How to set up a cancellation policy

Go to Settings in the sidebar, choose the Business tab, then click Cancellation Policy.

There are two sections: Services covers walks, day care and pet sitting bookings, and Boarding covers overnight stays. Each keeps its own set of rules, so the same notice period can charge a different amount for each.

If you haven't added any rules yet, you'll see an empty state explaining that cancelled bookings stay on record at £0.00 until a rule is created.

Click Add cancellation rule. Choose the notice period as 'Less than' a number of hours or days, then pick whether the charge is a percentage of the booking price or a fixed amount.

For example, you might create a rule for 'Less than 24 hours' that charges 100% of the booking price, and another for 'Less than 7 days' that charges a £10.00 fixed fee.

Boarding rules work the same way but are added in the Boarding section. A common setup is 100% for services cancelled inside 24 hours, and a £30.00 fixed fee for a stay cancelled inside 7 days.

A rule only matches when a booking is cancelled with strictly less notice than the rule states. Cancelling exactly 24 hours before a walk does not trigger a 'Less than 24 hours' rule.

When more than one rule could match, the shortest notice period wins. If no rule matches, the cancellation is free.

For boarding, notice is measured from the drop-off date and time rather than the end of the stay, and only your Boarding rules are considered.

If no rules exist at all, the cancelled booking is kept on record at £0.00.

When you cancel a booking, the Cancel booking dialog shows the matched rule, the notice given, and how the charge is calculated. Cancelling a boarding stay opens the same dialog with your boarding rules applied.

If the booking was already paid, the original price is returned to the client's credit balance and the cancellation charge is recorded separately.

The Cancellation price field can be edited before you confirm. This is useful if you want to waive the fee or charge a different amount for a specific situation.

If the amount you enter differs from the policy calculation, PawLoop highlights the difference and lets you reset to the calculated value.

Once cancelled, the booking keeps a snapshot of the rule, charge and any override for the audit log.