This article covers the client cancellation rules for courses (make-up sessions for a missed session and cancelling the whole course) and for events and workshops. Single classes and appointments follow a different rule, the cancellation deadline and cancellation fees; see Cancellation Fees for Bookings.
How do I set up make-up sessions for courses?
Go to Settings > Bookings and rules > Booking cancellation and pick Courses.
In Make-up sessions, turn on Allow earning make-up sessions.
Fill in Make-up eligibility: how long before the session starts must a client excuse themselves to receive a make-up session? A value of 0 means the client gets a make-up whenever they excuse themselves before the session starts. A client can still excuse themselves after this time, but they won't get a make-up.
Choose the Default make-up validity for courses: For a set number of days (counted from the date of the missed session) or Until the course ends (with an optional Grace period after course ends (days)).
Make-ups apply only to sessions of a course the client booked as a whole. If a client booked a single course session at the Price per session, that booking follows the cancellation deadline and fees for single classes, and it doesn't earn a make-up. No money is refunded when a client excuses themselves from a course session; the make-up is the compensation.
Why doesn't my existing course give make-ups after I changed the setting?
Allow earning make-up sessions and Default make-up validity for courses are defaults for newly created courses. A course you already have keeps its own settings. To change them, edit the course and open its Make-ups section: Allow receiving make-up sessions, Maximum make-up sessions, and Make-up validity for this course.
These per-course controls are available on the Expert and Ultimate plans and during the trial. On other plans they're disabled, so each course keeps the setting it got when it was created.
How does a client excuse themselves from a course session and use the make-up?
The client must have an account in the booking system
For your clients to use the make-up system, they need their own account in the booking system. Without it, the system can't manage make-ups, display balances, or show expiry dates.
The client logs into their account and either opens My courses and clicks Excuse yourself for the session, or clicks the trash icon next to the session in My bookings. Clients do this from their account, not from the course page on your public schedule.
After confirming, the main page will show that the client is entitled to a make-up session. They'll also receive a notification email.
The client can then use the make-up session on any class or course session that allows payment with make-ups, by clicking Book and selecting Book using a make-up. Payment with make-ups is off by default on each class; you turn it on with Allow payment with make-up sessions in the class's Advanced booking settings, or with Session – allow paying with a make-up in a course's Make-ups section. More in Make-up sessions: earning, using, and validity.
Cancellation policies for workshops and events
Clients can cancel a workshop booking on their own, as long as you allow it. Go to Settings > Bookings and rules > Booking cancellation, pick Events / Workshops, and turn on "Allow self-cancellation". Then fill in "Cancellation cut-off: how long before the start?" — a cut-off of 0 lets clients cancel any time up until the event starts. You can enter the cut-off in minutes, hours, days, or weeks.
What you set here becomes the default for workshops you create from now on, and every workshop can override it in its own settings. So a single event with a stricter deadline doesn't force you to change the rule for everything else.
Workshops have no percentage-based cancellation fees. Before the cut-off, the client gets everything back. When self-cancellation is off, the client sees a message asking them to contact the studio. After the cut-off, a booking paid by card or PayPal can't be cancelled online, and the client is asked to contact the studio. A booking paid with credits, entries, a membership, or a make-up can still be cancelled after the cut-off, but nothing is returned. Bookings paid by bank transfer or in cash always need you to cancel and refund them.
You can always cancel a client's workshop booking yourself from the workshop detail in the admin panel. When cancelling, you'll be asked how to handle the refund (return credits, return entries, mark as unpaid, etc.).
Client cancellation of the whole course
Excusing a client from one session of a course is one thing — cancelling their whole course booking is another, and it has its own setting. You'll find it in the same place: Settings > Bookings and rules > Booking cancellation, under Courses. Turn on "Allow whole-course cancellation" and set "Course cancellation cut-off: how long before the course starts?". A cut-off of 0 means clients can cancel the whole course any time until it starts. Each course also has its own copy of this setting in the course form.
A client who cancels the whole course before the cut-off gets a full refund. With this setting off, or after the cut-off, clients have to arrange the cancellation with you directly. A course paid by bank transfer or in cash always needs you to cancel and refund it.
Courses have no percentage-based cancellation fees either. Missing a single session is handled through make-up sessions, as described above.