Cancellation and No-Show Fees

Reduce last-minute cancellations and no-shows in TidyCal by controlling whether clients can cancel their booking and by charging an automatic cancellation or no-show fee on paid bookings.

Overview

Every booking type has two related cancellation controls:

• Allow cancellations — decide whether clients can cancel the booking themselves.
• Cancellation or no-show fee — charge a flat fee, to the card on file, when a client cancels or when you mark them as a no-show.

The same fee covers both a client cancellation and a host-marked no-show, and a booking is charged at most once.

Free plan: clients can always cancel, and the Allow cancellations toggle and fee are not available. This makes sure that downgrading a plan never strands clients who need to cancel.

Allow or prevent client cancellations

When you create or edit a booking type, use the Allow cancellations toggle to control whether clients can cancel:

1. Go to Booking types and open the booking type you want to edit.
2. Find the Allow cancellations toggle (next to the rescheduling controls).
3. Leave it on (the default) to let clients cancel, or turn it off to prevent self-service cancellation.
4. Click Save.

When cancellations are on, clients can cancel any time before the booking start time from their confirmation page or confirmation email. When cancellations are off, the cancel option is removed from the client's confirmation page and email, so they cannot cancel themselves — you can still cancel on their behalf from the Bookings page. This setting requires an Individual, Pro, or Agency plan.

Set a cancellation or no-show fee

On a paid booking type that uses Stripe, you can charge a flat fee when a client cancels or is marked as a no-show.

Add the fee

1. Open the booking type and make sure Allow cancellations is on.
2. Confirm the booking type has a price and collects payment through Stripe.
3. In the field labeled Charge a cancellation or no-show fee of, enter the amount (in the booking type's currency). Leave it at 0 for no fee.
4. Click Save.

The fee field only appears when the booking type has a price and uses Stripe. If there is no price yet, TidyCal shows "Set a price to charge a cancellation or no-show fee." If the booking type uses PayPal or TidyCal-managed payments, it shows "Cancellation and no-show fees are only available for Stripe payments."

How the fee is charged

• The client's card is saved when they pay for the booking, so the fee can be charged later without the client present.
• The same fee applies to a client cancellation and to a host-marked no-show, and a booking is charged at most once.
• Rescheduling never triggers a fee.
• If the fee charge fails (for example, a declined card), the cancellation still goes through — a fee is never allowed to trap a client in a booking they cannot cancel.
• Only paid Stripe bookings carry a saved card. Free bookings, PayPal bookings, and TidyCal-managed bookings cannot be charged a fee.
• Cancellation and no-show fees are not counted as part of your booking earnings.

What your client sees

When a fee applies to a booking, the client is warned before anything is charged:

• A notice appears on their confirmation page and in their confirmation email, for example: "A $20.00 cancellation or no-show fee applies if you cancel or don't show up."
• If they choose to cancel, a confirmation dialog repeats the warning before the cancellation is submitted.
• After they confirm, the cancellation goes through and the fee is charged to the card on file.

Mark a booking as a no-show

If a client does not show up, you can mark the booking as a no-show. If the booking type has a fee set, marking the no-show charges that fee to the client's card on file.

1. Go to the Bookings page and open the booking.
2. Click Mark as no-show.
3. Review the confirmation. If a fee applies, it reads "This will charge a $20.00 no-show fee to their card on file."
4. Confirm. The booking's status changes to No-show.

You can only mark a no-show after the booking start time, and a cancelled booking cannot be marked as a no-show. To reverse it, open the booking and click Unmark no-show.

Refunds

Cancellation and no-show fees are not refunded automatically — including when you unmark a no-show. If you need to return a fee, issue the refund manually from your Stripe account. For more on how paid bookings and Stripe work, see Paid Bookings.

Troubleshooting

I don't see the cancellation fee field

• Make sure Allow cancellations is turned on.
• The booking type must have a price — the fee field is hidden on free booking types.
• The booking type must collect payment through Stripe. PayPal and TidyCal-managed payments do not support the fee.

The fee wasn't charged

• Only paid Stripe bookings with a saved card are charged. Free bookings, PayPal bookings, and $0 bookings are never charged.
• A fee set to 0 means no charge.
• If the card is declined, the cancellation still completes — the failed charge is logged but never blocks the client.

A client couldn't cancel

• If Allow cancellations is off, the cancel option is hidden from clients. Turn it on, or cancel on their behalf from the Bookings page.
• Bookings can only be cancelled before their start time. Past bookings cannot be cancelled.

Frequently asked questions

Does rescheduling trigger a cancellation fee?

No. Rescheduling never charges a fee — only a client cancellation or a host-marked no-show does.

If a client cancels and I also mark them as a no-show, are they charged twice?

No. The cancellation and no-show fee is shared, and a booking is charged at most once.

Can I charge a fee on free or PayPal bookings?

No. The fee requires a paid booking type that collects payment through Stripe, because only those bookings have a saved card to charge.

Does unmarking a no-show refund the fee?

No. Unmarking only removes the no-show status. If a fee was charged, refund it manually from your Stripe account.

Can Free-plan users use cancellation controls?

Clients of a Free-plan host can always cancel before the start time, but the Allow cancellations toggle and the fee require an Individual, Pro, or Agency plan.

Related articles

• Booking Types — all booking type settings, including rescheduling and approval.
• Paid Bookings — charge for appointments and connect Stripe.
• TidyCal FAQ — answers to common scheduling questions.