Currently if you enter a tournament with an entry fee, you 100% lose your money if you can't play it. There's no refund for unregistration or for not checking in.
People registering for these things in advance - especially since some of them are open days in advance now - should be aware of this, and it should be fixed.
Yes, you are right. The non-refundable entry fees was for tournaments with a limited amount of spots. For tournaments with unlimited spots the entry fees should be refundable and I will work on that change asap.
The amount of spots available for players shouldn't matter for a refund stance. A refund should be given only when a player decides to un-register before the start of a tourney. If a person decides to hit that register button and pay a fee and then misses the tournament then they lose the fee. This is standard practice in any like minded tournaments that I have been apart of.
I'd like to see entry fees only refunded if a player leaves before check-in opens. Otherwise, people will spam themselves into everything without checking if they're going to be available.