2. Smart Policy was turned off before the cancellation

If Smart Policy was turned off for the reservation, automated cancellation charges will no longer run.

Smart Policy can be turned off intentionally by an authorized user or as the result of confirming certain manual financial actions while pending scheduled payments exist.

When Smart Policy is turned off, pending scheduled payments are canceled and automated collection or refund of cancellation and no-show fees stops. Any required cancellation charge must then be handled manually.

3. Guest canceled through the Guest Portal

Cancellations made in the Guest Portal do not trigger automation. Staff must apply fees manually.

4. The required cancellation fee equals the amount already collected

Example: guest prepaid 50%, cancellation fee is 50% → no additional charge is needed. This is expected behavior.

Smart Policies determine which payment methods appear during checkout.

Digital wallets and bank transfers appear only when:

• The guest pays the full amount at booking, OR
• The policy requires no future automated payments.

These options are hidden when:

• A remaining balance will be charged later
• A future authorization or capture is required
• Cancellation tiers may require new charges

This ensures a payment method capable of supporting future automated charges is provided.

If payment options disappeared unexpectedly:

Check whether the Smart Policy was recently updated to include:

• Additional scheduled payments
• Authorizations
• Cancellation tiers requiring payment collection

Refund automation depends on the gateway and reservation behavior.

1. Guest canceled through the Guest Portal

The Guest Portal does not trigger automated refunds. Staff must manually process them.

2. Third-party gateways do not automate refunds

Refund automation only works with CBPay. For all other gateways, staff must refund manually.

3. Smart Policy was turned off before the refund

If Smart Policy was turned off for the reservation, automated refunds related to cancellation and no-show fees will no longer run.

Smart Policy can be turned off intentionally by an authorized user or as the result of confirming certain manual financial actions while pending scheduled payments exist.

When Smart Policy is turned off, any required refund must be processed manually.

4. A charge adjustment created an overpayment

If you use Adjust Charge to reduce the reservation total below the amount already collected, Cloudbeds does not automatically refund the resulting overpayment.

The pending scheduled payment is reduced to $0.00 and canceled when applicable, but the overpaid amount must still be refunded manually.

5. The guest had not paid more than the cancellation fee

If the fee equals or exceeds what the guest paid, no refund is required. This is normal behavior.

Certain manual financial actions can turn Smart Policy off for a reservation when Smart Policy is active and pending scheduled payments exist.

Which manual actions can turn Smart Policy off?

Cloudbeds displays a warning before you continue with affected actions, including:

• Adding a manual payment
• Processing a refund
• Canceling a scheduled payment
• Voiding a payment or releasing an authorization
• Adding an item and charging for it during the same workflow

What happens if I continue?

• The selected manual action is completed.
• Pending scheduled payments are canceled.
• Smart Policy is turned off for the reservation.
• Automatic payment processing stops.
• Automated collection or refund of cancellation and no-show fees stops.
• Any remaining payments or required refunds must be handled manually.

When does this warning not apply?

If there are no pending scheduled payments, these actions follow their regular workflow and do not trigger the Smart Policy turn-off warning.

System-generated routine actions also do not turn Smart Policy off. For example, an authorization automatically released by the system at checkout is not treated as a manual staff action.

Using Adjust Charge to reduce the reservation total follows a separate workflow: the pending scheduled payment can be updated or canceled based on the new reservation total.