Cancellation policy templates for classes, appointments and workshops.

A late cancellation only costs you something when the place cannot be sold again. So the useful question is how long it takes you to fill a place that comes free: a class with a waiting list refills in hours, a one-to-one slot at 7am on a Tuesday may not refill at all. Set the window from that, and write it in hours before the start.

48 hours

Suits small classes in hired rooms or venues, classes that rarely fill, and one-to-one sessions. It gives you two days to offer the place or decide whether a class runs. The cost is that clients commit earlier, and some will not book until they are sure of their week.

24 hours

A common middle ground for weekly drop-in classes. Clients can cancel the day before without losing out, and you still have a day to fill the mat.

12 hours

Works for busy classes that fill from a waiting list, where a freed place is usually taken quickly. For early classes it can be kind: 12 hours before a 7am class is 7pm the evening before, when people know whether they will be up. It gives you little time to refill a quiet class, though.

Longer for workshops and events

Workshops, retreat days and courses have costs you commit to in advance – the venue, materials, a guest teacher – and places sell over weeks rather than hours. A window of a week or more is normal and easier to justify, especially if you offer a transfer to a friend or a refund when a place is resold.

Two more choices go with the window: whether moving to another class is allowed later than a refund (it costs you less, because the client still comes), and what happens when you cancel, which consumer rules such as the UK and EU examples below expect a policy to treat fairly.

For yoga, pilates, barre or fitness classes booked and paid one at a time. Replace everything in square brackets, and delete any line that does not match how you actually run things – a policy that promises a transfer you never allow does more harm than no policy. The sentence in square brackets under “Your rights” is for clients in the UK or the EU (see the rules below); elsewhere, keep it only if the consumer rules where you are say the same, and delete it if not.

Cancellation policy – [Studio name] classes

Your booking
Your place is confirmed when you pay. Each booking is for one class on one date.

Cancelling or moving your booking
- Cancel at least [24] hours before the class starts and we will refund you in full to the card you paid with.
- If you cancel less than [24] hours before the start, or do not come, the class fee is not refunded. At short notice we usually cannot offer your place to someone else.
- You can move your booking to another date of the same class, if it has space, up to [24] hours before the start.
- To cancel or move a booking, use the link in your confirmation email.

If we cancel
If we have to cancel a class – for example if the teacher is ill or the venue is not available – we will email you as soon as we can and refund you in full. If you prefer, you can book another class instead.

Arriving late
For your safety, we may not be able to let you join more than [10] minutes after the start. A late arrival is not a cancellation, and the fee is not refunded.

Exceptions
If something serious stops you coming, please get in touch. We consider every request, but a refund inside the notice period is at our discretion.

Your rights
[Bookings for a class on a set date are not covered by the 14-day cancellation period that applies to many online purchases.] This policy does not affect your other legal rights.

Why it is written this way: the refund and the move share one window, so there is only one number to remember. The reason for keeping the fee is given in one sentence, which makes it read as fair rather than punitive. Lateness is dealt with separately, because a late arrival is not a cancellation and should not be argued as one.

For private classes, personal training, massage and other sessions where the whole time is reserved for one client. The window is longer than for a class, and moving is allowed later than a refund, because a moved session still happens.

Cancellation policy – one-to-one sessions with [Name]

Your appointment
When you book and pay, the time is kept for you alone, and [Name] prepares for your session in advance.

Moving your appointment
You can move your appointment to another available time up to [24] hours before it starts, using the link in your confirmation email.

Cancelling
- Cancel at least [48] hours before the start and we will refund you in full.
- If you cancel with less than [48] hours’ notice, or do not attend, the session fee is not refunded. A one-to-one time can rarely be booked by someone else at short notice.

Running late
Sessions end at the booked time so the next client is not kept waiting. If you arrive late, we will use the time that is left, and the full fee applies.

If we need to cancel or move your appointment
We will contact you as soon as we can. You can choose a full refund or a new time.

