# Cancelling an order

> **You need:** *Hub — cancel*. Typically `hub_manager` only — deliberately not given to `hub_operator`.

Cancelling stops an order entirely. It is one of the two critical Hub actions, alongside [Forcing a delivery](/books/console-yF7/page/forcing-a-delivery).

## Before you cancel

| Check | Why |
|---|---|
| Is cancelling actually what's wanted? | If the order is just going to be late, changing the promised time may serve the customer better — see [Changing the promised time](/books/console-yF7/page/changing-the-promised-time) |
| Has the customer been told? | A cancellation they learn about from a missing dinner is a different conversation from one they agreed to |
| Is the order already out for delivery? | If the driver has left with it, cancelling here does not recall them |
| Do you know the reason? | It is required, and it is what anyone reviewing this later will read |

## Cancelling

1. Open the order.
2. Choose cancel.
3. Enter the **cancellation reason** — required, and worth writing properly.
4. Confirm.

## If the order is with a carrier

When an external carrier holds the order, the cancellation covers **both sides together**: the order is cancelled with the carrier and released on your side as one operation, not two.

This matters because the failure mode it prevents is a nasty one. Cancelling only your side would leave the carrier still holding a live order, with a courier on the way to collect something nobody expects them to collect.

> If the carrier side fails, the cancellation does not silently half-apply. Check the order's state afterwards rather than assuming it went through, and retry rather than cancelling again from a different screen.

## Write a real reason

The reason is the only explanation that survives. It is read by whoever handles the customer's follow-up, and by anyone reviewing cancellation rates for that store.

**Useful:** "Customer called to cancel — ordered twice by mistake, ticket 4471 kept."
**Not useful:** "cancel", "error", "customer".

## Also log an incident

Cancelling records *that* the order stopped, with your reason. It does not categorise the cancellation into anything countable.

If the cancellation came from something that went wrong — rather than a customer simply changing their mind — log an incident as well, so it shows up in the counts. See [Logging an incident](/books/console-yF7/page/logging-an-incident).

## What cancelling does not do

- It does not recall a driver already out with the order.
- It does not issue a refund. That is handled wherever your refunds are handled.
- It does not notify the customer automatically. Assume they need to be told.