Automate your cancellation fee enforcement should your client cancel an appointment, package, subscription, or product order last minute. To set your cancellation policy, tap on Settings > Cancellations. Make sure to also tap on Settings > Scheduling > Requires Credit Card > Always to ensure cancellations are enforced in the system.
Mobile Setup:
On the cancellation screen, you'll set the automatic charge and policy. PocketSuite does the work for you, so you don't have to figure out who to charge.
The cancellation fee (late cancel or no show fee) is triggered to charge the client the amount that you set if the client cancels their appointment, package, subscription, or product order within the deadline (cancellation window) selected. The late fee can be set as a percentage of the total or a fixed amount.
Deadline Example: If you set a deadline for 24 hours and the client cancels 23 hours before their appointment, they will be charged a late fee, but not if they cancel at 25 hours.
For package cancellations, you have the option to select if the client loses a session, is charged the late fee, or both.
- Works the same as the appointment cancellation fee, if they select charge fee or both.
- If they select just lose Session, then just a session is deducted and no fee is charged.
For subscription cancellations, you have the option to set it as a percentage of the total or a fixed amount. Subscription cancellations can only occur once a subscription is active, after the 1st payment. Should the client fail to cancel the subscription within the deadline prior to the next charge, the subscription cancellation fee amount will be charged.
- Subscription cancellation refers to the remaining balance on the Subscription plan, not a specific prepaid appointment that you may have booked as part of that subscription plan.
- Annual subscription $100 per month, $1200 for the full year, and someone does cancel in Month 3, which means they have made $300 work of payments and there is $900 (9 payment periods) remaining in the subscription:
If Percentage: Then the 10% fee is charged on the total remaining balance of $900. So the fee would be $90.
If Fixed Fee: If the early subscription cancellation fee is $300, then the fee will be $300 regardless of what else has been previously paid on the Subscription by the client.
For product order cancellations, you can set a late fee, deadline, and written cancellation policy. This cancellation policy will be shown when ordering a standalone product. The cancellation policy will not be shown when buying an add-on product.
Example of completed cancellation section:
What happens if the client pays a deposit?
If you have a deposit set on your appointment, the deposit is separate from the cancellation fee.
For example, Your service is $100 with a $50 deposit. You also have a late fee set to a fixed amount of $45.
In this case, the client would have paid the $50 deposit at the time of booking, and if the client canceled within the cancellation window, the client would be charged an additional $45, which in this case, the total amount paid by the client would be $95 ($5 less than the original service amount).
What happens if the service is free, but I have a cancellation fee set?
The cancellation fee will only be enforced if the late fee is a fixed amount. Otherwise, if it's a percentage of the total and the total of the service is $0, then $0 of any percentage is still $0.
What happens if the client cancels within the cancellation window?
If the client cancels the appointment within the cancellation window you have set, the client will be automatically charged the cancellation fee to the payment method they added at the time of booking.
What happens if the client contacts me to cancel the appointment? Do I have the option to enforce or not enforce the cancellation policy?
If the client contacts you to cancel the appointment for them, you have the option to enforce the cancellation policy or provide the client a courtesy. Tap on the appointment > tap on cancel.
From there, you will be prompted to complete the cancellation section. You can choose from the following for cancellation types: late cancellation, no show, or courtesy cancellation. You can also add a cancellation reason for further elaboration.
To enforce the cancellation policy, make sure that the enforce cancellation policy is toggled on. Tap to save to confirm the cancellation.
To provide a courtesy cancellation with no cancellation fee, make sure that the enforce cancellation policy is toggled off. Tap to save to confirm the cancellation.
Setting your cancellation policy is crucial to ensure your clients understand the reason behind any cancellation charges.
Cancellation Dashboard
On your home screen > cancellation dashboard > you can drill down further to see 1) how many cancellations you have had within the time period selected and 2) cancellation reason. You can see this similar dashboard under each client profile > history as well to track the number of cancellations a particular client has had.
Pro Tip: If you do charge a cancellation fee, it's good to have a policy in place for the safety of your business. For additional assurance, we recommend also having your clients sign your cancellation policy as a contract. This will ensure your clients have read and agreed to your cancellation terms. Information on how to add a contract can be found here. If you need any help with your contract, message PocketSuite customer support in-app.
Video Walkthrough: