Stripe subscription canceled alert in Slack (customer.subscription.deleted)

A Stripe subscription canceled alert in Slack tells your team when a customer leaves, with the plan and the MRR you lose. ChargeBell posts when a customer schedules a cancellation and when Stripe sends customer.subscription.deleted. You hear about a scheduled cancellation the day it happens, while the customer still has access.

What customer.subscription.deleted means

Stripe sends customer.subscription.deleted when a subscription ends. That happens when you cancel it right away through the API or Dashboard, when a subscription set to cancel at period end reaches that date, or when Stripe cancels it after failed payment retries, if your Billing settings tell it to. By the time this event arrives, the subscription is already over.

After it fires, the subscription status is canceled, Stripe stops creating invoices for it, and canceled_at records the time.

Scheduled cancellations and cancel_at_period_end

Most customers cancel at the end of the period they paid for. Stripe sets cancel_at_period_end to true and sends customer.subscription.updated. It only sends customer.subscription.deleted later, when the period ends. An alert that waits for the deleted event can be weeks late.

ChargeBell posts as soon as cancel_at_period_end turns on. When the period ends and Stripe sends the deleted event, ChargeBell does not post a second time. If the customer turns the cancellation off, ChargeBell posts a "Cancellation reversed" alert.

Why send cancellations to Slack

Churn is the recurring revenue you lose when customers cancel. Founders often find out days later in a Stripe report, when it is too late to ask why or offer help. A Slack alert gives you the gap between the cancel click and the end of the paid period.

• Each cancellation shows up in a channel like #revenue, without anyone opening a dashboard.
• You can send a win-back email or an exit survey while the customer still uses the product.
• The alert shows the MRR lost, so the size of each cancellation is clear.

Voluntary and involuntary churn

Stripe stores the cause in cancellation_details.reason. The values are cancellation_requested, payment_failed, and payment_disputed. The ChargeBell alert does not include the reason. Use the View in Stripe button to open the subscription and check it.

• Voluntary, cancellation_requested. The customer canceled in the Customer Portal, through support, or in your app. A win-back offer or exit survey fits here.
• Involuntary, payment_failed. Stripe canceled the subscription after the payment retries in your Billing settings ran out. A card update request can often save these.

What the Slack alert shows

The title reads "A subscriber canceled" with the monthly amount. Below it is the plan name and the date the subscription ends. An MRR impact field shows the loss. A scheduled cancellation looks like this.

An immediate cancellation, such as Stripe ending a subscription after its last retry, posts when the subscription is deleted.

Fields ChargeBell can include

• The plan name and its monthly price
• The MRR lost, as a monthly amount
• The end date, for scheduled cancellations
• A View in Stripe button that opens the subscription

How to set up a Stripe subscription canceled alert in Slack

1. 1

   Connect Stripe

   Approve ChargeBell's read-only Stripe app. It reads subscription events and cannot cancel, refund, or change anything.

2. 2

   Connect Slack and pick a channel

   Add the ChargeBell Slack app and choose where cancellations post, such as #revenue or #founders.

3. 3

   Check the subscription canceled alert

   It is on by default and covers both scheduled and immediate cancellations.

4. 4

   Send a test alert

   Check the message in Slack before the next real cancellation.

Related Stripe alerts

• Stripe new subscription alert for customer.subscription.created
• Stripe failed payment alert, the early sign of involuntary churn
• How to monitor Stripe subscriptions in Slack for plan changes and trial reminders