Member billing questions: what happened and what to say

Quick triage for the billing questions members raise most often. For anything that requires actually touching money (credits, refunds, adjustments, waivers), route to the treasurer or an admin. No other role can take those actions in the console.

What actually happened: ACH payments can sit in processing for several business days before they settle — this is normal, not a stuck payment. Invoice status is driven only by Stripe webhook truth, never by the browser landing on a "thank you" page after checkout, so a member who just finished paying and refreshes their invoice may correctly still see processing.

What to say: "Bank transfers typically take a few business days to fully clear — your payment is on file and will show as paid once your bank confirms it. No need to pay again."

What not to do: don't manually mark an invoice paid. There's no supported "mark paid" action for this — payment truth only comes from Stripe.

What actually happened: a paid invoice can legitimately reopen. An ACH return (the bank reverses a payment after it initially looked settled) or a lost dispute both reopen a paid or processing invoice back to open. This is driven entirely by bank/Stripe webhook events, not by anything staff did, and it is not a duplicate charge — it's the same payment being reversed.

What to say: "Your payment didn't go through with your bank as expected, so the invoice has reopened for that amount. You haven't been charged twice — let's get the payment resolved." Then check the invoice's payment history (or loop in a manager) before saying anything more specific about why it reversed.

Also good to know: this isn't a defect — if a won dispute or a re-settlement happens later, the invoice can move back to paid again, so don't assume a reopened invoice is a dead end for the member.

What actually happened: this is by design, not a bug. Partial payment is ACH-only — a member can pay part of the balance by bank transfer, but a card payment must cover the full invoice total plus the card surcharge. There's no partial-card option. Each ACH partial payment also has to clear a small minimum (configured in Settings) unless it's the final payment that pays the invoice off completely, which is always allowed at any amount.

What to say: "Partial payments are only available by bank transfer (ACH) right now — card payments have to be for the full amount. If you'd like to pay part of the balance today, switch the payment method to bank transfer at checkout." If their attempted partial amount was rejected specifically (not just card), mention there's a small minimum per partial payment — paying the balance off in full is always accepted regardless of amount. Also mention that a partial ACH payment doesn't sign them up for autopay, and the remaining balance is still due by the deadline.

What actually happened: the statement balance only reflects invoices still open or processing. An invoice that was fully paid and later partially refunded stays at $0 on the statement — it doesn't reappear as an amount owed, even if the member remembers a refund happening. Separately, the "card fees avoided" figure on the statement is a live estimate computed at view time, not a stored ledger number, so it can shift slightly if it's viewed again later (for example after a surcharge-rate change).

What to say: "Your statement balance only counts invoices that are still open or processing — anything already paid and settled won't show as owed, even if there was a refund on it afterward. If a specific invoice looks wrong, send me the invoice number and I'll have someone take a closer look."

What actually happened: a dispute (chargeback) reopens the invoice — this is expected, automatic system behavior, not something that needs a manual fix. The reversal is applied the same way an ACH return is: the invoice moves back to open and downstream effects (renewal state, bond ledger, etc.) unwind automatically as new records, nothing is edited or deleted.

What to say: "Disputes automatically reopen the related invoice on our end while it's being resolved with your bank — you don't need to do anything further from our side unless we reach out." Don't promise a specific resolution timeline; that's determined by the card network and the member's bank.

What actually happened: logging a guest at the pool can carry a guest fee, and that fee is billed to the household account as its own invoice — payable through the normal invoice-pay path, and it counts toward the household's balance (the portal Home "Balance due" tile and the statement) just like dues. It isn't a separate cash transaction at the gate.

A few things worth knowing when a member questions the amount:

• The fee is set by the club and can vary. Clubs can configure it (for example a different weekend rate on top of the base fee), so two visits can legitimately be charged different amounts. The specific amounts are configured in Settings; don't quote a number without checking the club's live rates.

• The amount is frozen at the time the visit was logged. If the club changes its guest rate later, an already-logged visit keeps the amount it was charged. A past guest fee that doesn't match today's rate isn't a bug.

• A $0 fee creates no invoice at all. If a club has its guest fee set to zero, logging a guest won't produce a charge.

What to say: "Guest visits at our pool carry a guest fee, and it's billed to your household account like any other invoice — that's why you're seeing it on your balance. The amount is whatever the club had set when the visit was logged; I can confirm the specific figure for you."

Escalate if: the member says a guest fee was charged for a visit that never happened, or wants it removed — adjusting or voiding it is a membership-team/treasurer/admin action (financial rows are append-only; a correction is a credit or void, not an edit).

Escalate anything that requires actually touching money or a membership record. Support and front-line staff can view invoices and explain what happened, but can't take these actions themselves, and the exact role needed varies:

• Issuing or applying a credit, adding an adjustment, or voiding an invoice. Treasurer or admin

• Refunding a payment (note: dues and initiation/bond money can never be refunded via Stripe in this platform. Dues corrections are account credit, bond money goes back by check), treasurer or admin

• Recording a check or cash payment, manager, treasurer, or admin

• Waiving a late fee, or granting a payment-deadline extension. Manager or admin (not treasurer for these two)

• Terminating a membership. Manager or admin only

Don't attempt these actions yourself, and don't promise a timeline for someone else to do them without checking first. If you're not sure who to route something to: a manager covers membership and renewals, the treasurer covers anything that moves money, and an admin covers both.