Cancellation/No-Show Protection Policy

This article explains how to set up and manage your Pabau account's no-show protection and cancellation policy.

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How to Set Up Cancellation/No-Show Policy

The cancellation/no-show policy allows clients to book appointments free of charge. However, they will be charged only if they cancel or don’t show up for an appointment. This helps protect your revenue and reduces last-minute cancellations.

Step 1: Navigate to Setup

Start by logging in to your Pabau account using your login credentials. Then, navigate to the Setup page. Under the Financials section, you'll find 'Policies.' On that page, you'll be able to set up your Cancellation and No-show policy.

Step 2: Activate Cancellation/No-show Policy

On the Cancellation and No-shows page, you can specify the advance notice required for clients to cancel without a fee. You can also set the fee amount for cancellations or no-shows that occur outside of this timeframe.

If you scroll down, you can choose if you want to override the policy :

• Allow Override: If you select this option, you can choose to override the cancellation policy for unavoidable reasons, allowing flexibility in handling cancellations or no-shows.
  
  

Step 3: Save Changes

After setting up the cancellation policy, ensure that the 'Active' toggle is enabled at the top right corner of the page and that you click 'Save' to update the changes.

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Configure Cancellation Reasons

The main step when setting up your cancellation/no-show policy is configuring your cancellation reasons to align with your policy. 

After activating the cancellation policy in your Pabau account, you can specify whether a cancellation reason requires the policy to be applied.

Step 1: Navigate to Setup

Navigate to Setup and find Cancelation Reasons under the Developer and Other section when expanding the Objects tab. You can edit the already existing cancellation reasons or create new ones.

Step 2: Apply the corresponding cancellation policy

By following these steps, you can configure your cancellation reasons.

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How to Manage Cancellation/No-Show Policy in the Calendar

Step 1: Navigate to Calendar 

Navigate to the Calendar located on the left sidebar menu and locate the appointment you need to cancel. 

Step 2: Cancel the Appointment 

When canceling the appointment, the cancellation charge section will appear if it meets the cancellation policy criteria.

This applies when:

• The selected cancellation reason falls under the policy.
• The appointment is canceled after the allowed time.

If you have selected 'Allow Override' in the cancellation policy, the toggle next to the Cancellation Charge will be clickable and staff members can decide whether to charge a cancellation fee when an appointment is canceled. If not, it will be greyed out.

Step 3: Mark an Appointment as a No-Show 

When selecting an appointment and clicking the no-show button, the Mark as No Show popup will appear along with the Apply no-show fee section, which:

• has a toggle that can allow you to disable or enable charging a no-show fee

• shows the amount that the client will be charged for the appointment, based on the policy

• a field where a staff member can enter a custom amount if overriding is allowed via the policy page

Once you've clicked 'Proceed,' an invoice will be generated.

If the no-show fee charge is successful, a notification will appear in the green success pop-up and will read: We successfully charged [Name]'s card.

If the no-show fee charge is not successful, the following note will appear in red: We couldn’t charge [Name]'s card.

Step 4: Override Policy 

If the cancellation policy Allow override setting is set not to allow overrides, then the field Override cancellation charge should be grayed out.

If the cancellation policy, Allow override setting is set to allow overrides, then you will be able to enter a custom amount in the field Override cancellation charge.

By following these steps, you can manage the cancellation/no-show policy in the calendar.

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How to Redeem a Package Session when Clients Cancel or No-show

If your cancellation policy allows clients to redeem a package session, and a client cancels late or no-shows an appointment booked with a package, an option to redeem the session will appear when canceling the appointment.

Step 1: Navigate to the Calendar

Navigate to the Calendar icon located in the left sidebar menu. Then, click on the appointment you want to cancel or mark as a no-show.

Step 2: Select 'Pay from Package'

After clicking on the appointment that meets the policy criteria, depending if you have set your policy permissions to 'Redeem Package Session' or 'Redeem Account Balance,' you will view two options:

• Pay from Package
• Pay from Account Balance

Select 'Pay from Package,' and click 'Redeem.' This action will cancel the appointment and redeem the session from the client's account. 

By following these steps, you can redeem an available package session when a client meets the cancellation policy criteria.

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How to Redeem Account Balance when Clients Cancel or No-show

If you have set up your cancellation policy to be able to redeem the account balance from a client, the option to redeem any available account balance will be shown if a client cancels the appointment outside the timeframe of your policy or no-shows the appointment.

Step 1: Navigate to the Calendar

Navigate to the Calendar icon located in the left sidebar menu. Then, click on the appointment you want to cancel or mark as a no-show.

Step 2: Select 'Pay from Package'

After clicking on the appointment that meets the policy criteria, depending if you have set your policy permissions to 'Redeem Package Session' or 'Redeem Account Balance,' you will view two options:

• Pay from Package
• Pay from Account Balance

Select 'Pay from Account Balance,' which will show the client's available balance. By clicking 'Proceed,' you can cancel the appointment and redeem the available account balance.

By following these steps, you can redeem a client's available account balance when they meet the cancellation policy criteria. 

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How the Cancellation Policy Applies when Clients Cancel Online

If you activate a deposit and cancellation/no-show policy in Pabau, clients will need to add their card details in order to book an appointment.

Step 1: Navigate to Your Online Booking Portal 

Proceed to book an appointment from a client's perspective. 

Step 2: Enter Card Details 

When clients are on the checkout page, they will be prompted to enter their card details. A message will show that they won't be charged for adding their details. If they already have a card on file, they can complete the payment right away or change the card.
By clicking 'Confirm Appointment,' they finalize the action and book the appointment.

Step 3: Cancel Appointment 

Once the appointment is booked, navigate to the avatar located at the top right corner of the screen. Then select 'Appointments' to view upcoming and past appointments.

Upon viewing the upcoming appointment, you have the option to view the details, reschedule, or cancel the appointment (based on what you have set up in the online booking customization). 

When clients try to cancel, and the action meets the cancellation policy, they will receive this prompt: if they cancel this appointment now, they will be charged x amount. 

By clicking 'Yes' the appointment gets canceled. 

Step 4: Navigate to the Client Card

To view the activity of the client in Pabau, you can check their client card under the 'Appointments' and 'Financials' tab. 

By following these steps, clients will be charged a cancellation fee when canceling an appointment online. 

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