When a guest asks for their money back

A guest can hand a free place back themselves — it goes straight to whoever is waiting. Once money has settled they cannot, because giving a seat away and giving money back are different decisions and only you can make the second: you know the venue deal, whether the food is ordered, and what your own policy says.

So they ask instead, from the ticket they are holding. Their request appears under "Needs you" with the amount and anything they wrote. Approve it and the money goes back the same way the refund button in your bookings list sends it — one path, one ledger entry, one seat released. Decline it and they are told.

State a refund policy on the event and it is shown to the guest at the moment they ask. A decision that follows a stated policy reads as a decision; the same one without it reads as arbitrary.