A cancellation, late arrival and waitlist policy you can fill in

Booking window and holds

• Name the apparatus in every class titleWrite Reformer 10, Reformer and Tower 6 plus 4, or Chair 8 in the class name itself. A client who booked the tower line and expected a carriage is a front desk conversation you never need to have again.
• Set the exact hour bookings openPick a day count and a clock time, for example seven days ahead at six in the morning. A fixed open time spreads demand and stops the same four regulars from taking every prime carriage the moment you publish the grid.
• Cap how many future spots one client can holdUnlimited members are the reason this clause exists. Three to five active bookings at a time keeps prime classes reachable for pack clients without punishing anyone who plans her week ahead.
• State whether a spot can be transferredDecide if a client may give her carriage to a friend and whether the friend must complete a first visit form. Most studios say no for level two and above because the instructor cannot assess a stranger mid class.
• Write the first visit ruleSay which classes a new client may book without an introductory session and how early she must arrive. Fifteen minutes before class is the common standard for a footbar, strap and spring orientation.

Cancellation, late arrival and no show

• Write one cancellation deadline in hoursTwelve hours is the common floor for reformer classes and some studios use twenty four for prime times. Pick a single number, put it in the booking confirmation, and never write the word reasonable anywhere near it.
• State the late cancel charge in the client's own unitA pack client loses one credit, a member is charged a set dollar amount, a drop in forfeits the payment. Matching the charge to what she bought stops the fee from feeling arbitrary.
• Define a no show separatelyA no show is a client who neither attends nor cancels. Charge it at the same level or higher than a late cancel, because a no show never releases the carriage and the waitlist never gets a chance.
• Set the door time for late arrivalName the minute after which a client may not join, usually five to ten minutes in, and say plainly that it is a safety rule about warm up and spring settings rather than a discipline matter.
• Write the medical and injury exception in one sentenceSay what you waive, what you need from her and who decides. One line such as documented illness or injury waives the fee once per quarter at the owner's discretion is enough to be fair and enforceable.
• Say what happens to the released creditState whether a credit returned inside the deadline goes back to the pack with its original expiry date or a new one. Ambiguity here creates every credit dispute you will ever have.

Waitlist and released carriages

• Say how a freed carriage is offeredWrite the mechanism: first name on the list gets a notification and a set number of minutes to accept, then the offer moves down. Clients accept a system they can picture.
• Set the offer window in minutesTen to twenty minutes works for daytime classes and shorter windows suit early mornings. Shorter windows fill more carriages but annoy clients who are asleep, so pick by class time rather than one rule for the whole grid.
• Decide whether acceptance charges immediatelyDrawing the credit on acceptance turns a claimed carriage into a committed one. Studios that hold the charge until check in usually see more waitlist no shows, which is the worst of both outcomes.
• Set the quiet window before classStop waitlist offers a fixed time before the start, commonly thirty to sixty minutes, so nobody arrives breathless expecting a spot that was offered eight minutes ago.
• Cap the waitlist lengthA list longer than your carriage count is mostly disappointment. Cap it at roughly half the class size and use the overflow as evidence that the time slot deserves a second class.
• Write the rule for repeated declinesDecide what happens when a client accepts and then late cancels from a waitlist spot, or declines three offers in a row. Most studios treat an accepted then abandoned carriage exactly like any other late cancel.

Publishing, enforcement and review

• Put the policy in front of her before she paysA checkbox at first purchase and a short summary line in every booking confirmation. A policy discovered only after a charge feels like a trap, and that is when clients leave reviews about it.
• Give the desk and instructors one scriptThree sentences everyone says the same way, including the one exception you allow. Consistency is what makes a fee stick, and inconsistent waivers teach your regulars to ask twice.
• Log every waiver you grantDate, client, reason and who approved it. Ten minutes a quarter reading that log tells you whether your deadline is too tight or your staff are quietly refunding everything.
• Review fee income and refill rate each quarterCompare fees charged against carriages actually refilled by the waitlist. If refill is strong the fee is doing its job, and if fees are high while carriages stay empty your deadline is set too late.
• Date and version the policyPut an effective date at the bottom and give thirty days notice for changes to members. Grandfathering existing memberships to the old terms until renewal avoids the argument entirely.