Switching weeks instead of refunds: a camp policy families like
Plans change. A camp that lets families switch weeks keeps the money and the goodwill. A transfer window, fees, illness, refunds, and policy wording to copy.
Mar 31, 2026 · 4 min read
In June, the emails start. "Grandma's visiting the week of July 13 after all, can we get a refund?" "We just found out about a family wedding." "Ava got into the swim team's training week." None of these families are being difficult. Their summer changed, and they paid you in February.
You have two answers: give the money back, or move them to another week. The second one is better for nearly everyone, and the time to decide that is before registration opens, not in June with the email open in front of you.
Why a switch beats a refund
A refund costs you more than the price of the week:
- The money's gone, and the spot it held may not resell this late.
- The card fee usually stays gone too. When you refund a card payment, processors generally keep their fee, so a $280 refund can cost you $280 plus the fee you paid to take it.
- It takes time: the email, the refund, the spreadsheet, the waitlist.
A switch keeps the money and the camper. The week they leave often fills from your waitlist, and the week they move to had a spare spot anyway. The family gets what they really wanted, which was camp on a week that works.
There's one condition: the new week needs room. A switch is a request, not a right.
The policy, in four parts
Build it around dates, not reasons. Dates are easy to explain and the same for everyone. Reasons turn every request into a negotiation about whose wedding counts.
1. A free switch window. Families can switch to another week with room, at no charge, until a set date. May 31 works for a July and August camp, or "until 21 days before the week starts", whichever you can explain in one sentence.
2. A small fee after it. After the window, a switch costs $25 a camper, still subject to space. It covers your time and makes a family think twice before switching for the third time.
3. Refunds before the window closes, less a fee. Up to May 31, a family who wants their money back gets it, less $30 a camper a week. After that, no refunds, but they can still switch or take a credit for the full amount, to use on another camp before the end of the year.
4. No changes in the last 7 days. Within a week of the start, the spot is theirs, used or not. You've hired the counsellors and bought the supplies.
Worked through for a $280 week:
| When they ask | Switch | Refund |
|---|---|---|
| Before May 31 | Free | $250 back |
| June 1 to 8 days before | $25 | Credit of $280 |
| Within 7 days | Not offered | Not offered |
Illness and the week you cancel
Two cases need their own lines, because they come up every summer.
A camper who's sick during their week. Most camps don't refund missed days, and families accept it when it's written down. If a camper misses three days or more with a note from a doctor, you could offer a credit for the days missed. Decide this once and write it in.
A week you cancel. If you cancel a week (not enough campers, a closure, a counsellor shortage), the family gets a full refund or a free switch, their choice. No fee, no fine print. This is the line that makes families trust the rest.
The wording to copy
Put this at checkout, in the confirmation email, and on your camp page:
Changing your weeks. Plans change, so you can switch a camper to another week with space, free of charge, until May 31. After that, a switch is $25.
Refunds. Until May 31, we'll refund a week less a $30 fee. From June 1, we can't refund a week, but we'll give you a credit for the full amount, to use on another camp before December 31.
The last week. We can't change or refund a week within 7 days of its start.
If we cancel. If we cancel a week, you'll get a full refund or a free switch, whichever you prefer.
Change the dates and amounts to yours, and keep the length. A policy longer than this doesn't get read.
Saying it at the desk
The policy only works if it's said the same way every time. When a parent calls on June 20 asking for a refund:
"We can't refund the week of July 13, but I can move Sam to the week of July 27 or August 10. Both still have room, and it's a $25 change. Or I can put the full $280 on your account for any camp before the end of the year."
That's two good options and no "no". Most families take one.
Exceptions will come up: a family moving across the country, a serious illness. Make them if you want to, but keep a short note of who and why. The family you make an exception for tells two friends, and next year, those friends ask for the same thing.
Where Caletan fits
In Caletan, a family asks for a refund on their paid bill and says why. You choose: back to their card, as credit with you, used first on their next bill, or declined with your reason, which they see on the bill. To switch a week, refund the first one as credit, remove the camper from that camp, and register them on the other at the desk: the credit is used first on the new bill. The refunds guide has the details, and refund or credit talks through when to offer each.
