Late cancel and no-show fees

A late cancel happens when a client cancels a booked service after your cancellation deadline. A no-show happens when a client misses a session without canceling at all. Both cost your business time and revenue, especially when they happen repeatedly.

WellnessLiving lets you set up automatic fees that kick in once a client hits a threshold you define, by client type and service. You can also control whether a missed visit is returned to the client's pass or membership.

Key tips

• To set up late cancel and no-show fees, you need the Edit business policies permission.

• When a staff member manually changes a client's attendance status to Late Cancel or No-Show, they can choose whether to charge the fee. To allow staff to override fees, enable the Override late cancel and no-show fees permission.
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• If a client's status is automatically changed to Late Cancel or No-Show under your attendance policy, the fee can't be overridden.
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• Whether a client is charged a fee is recorded in the edit log.
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Set your late cancellation period

The late cancellation period controls when a cancellation is considered late. Clients who cancel after this window closes are marked as Late Cancel.

To set your late cancellation period:

1. Open the App Drawer then click Setup > Business Policies > Cancellation.
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2. Under Late cancellation period, enter a number and select a unit of time from the list. Your options are minute(s), hour(s), day(s), week(s), or month(s).
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3. Click Save.
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Add a cancellation and no-show penalty

Penalties charge clients automatically when they reach a set number of late cancels or no-shows within a time period you define.

To add a cancellation and no-show penalty:

1. Open the App Drawer then click Setup > Business Policies > Cancellation.
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2. Under Cancellation & No-Show Penalties, click Add Penalty.
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3. Under Type and Threshold, in the Type list, select the type of attendance event that triggers the penalty:

   • Late cancels or no-shows — The penalty applies when a client reaches the threshold through any combination of late cancels and no-shows.
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   • Late cancels only — The penalty applies only when the client reaches the threshold through late cancels.
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   • No-shows only — The penalty applies only when the client reaches the threshold through no-shows.
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4. Under Threshold, enter the number of occurrences that trigger the penalty, then select a time period from the list. Your options are all time, day(s), week(s), month(s), or 2 Weeks.
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5. Under Penalty, select how you want to penalize the client:

   • Flag client account — The client's account is flagged for review. No charge is applied.
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   • Charge client — Enter an amount and select $ for a flat fee or % for a percentage of the session cost.
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6. Under Applicable Client Types, select the client types this penalty applies to. You can select all client types or expand Pass Holder Type, Member type, or Prospect type to choose specific types.
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7. Under Applicable Services, select the services this penalty applies to. You can select all services or expand Appointments, Classes, Events, or Assets to choose specific services.
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8. Click Add.
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Return visits for late cancellations and no-shows

By default, a late cancel or no-show counts as a used visit and is deducted from a client's Purchase Option. You can turn on return visits so the session is returned to the client instead. This lets you charge a fee for the behavior without also consuming a visit from their pass or membership.

To set up return visits for late cancellations:

1. Open the App Drawer then click Setup > Business Policies > Cancellation.
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2. Under Return Visit for Late Cancellations, set the Return Visit for Late Cancellations option to ON.
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3. Under Selected Purchase Options, select the Purchase Options this setting applies to. You can select all Purchase Options or search for specific ones.
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4. Click Save.
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To set up return visits for no-shows:

1. Open the App Drawer then click Setup > Business Policies > Cancellation.
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2. Under Return Visit for No-Shows, set the Return Visit for No-Shows option to ON.
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3. Under Selected Purchase Options, select the Purchase Options this setting applies to. You can select all Purchase Options or search for specific ones.
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4. Click Save.
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Next steps

For more information about managing attendance and staff permissions, see the articles below.

• Change a client's attendance status

• Staff role permissions

• Set up your business policies