Clients who cancel at the last minute
A cancellation two days out is fine. A cancellation at 08:40 for a 09:00 appointment is a no-show with better manners.
Set a cancellation window long enough that you could actually resell the slot, take payment at booking so the window has teeth, and let clients reschedule instead — a moved booking is better than a lost one.
Late cancellation and no-show are the same problem#
The distinction is politeness, not economics. If a client cancels inside the time it would take you to sell the slot to somebody else, the hour is gone either way.
That is the test worth applying to your own policy: how long do you actually need to refill a slot? For a hair salon it might be a day. For a wedding photographer it is a month. Setting the window shorter than that is setting it wrong.
Why it happens more than it should#
- No policy. If nothing is stated, the client reasonably assumes nothing is owed.
- A policy nobody read. Terms buried on a website page are not agreed to; terms shown at the moment of booking are.
- Rescheduling was not offered. Somebody who cannot make Tuesday would often take Thursday, if asked.
Set the window to your real refill time#
Business Box has three policies. No refunds, full refund if cancelled early enough, and a tiered one — full refund early, a percentage later. The tiered version suits most appointment businesses, because it is generous while the slot is still sellable and firm once it is not.
The client sees the policy before booking and the exact refund before confirming a cancellation. Cancellation policies
Offer the move before the cancellation#
Every confirmation links to the client's own page, which offers Reschedule alongside Cancel. A booking that moves is a booking you keep. You decide how many times they may move it and how close to the start, so it cannot become a way around the policy. Reschedule limits
Filling the hole#
Once a cancellation releases the slot, it goes back on your booking page immediately and anybody can take it. There is no automatic waiting list in Business Box today — see waitlists for what to do instead.
And stop the ones you can predict#
A minimum notice period removes the bookings that were never realistic. If people regularly book you for two hours' time and then cancel, raise Minimum notice on that event type.
Common questions
What should my cancellation policy be?
Work backwards from how long you need to resell the slot. For most appointment businesses that is a full refund outside 24 hours and nothing inside it; for work that is hard to refill, a week or more.
Can I offer a partial refund for late cancellations?
Yes. The tiered policy gives a full refund before one threshold and a percentage you choose before a second, closer one. Both are shown to the client before they book.
Can I stop clients rescheduling endlessly?
Yes — set how many times a client may move a booking, between zero and twenty, and a cut-off before the start after which they must cancel instead.
Set this up in about ten minutes
Business Box is free for as long as you like, with no card required — booking pages, Google and Outlook calendar sync, availability, Japanese public holidays and the website widget. Taking card payment for bookings is ¥1,200 a month, tax included, with no commission on what you sell.
Last reviewed 28 September 2026.