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Refunds

Refund a course purchase from Bitty Course or Stripe, and what happens to the student's access, discounts and analytics.

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You can refund a paid purchase from the student's page in Bitty Course or from your Stripe Dashboard. A full refund ends the student's access to the course once Stripe confirms it. Only workspace owners can refund from Bitty Course.

Refund a purchase

  1. Open the course and click the Students tab.
  2. Click the student.
  3. Click Refund and confirm ("Refund [amount]? Access ends when the refund is confirmed.").

You then see one of:

  • "Refund confirmed and access removed." — Stripe confirmed it straight away.
  • "Refund requested. Access changes when the payment provider confirms it." — access ends as soon as Stripe confirms.

If Stripe doesn't respond, nothing changes and you can try again.

The Refund button appears when the purchase was paid and hasn't been refunded, including after you removed the student's access. Editors don't see it.

Refunds are full refunds

A refund from Bitty Course returns the whole amount the student paid. Bitty Course's platform fee (on the Free plan) is refunded too. Partial refunds aren't available in Bitty Course.

You can also refund in your Stripe Dashboard:

  • A full refund made in Stripe has the same effect as one made in Bitty Course.
  • A partial refund made in Stripe is recorded in Bitty Course: the student keeps access, their page shows how much was refunded, and Analytics counts it as a refund. Only a full refund ends access.

Stripe's own processing fees and refund rules are Stripe's; see your Stripe Dashboard.

What happens to the student

  • Their access to the course ends. They can't start new video playback or download lesson files. A video already playing can keep working for up to 5 minutes, until its playback link expires.
  • On the Students tab they show with a Revoked badge, under the Access removed filter. Their page says "Refunded" and the date.
  • Their lesson progress and quiz attempts are kept.
  • If they return to their checkout page, it says "This purchase was refunded" and tells them to contact you.
  • They can buy the course again later. (Students whose access you removed with Remove access can't.)
  • Bitty Course doesn't email the student about the refund. Stripe may send its own receipt, depending on your Stripe settings.

To give a refunded student access again without payment, open their page and click Restore access, or add them under Add a student.

What happens to your numbers

  • Analytics: the sale still counts in the period it was paid. The refund counts in the period it happened and lowers Net revenue then, with the Bitty Course fee returned. The revenue line shows sales, refunds and fees separately. Refunded students no longer count as students with access. See Analytics.
  • Sales CSV: the order is listed with status refunded and the refund date.
  • Discounts: a refunded purchase stays in the discount's Who used it list with a Refunded badge. It's left out of Revenue and Students saved, and the use isn't given back to the code's limit.

Disputes

Disputes (chargebacks) are handled in your Stripe Dashboard. Bitty Course records them: the student's page shows when the payment was disputed and its current status (for example needs response, won or lost). Bitty Course doesn't change a student's access when a dispute is opened or decided. If you want to remove access, click Remove access on the student's page.

Good to know

  • Only owners can refund in Bitty Course.
  • Refunds still work while the workspace is read-only after canceling.
  • A refunded purchase can't become paid again, even if a late payment message arrives.
  • A refund that reaches Bitty Course before the purchase confirmation is held and applied once the purchase is recorded.