This article covers the two rules for clients cancelling their own booking of a single class or an appointment: the Cancellation deadline (how late a client can cancel) and Cancellation fees for individual sessions (the percentage you keep when a client cancels late). It doesn't cover automatic cancellation of underbooked classes (see Automatic cancellation for low occupancy), cancellation rules for courses and events (see Setting Up Cancellation Policies and Make-Up Sessions) or payment methods for appointments (see Appointments (1:1 sessions): payment methods and cancellation rules).
You might also call these rules a cancellation window, a cancellation policy, a late cancellation fee or a limit on last-minute cancellations.
Where to find the cancellation settings
Go to Settings (gear icon in the left sidebar).
Select Bookings and rules from the top menu bar.
Open the Booking cancellation tab.
Under Which type of bookings are you setting rules for?, select the Sessions card. Below it you'll find Cancellation fees for individual sessions and Cancellation deadline.
How late can clients cancel their own booking? (cancellation deadline)
The Cancellation deadline is the latest time before a class or appointment starts when a client can still cancel their own booking. It's one studio-wide setting for single classes, course sessions booked one by one, and appointments. You can't set a different cancellation deadline for one class or one service.
To set the cancellation deadline:
Go to Settings › Bookings and rules › Booking cancellation tab and select the Sessions card.
In the Cancellation deadline section, choose one option:
Anytime — clients can cancel their booking until the class starts.
Or set a specific deadline — enter a number in How long before the class starts? The deadline is in whole hours, at least 1.
Click Save at the bottom of the page.
Example: to let clients cancel until 12 hours before the class, choose Or set a specific deadline and enter 12. For 2 days, enter 48.
What happens after the cancellation deadline?
A client with a paid class booking can still cancel it and free the spot, but gets no refund.
An unpaid class booking can't be cancelled online. The client is asked to contact you.
An appointment can't be cancelled online after the cancellation deadline. The client is asked to contact you.
For a full class, the option to join the waitlist disappears once the cancellation deadline has passed.
The cancellation deadline only limits clients. You can still cancel any client's booking yourself.
Is the cancellation deadline the same as "Hours before start" on a class?
No. Hours before start in a class's Advanced booking settings belongs to automatic cancellation when underbooked. It sets when Zenamu checks whether enough people have booked the class. It doesn't change how late clients can cancel their own booking. See Automatic cancellation when underbooked: custom settings for one session or event.
The Booking deadline on the Bookings tab is also a different setting. It stops new bookings, not cancellations.
How to charge a fee for late cancellations (cancellation fees)
Cancellation fees are percentages of the paid price that you keep when a client cancels their booking close to the start. To add a cancellation fee:
On the Sessions card, go to Cancellation fees for individual sessions and click + Add.
In the New cancellation fee dialog, enter What percentage of the class price? (1–100 %).
Enter How long before the class starts? in whole hours.
Click Save.
In the example below, we're creating a condition that says: If a client cancels their booking 3 hours or less before the class starts, they'll be charged a 25% cancellation fee from the amount they paid.
Your new cancellation fee now appears in the list (see image below). If you’d like, click the + Add button again to create another condition — for example, a 50% fee for cancellations made within 2 hours before the class.
What these rules apply to (and which time units)
The cancellation deadline and cancellation fees on the Sessions card cover individual sessions: single (open) classes, course sessions that clients book one by one, and bookings for your appointment services. There's only one shared set of rules, so you can't set separate rules for services and classes.
Fee windows and the Cancellation deadline for sessions are entered in hours only — days and weeks aren't offered here. If you think in days, convert first: 1 day = 24 hours, 1 week = 168 hours.
Courses and events work differently and have no percentage fees at all. See Setting Up Cancellation Policies and Make-Up Sessions.
Troubleshooting: can't save cancellation fees (cancellation policy)
If you're unable to save your cancellation fees, the most common cause is a conflict between a cancellation fee and the cancellation deadline. The system will display the following error:
One of your cancellation fees overlaps with the cancellation deadline (the deadline must always be earlier). Please change the deadline or remove the conflicting fee.
How to fix it
Check the Cancellation deadline setting — it defines the latest time a client can cancel their own booking before the class starts.
Compare the hours. Every cancellation fee must use more hours than the cancellation deadline. For example, with a 48-hour deadline, a fee for 72 hours works, but a fee for 48 hours or 24 hours doesn't.
Either adjust the cancellation deadline or remove the conflicting cancellation fee.
Example: If your cancellation deadline is set to 2 hours before the class, you cannot have a cancellation fee that applies "1 hour before the class" — the client can no longer cancel for a refund at that point.
How to set up "free until X, then a fee"
Say you want cancellations to be free until 72 hours before the class and 25% after that. The rule to work around: every fee window has to sit further from the class start than the cancellation deadline, because after the deadline clients can no longer cancel for a refund. Two setups get you there:
Without a deadline — set the Cancellation deadline to Anytime and add a 25% fee for a 72-hour window. Cancelling more than 72 hours ahead is free, anything closer costs 25%, and clients can still cancel until the class starts.
With a 48-hour deadline — choose Or set a specific deadline, enter 48 hours and add the same 25% fee for a 72-hour window. More than 72 hours ahead is free, between 72 and 48 hours the fee is 25%, and under 48 hours clients can't cancel for a refund anymore.
What you can't do is combine the two, for example "free until 72 hours, 25% between 72 and 48 hours, and a different fee under 48 hours". That last fee would fall past the deadline, so the system won't save it and you'll see the error described above.