Tu plan xxx fue cancelado conforme a lo pedido.
So my girlfriend tried to pay her fitness club membership in Colombia. We learned there that they use “cancelar“ for payment, however I knew it as “cancel“ only.
Was the plan paid or cancelled or is it impossible to tell?
Update: the plan was cancelled, not paid (no idea what happened there, she registered again now).
If we read the definition of "cancelar" that shows it as meaning "settle" or "pay off", we can see it says:
Pagar o saldar una deuda.
Therefore, for "cancelar" to mean "pay off" there has to be a noun in the vicinity implying an amount that is due and payable, like deuda, cuota, arancel, honorarios, capital, intereses, factura, renta, préstamo, crédito. I don't think "plan" belongs to that group of nouns.
This online dictionary I found seems to be more specific and accurate than RAE's because it does not include the noun in the definition, but only as a reference: cancelar
cancelar can·ce·lar
v. 1 Referido esp. a un documento o a una obligación legal, anularlos o dejarlos sin validez: Si me traslado, cancelaré la cuenta que tengo en el banco. El contrato se cancelará automáticamente al cabo de un año.
2 Referido esp. a un compromiso o a algo proyectado, dejarlos sin efecto o suspender su realización: Si se aplaza el viaje, tendré que cancelar la reserva del hotel. Se han cancelado todos los vuelos con los países en guerra.
3 Referido esp. a una deuda, saldarla o terminar de pagarla: Si ahorro, el año que viene podré cancelar el préstamo.
It seems to me that "plan" belongs to the group of nouns under (2) above.
Note: In the case of "cuenta" (see (1) above), if it means "account" saying "cancelar" will mean "close the account". Instead, if "cuenta" is translated as "bill", then "cancelar" will mean "pay the bill". This verb is indeed a tricky one in Spanish, and we have to be very careful because it may lead to confusing and risky situations: for example, if we say cancelar la póliza, that means "to cancel the policy" so that it is no longer valid or in force; instead, if we say cancelar la prima, that means "to pay the (policy) premium", so the policy continues to be effective. I think this confusion might account for what happened to the OP when he says: Well she wanted to pay the service, but they could have made a mistake and cancelled it for some reason.
To me it would mean two things: called off or paid.
As to whether the service is required or not, we have two options:
While both meanings are correct, in my opinion it would mean called off/cancelled rather than paid off. As a Colombian, I take it as “Your plan was cancelled as requested.”
I don’t think “conforme a lo pedido” is used in the connotation of paying something off but I could be wrong. A possible “payment request” may be the only scenario but I take the statement more as a cancellation notice. I guess the question at hand would be: has your girlfriend ever gotten a payment notice?
It's definitely a Colombian thing. In Spanish, "cancelar algo" is "to cancel something", not "to pay something".
I'm from Spain but I've lived in Colombia for some months and I heard "cancelar" as "to pay" indeed, but it's just a local thing. It's very common in Colombia that they just change the actual meaning of some words. They even misuse the word "hasta" meaning exactly the opposite to what actually means (e.g. they usually say "Hasta ahora he salido" while the correct sentence should be "Hasta hora no pude salir".
