No-show and cancellation policy builder
A policy nobody saw before they booked is one you cannot enforce kindly: the customer feels ambushed, and you end up waiving the fee to keep the peace. This page builds yours from your own choices, then gives you the short version for confirmations, a line for whoever answers the phone, and the reminders that head off a no-show before any fee comes into it.
Everything you type stays in this browser: it is saved on this device so you can come back to it, and it is never sent to us or anyone else.
Your choices
Pick what fits how you work. The policy, the short version, the phone line and the reminder plan further down rewrite themselves as you change anything here.
After it, we may need to shorten or reschedule the appointment.
Future bookings need a deposit, or payment in advance if you already take one.
The page your booking software gives customers to manage a booking. Leave it empty and the messages say where it goes.
Your policy and messages
Edit any box before you copy it. Your edits stay until you change a choice above or press Write it again.
Policy for your website and booking page
Short version for your confirmation text or email
What to say when booking by phone
Then note on the booking that the customer agreed, with the date.
Reminder plan
The texts use C and R on purpose. A reply of CANCEL or STOP counts as a request to stop texts altogether, so offer canceling by link or call instead. Words in square brackets are where your booking software fills in the details.
Before you charge anyone a fee
A fee is easier to collect, and easier to explain, when the customer agreed to it before booking and the charge follows the rules that apply to your business. Check each of these first.
- Show it before the booking is confirmed. Put the policy on the booking page with a checkbox the customer ticks to agree, or read the phone line above and note on the booking that they said yes.
- Get permission for the card charge. Charging a card kept on file needs the customer's authorization for that kind of charge, and it has to follow your card processor's rules. Read your processor's terms before the first one.
- Practices that bill insurance. Medical, dental and therapy practices that take insurance, Medicare or Medicaid should check those programs' rules before charging for a missed appointment. Our playbook on reducing no-shows and late cancellations covers what Medicare and one state's Medicaid agency say.
- Your state and your trade. Some states regulate fees in particular industries, so check the rules for yours before you write a number into the policy.
- Permission for reminder texts. Reminder texts need the customer's permission and a way to opt out. Our texting rules playbook covers consent, opt-outs and the reply words to avoid.
If you would rather not send reminders by hand, our GoHighLevel setups send the confirmation and reminders automatically and pass every R reply to a person on your team.
This is general information, not legal advice. Confirm your policy with your attorney before you start charging fees.
More free tools
- Speed-to-lead self testMystery-shop your own business: time how long your website form, phone and messages take to get a reply, and get a plain scorecard.
- What a booked job really costs youPut your lead sources side by side with your own numbers and see which one pays for itself and which one loses money at your margin.
- Review request writerWrite a review ask for text, email or the counter in your own trade's words, check it against the FTC and Google rules, and print a QR card.
Want reminders that run without your front desk?
Tell us how customers book with you and how often appointments go empty. We will look at your booking page, confirmations and reminders, show you where appointments slip through and tell you what we would set up first. You keep the plan either way.
- A free consult. A real conversation about your business, your area and what is not working yet.
- An honest evaluation. Where you stand in search, ads and follow-up next to the businesses you lose customers to.
- A plan you keep. What we would fix first and why. It is yours whether or not you work with us.
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