Cancellation window, explained
The window is a number of hours, and the right number is however long it takes your shop to refill a slot. A busy shop with a deep waitlist of regulars can refill an hour ahead and set a short window. A shop that fills through Instagram and word of mouth needs 24 hours to move a Saturday afternoon. Setting the window longer than your real refill time only punishes clients for something you could not have sold anyway.
A window is what makes a no-show fee fair rather than punitive. It gives the client a clearly marked exit, which is why shops that add one usually see cancellations go up and no-shows go down. That trade is a good one — a cancelled slot at 30 hours out is a slot you can still sell.
The mistake shops make most is a window nobody can find. If the policy lives in a highlight on Instagram, it does not exist. It has to appear on the booking screen before the client confirms, in one sentence, with the hours and the fee stated as numbers.
BarberFlow lets you set the free cancellation window in hours and the late cancellation fee separately from the no-show fee. The written cancellation policy is shown to the client on the booking page before they confirm. Cancellations inside the window release the slot back to the booking page on their own.
See Point of SaleFrequently asked questions
How long should a barbershop cancellation window be?
Set it to the time your shop needs to refill the slot, which for most barbershops is 12 to 24 hours. A longer window collects more fees but costs goodwill on slots you would never have resold.
Can you charge a late cancellation fee in Canada?
Yes, when the client accepted the policy before booking and the window and the amount were stated in advance. The enforceable version is a written policy shown at booking plus a card captured at the same time.
Should the late cancellation fee be the same as the no-show fee?
Most shops set the late cancellation fee lower, because a client who called gave you a chance to refill the chair. A common pattern is 50% for a late cancellation and 100% for a no-show.