If you are unwell
Please do not come to a session with an illness you could pass on. Tell us as soon as you can and we will offer you a new time.

Your rights
This policy does not affect your legal rights.

Why it is written this way: it explains that you prepare in advance, which is true of most one-to-one work and is what makes keeping the fee proportionate. It deliberately says nothing about the 14-day cancellation period, because whether a one-to-one service counts as a leisure activity depends on what the service is (see the UK and EU rules below). If you are sure it does, you can add the same line as in the class template.

For workshops, retreat days, special classes and events with a limited number of places on one date. Put it on the event page itself, so the terms are next to the price.

Booking terms – [Workshop name], [date]

Your place
Places are limited to [18] and confirmed when you pay. If you book several places, each place is covered by these terms.

Cancelling
- Cancel at least [7 days] before the workshop and we will refund you in full.
- If you cancel with less than [7 days]’ notice, the fee is not refunded, because the venue and materials are arranged for the number of people booked. If we fill your place from the waiting list, we will refund you.
- If you cannot come, you can send someone in your place. Tell us their name before the day.

Minimum numbers
If fewer than [8] people have booked [5 days] before the workshop, we may cancel it. If we do, you will get a full refund.

If the workshop changes
If we cancel the workshop, or change its date, time or venue, we will tell you straight away. You can choose a full refund or keep your place on the new arrangements.

Your rights
[Bookings for an event on a set date are not covered by the 14-day cancellation period that applies to many online purchases.] These terms do not affect your other legal rights.

Why it is written this way: a longer window is paired with two ways for the client to get their money back anyway – a transfer to a friend, and a refund if the place is resold. The minimum-numbers clause tells people in advance that you might cancel, and what they get if you do.

Consumer rules depend on where your business is and where your clients are, so no single set applies everywhere. Below are two worked examples, the UK and the EU, checked in the official texts on legislation.gov.uk and EUR-Lex on 14 September 2026. If you teach somewhere else – the US, Canada, Australia or anywhere else – check the consumer rules where you are, and where your clients are if they book from another country; this page does not describe them. It is not legal advice: if a lot of money depends on your terms – a retreat, a long course – ask a lawyer where you are to read them.

The 14-day cancellation period usually does not apply to dated classes

In the UK, when someone buys a service online, the Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013 normally let them cancel without giving a reason during a cancellation period that, for services, ends 14 days after the contract is made. Regulation 28(1)(h) takes out “services related to leisure activities, if the contract provides for a specific date or period of performance”.

In the EU, the Consumer Rights Directive (2011/83/EU) starts from the same place. Article 9 gives a consumer 14 days to withdraw from a distance contract, counted for a service from the day the contract is concluded, and Article 16(l) takes out “services related to leisure activities if the contract provides for a specific date or period of performance”. Each EU country writes the Directive into its own national law, so check your country’s version.

A place on a yoga class next Wednesday, or a workshop on a set Saturday, will normally fall within those exceptions. Two things follow. Both texts ask you to tell clients before they pay when there is no right to cancel – Schedule 2, paragraph (o), of the UK Regulations and Article 6(1)(k) of the Directive – which is why the class and workshop templates have a line about it. And check that your service really is a leisure activity on a date: a one-to-one session closer to treatment, therapy or coaching may not be. Where the exception does not apply, the 14-day rules bring their own requirements, and that is the moment to get advice.

Your terms have to be fair and in plain words

In the UK, under the Consumer Rights Act 2015, section 62, an unfair term in a consumer contract is not binding on the consumer. A term is unfair if, contrary to good faith, it causes a significant imbalance in the parties’ rights and obligations to the consumer’s detriment. Schedule 2, Part 1 lists terms that may be regarded as unfair, and three of them are about cancellation:

• Paragraph 4: keeping money the client paid when they cancel, without the client getting an equivalent amount back when you are the one who cancels. This is why every template promises a full refund when you cancel.
• Paragraph 5: making a client who decides not to go ahead pay a disproportionately high sum in compensation, or for services not supplied.
• Paragraph 6: making a client who fails to meet their obligations pay a disproportionately high sum in compensation.

