Deciding your cancellation policy

A cancellation policy is not a punishment for your guest; it is an agreement that stops you holding a table for nothing.

Start with the question: what does an empty table cost you?

For a place that is half full on a weeknight, a cancellation of two costs you little. For a place booked out three weeks ahead, the same cancellation costs you a table you could have sold. That difference decides how strict your policy needs to be.

A sliding scale rather than one rule

Someone who cancels 24 hours ahead does exactly what you want: they give you the chance to resell the table. Someone who cancels an hour ahead does not. A sliding scale — generous far out, stricter close in — rewards the behaviour you want to see.

Say it where your guest reads it

A policy that only exists in your system is not a policy. Put it in your confirmation email and by the booking module.

Configuring the scales sits behind the right menu_config_cancelrefundrules.