How do I set my cancellation policy?

Set when is the latest a client can cancel their appointment

Matt Tucker avatar
Written by Matt Tucker
Updated over a week ago

Schedulista allows your clients to book with you online 24/7. It also allows your clients to cancel their appointment online.

With your cancellation policy, you can set the latest a client can cancel an appointment online prior to their scheduled appointment time. You can also disable online cancelling, if you need and prefer.

Note about cancellation policy and appointment reminders

Your cancellation policy affects when appointment reminder emails and the first optional text reminders (if available in your country) are sent to your clients. You can view when they will be sent on your Confirmations, Reminders, Notifications settings page. You can also set the separate from the cancellation policy, if you need.

Clients are able to cancel online via a Cancel appointment link in the confirmation & reminder emails they receive after booking. The Cancel appointment link also appears on the online summary page for their appointment, which they access by clicking the View appointment details link in the emails or tapping on the Details link in one of the optional text reminders.

If a client adds the appointment to their personal online calendar, a link to the online summary page is included in the description of the appointment. They can access that page to use the "cancel appointment" link.

Clients are also able to use the "cancel appointment" link to reschedule their appointment online. As they go through the cancellation process, a Schedule another appointment button will appear to book their new date and/or time.

Contents:

Setting your cancellation policy

(1) Go to Settings > Scheduling Policies

At the top of the page is the Cancellation Policy.

(2) Set the length of time from the drop-down menu below the question "How far in advance are customers allowed to cancel online?"

Note: You can select as short as 1 hour prior to an appointment or as 
long as 2 weeks. You also have the options to allow clients to cancel
at any time or to not allow them to cancel online.

The Client Notice field will display the cancellation policy message that will be shown to customers.

(3) Click Save at the bottom of the page

Updating your cancellation policy message

You can add custom text to the cancellation policy message that your clients will see.

(1) Click on the green pencil at the end of the default message 

(2) Edit your customized cancellation message in the text area

Note: The default text displaying the time of your cancellation policy 
cannot be changed.

(3) When you're done, click outside the text area

(4) Remember to click Save at the bottom of the page

How clients cancel appointments

A link to cancel an appointment will appear under the Cancellation Policy heading on the online appointment summary page. This link will also appear on the appointment confirmation and reminder emails that clients receive.

Clients who receive text (SMS) reminders can click the Details link to go to the appointment summary page to cancel.

Note: If an appointment is scheduled within less time than the 
cancellation policy (e.g., Appointment booked 10 hours prior with a
24-hour cancellation policy), the cancel link will not be available.
Clients will see following message: "(Appointment can no longer be
canceled)"

Clients can include a message explaining why they are canceling when they confirm. This message will appear in the cancellation notification email you will receive.

Related articles:

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