Section 68 adds that written terms must be transparent: expressed in plain and intelligible language, and legible. The Competition and Markets Authority’s guidance on unfair contract terms explains how these rules are applied, with examples.

In the EU, the Unfair Contract Terms Directive (93/13/EEC) uses the same test in Article 3 for terms that were not individually negotiated. Its annex is an indicative list of terms that may be regarded as unfair, and it includes the same two cancellation points: keeping sums the consumer paid without equivalent compensation when the business is the one cancelling (point 1(d)), and requiring a consumer who fails to fulfil their obligation to pay a disproportionately high sum in compensation (point 1(e)). Article 5 asks for written terms in plain, intelligible language, and Article 8 lets each EU country adopt stricter rules.

In practice, keeping the fee for a single class place you could not resell is a very different thing from keeping a whole term’s fees because someone missed one week, or charging a no-show fee on top of the price. Under both sets of rules, the further what you keep moves from what the cancellation actually cost you, the harder it is to defend. Wherever you are, show the policy where people book, before they pay, rather than only on a separate page they may never open.

A policy is only as good as the way it is applied at 9pm when a client emails to cancel tomorrow’s class. If you take bookings with BookBookNow, the two numbers in your policy become settings, and clients help themselves inside them.

• Two windows, in hours. In Settings → Booking rules, set how many hours before the start a cancellation gets a full refund (it starts at 168 hours, a week) and how many hours before the start a client may move their booking (48 hours to begin with).
• Clients cancel and move from their email. Every confirmation carries a link to manage the booking. That page tells the client, before they press the button, whether cancelling now is refundable, and offers other times while moving is still allowed.
• Refunds inside the policy. A paid booking cancelled in time is marked as refund due. Turn on automatic refunds and it goes back to the card through Stripe straight away; leave it off and you approve each one. A late cancellation keeps the payment.
• Credits back on a pass. A class booked with a credit from a class pack or membership follows the same refund window: cancelled in time, the credit goes back on the client’s pass; cancelled late, or not attended, the credit is used. On Studio and Pro
• When you cancel, clients are covered. Cancelling a class cancels every booking on it, emails each client, and treats every paid booking as refund due, whatever the window says.
• Your policy text on your site. Paste your version of a template into Settings → General → Terms & conditions. It appears at /terms on your booking site, and each client’s manage page links to it as your cancellation policy. You can also add a short version as the text above a booking form, so it sits next to the booking.
• Late places refilled. A cancelled place goes straight back on sale, or to the first person on the waitlist, who has twelve hours to take it. On Studio and Pro
• Goodwill refunds. For the exceptions your policy allows, refund part of a payment from the booking page; the booking stays confirmed and the client is emailed the amount. On Studio and Pro

Some policies in these templates are yours to apply by hand, and a few are not available in BookBookNow. Better to know before you promise them to clients.

• One policy for the whole site. The refund and moving windows apply to every class, appointment and workshop on your site. The manage page and emails tell each client what that one window gives them, even with automatic refunds off. If your workshops need a week and your classes 24 hours, a workshop client cancelling three days ahead would be told a refund is on its way. Either use one window for everything, or set the longer window and refund in-policy class cancellations yourself from the booking page – those clients are first told that cancelling is not refundable, so let them know you will refund.
• No separate late-cancellation or no-show fees. The price paid at booking is all that is taken. Nothing is charged to a card afterwards.
• No deposits. Each booking is paid in full, by card or with a credit from a pass, and a card refund goes back to the card, not to a balance. Deposits are not available.
• No transfers to a friend. There is no way for a client to hand their place to someone else themselves. If your workshop terms allow it, handle it by hand, for example by adding the new name as a note on the booking.
• Front desk logins cannot refund. On plans with a team, refunds are for owners and managers.