A cancellation policy you can copy, for salons and barbers

"Sorry, something came up." Sent at 9:52 for a ten o'clock.

You can't stop that message arriving. What a policy does is decide, in advance and in writing, what happens next, so you're not making it up while you're annoyed.

What a policy is for

Its job is to have the awkward conversation in advance, on your booking page, before there's anyone to be awkward with.

A customer who read "cancel free up to 24 hours before" when they booked has agreed to it. When they cancel at 9:52, you aren't being harsh. You're doing what you both said.

The four lines it needs

1. How late they can cancel. A number of hours. Twenty-four is the usual one: long enough for you to refill the slot.
2. What happens to the deposit. Back in full if they cancel in time, kept if they don't. If you take no deposit, leave this line out rather than threaten a charge you can't collect.
3. What counts as a no-show. Say how late is too late. Fifteen minutes is common, because after that the appointment no longer fits.
4. What you do when you cancel. They get everything back, and first pick of a new time. People accept a rule more readily when it binds you too.

Say it like a rule, not like a threat

The words carry more than the rule does. Capital letters, "strictly" and "we reserve the right" all say the same thing to a new customer: this shop expects to fall out with me.

Lead with what they're allowed to do. "Cancel free up to 24 hours before" is the same fact as "cancellations within 24 hours will be charged", and it's the one that doesn't make anybody flinch.

Wording you can copy

Change the numbers to yours. Keep them the same everywhere you state them.

Barbershop:

Can't make it? Cancel or move your booking up to 24 hours before and it costs you nothing. Later than that, or if you don't turn up, we keep the deposit. Running more than 10 minutes late? Ring us, or we may have to give your chair away.

Hair salon:

Colour and long appointments need a 25% deposit to book. Cancel or move it up to 48 hours before and your deposit comes straight back. Inside 48 hours we keep it, because we can't refill a two-hour slot at short notice. If we ever have to cancel, you get a full refund and first choice of a new time.

Nail studio:

A deposit holds your slot and comes off your bill on the day. Cancel up to 24 hours before for a full refund. If you arrive more than 15 minutes late we may need to simplify your set or rebook you, so the next person isn't kept waiting.

Beauty studio:

Book with a deposit, refundable up to 24 hours before. New to lash or brow tinting? Book a patch test at least 48 hours ahead. Without one we can't go ahead on the day, and the deposit can't be returned.

Physiotherapy practice:

Appointments can be cancelled or moved up to 24 hours before at no charge. Missed appointments, and cancellations inside 24 hours, are charged at the deposit amount. If you're unwell, tell us as early as you can and we'll do our best to move you.

Where to put it

Put it where people book, not where they complain.

• Next to the booking button. This is the only place that really counts, because it's the one they see before they agree.
• In the confirmation. So it's in their inbox when they need to check.
• In your Instagram highlights. One story, plain text.
• Not on a laminated sign by the till. By the time they read that one, they've already turned up.

On Rantevo, the cancellation window is a setting: you pick the number of hours, and customers with an account can cancel or move their own booking until then. After that the button goes away and they have to contact you. Each service can also carry a line of fine print of its own, which is where "patch test needed 48 hours before" belongs.

Enforcing it without falling out

Apply it to everybody. The moment you waive it for one person, you've got a policy for strangers and an argument with everyone else.

Except when you shouldn't. A regular of five years whose child was ill is not who this is for. Waive it, tell them you've waived it, and they'll remember it longer than they'd remember a free haircut. A policy gives you something to be generous with.

Don't chase. If you hold a deposit, the policy has already been applied and nothing needs saying. If you don't, a message asking for money you can't collect costs you the customer and gets you nothing. That's the practical case for taking a deposit at all: it's the only kind of policy that enforces itself.

One caution

This is wording, not legal advice. Consumer rules on deposits and cancellation charges differ between countries, and they generally expect the charge to be stated clearly before the customer books and to be in proportion to what you lose. Both are good practice anyway. If you're unsure, ask whoever does your accounts.