Cancellation and reschedule policy

Learn how to set your own rules for customer cancellations and reschedules - so you cut down on last-minute changes without fielding every request by hand.

Your cancellation and reschedule policy controls what customers can do to a booking after they've made it. Switch each action on or off, and set how many hours before a session the action locks. You and your team always bypass these rules, so you can change any booking at any time from the admin side. Set everything on Settings → Booking policy, under "Changing a booking".

What you can control

• Reschedules and space changes - let customers move to another date or change their number of spaces, or turn it off.
• Cancellations - let customers cancel for a refund, or keep cancellations in your hands.
• A lock time for each - close changes or cancellations a set number of hours before the session starts.
• Automatic refunds - when a customer cancels within your rules, the payment refunds and any credit used is restored, with no action from you.

Set your rules

Open Settings → Booking policy and find the "Changing a booking" section. The two controls are independent, so you can allow reschedules but not cancellations, or set a different lock time for each.

1. 1
   Turn Customers can reschedule and change spaces on or off. When off, only admins can change the date or number of spaces, and customers see a "Contact the venue" prompt.
2. 2
   Set Lock changes to the number of hours before a session that reschedules and space changes should close.
3. 3
   Turn Customers can cancel their own bookings on or off. When off, only admins can cancel.
4. 4
   Set Lock cancellation to the number of hours before a session that cancellations should close.
5. 5
   Save.

How the lock time works

Each lock is measured in whole hours before the session start time. With "Lock cancellation" set to 24, for example, a customer can cancel up to 24 hours before the session - after that, cancellation is locked and they're pointed to contact you. "Lock changes" works the same way for reschedules and space changes.

Reschedules and cancellations have their own separate lock times, so a common setup is a tighter cancellation window (you keep the payment if they cancel late) and a looser reschedule window (you'd rather they moved than no-showed). Both are different from your minimum booking notice, which controls making a new booking - keep all three numbers distinct.

What a reschedule covers

The reschedule toggle governs every change to an existing booking except outright cancellation:

• Moving to another date or time.
• Adding spaces to a booking.
• Removing spaces from a booking.

Removing spaces is treated as a partial cancellation, so it follows your cancellation rules rather than your reschedule rules. Everything else follows the reschedule rules.

Refunds and credit

When a customer cancels within your rules, Session refunds the payment automatically and restores any voucher, bundle or membership credit that was used. You don't lift a finger. For how refunds work in more detail - including part-refunds when a customer removes spaces - see refunds, part-refunds and reschedules.

What customers see

Customers reschedule and cancel from the "Manage booking" link in their confirmation email, or from the cards pinned to the top of your booking page when they're signed in - see customer self-service.

• Action allowed - they get a working Reschedule or Cancel button.
• Action switched off, or past the lock time - the button is replaced with a short prompt to contact you, like "Need to cancel? Contact the venue", so they're never left tapping a dead button.

Private hire is always yours

Whole-session private hire bookings are always managed by you. Customers can't reschedule or cancel them online no matter what your policy says, because there's no fair way to part-refund a single booking that reserves the entire session. Customers are always pointed to contact you for those.

Group bookings - a fixed block of several spaces, like a "bring a friend" ticket - price the whole block as one unit, so customers can never change the number of spaces in the block online. They contact you to do that instead.

Common questions

1. Where do I set my policy? Settings → Booking policy, in the "Changing a booking" section. There's a toggle and a lock-time field for reschedules, and the same pair for cancellations.

2. Can I allow reschedules but not cancellations? Yes. The two toggles are independent, so you can switch one off and leave the other on, and give each its own lock time.

3. Do my rules apply to me and my staff? No. Admins and staff always bypass the policy and can reschedule or cancel any booking at any time from the admin side.

4. Is a refund automatic when a customer cancels? Yes - within your rules, the payment refunds and any voucher, bundle or membership credit is restored automatically. To refund partially or not at all, cancel it yourself instead. See refunds.

5. A customer says they can't cancel or reschedule. Why? Either the action is switched off, they're past the lock time you set, or it's a private hire booking (always venue-managed). They'll see a prompt to contact you in each case.

6. What does the lock time of 0 hours do? It lets customers change or cancel right up until the session starts. Set a higher number to close the action earlier and protect your team's prep time.

7. Is this the same as minimum booking notice? No. Minimum booking notice controls how late a customer can make a new booking. Your cancellation and reschedule locks control changing or cancelling an existing one. All three are measured in hours before the session, so keep them distinct.