This article will show you how to keep an online booking deposit and/or charge a cancellation fee if your client cancels their appointment.
This feature is available to businesses using PhorestPay through Stripe.
PhorestPay & Latest Version of Phorest Required
Before you can start using this feature, you will need to set up your PhorestPay account. If you haven't done this already, go to Manager > PhorestPay to set this up or click here for a full guide on how to get set up.
You will also need the latest version of Phorest, which you can download here.
When a client books online and pays a deposit through PhorestPay, or books in-house and pays a deposit through PhorestPay and you have saved their card details, you can decide to keep the booking deposit and/or charge the client a cancellation fee if the client cancels their appointment.
In this Article
Video Walkthrough
Note: You may need to restart Phorest to see this feature.
How to Process a Cancellation Charge
Single-click the appointment on your Appointments screen > Click Remove > Click Cancellation.
Next, click Cancellation Charge
If the booking is outside of your set Cancellation Period, you will receive a prompt to let you know. To continue, click Yes.
Choose the amount you wish to charge. You can choose No charge to only keep the deposit paid and nothing extra, you can choose to charge the remaining amount of the appointment, or you can charge a custom amount.
Finally, enter a Cancellation reason (this will be recorded as a note on the client's Service History as a past appointment note) then click Apply Cancellation Charge.
Note: You may need to restart Phorest to see this feature.
Client Receipt
Your client will receive a receipt by email, provided you have their email saved on their Client Card. The receipt will include the amount charged for the cancellation and the deposit amount paid originally when the appointment was booked.
If you wish to print a paper receipt, you can do this by going to Manager > Sales > Single-click on the transaction > Receipt > Print.
Reporting & Cash Up
Cancellation Charges will appear as a value under Sales in Manager > Reports > Finance.
They will also show on the legacy Financial Totals report (adding to the PhorestPay Credit payment type total) and on your Sales Transactions report as a Cancellation Charge.
Cancellation Charges will not count toward your daily Cash Up totals.
Staff Commission
Commission is not given to staff for a Cancellation Charge, as staff commission is only calculated on services performed.
Refunding a Cancellation Charge
You can refund a Cancellation Charge by going to Manager > Sales > single-click the transaction > Refund. If you wish to refund back to the original card, choose the PhorestPay payment method when refunding.
Other FAQs
Is the initial storing of the client's card details secure?
PhorestPay payments are Powered by Stripe, who have the very highest security and Level 1 PCI Compliance. Neither you, your staff, or Phorest staff has access to the raw card details at any stage.
Can I process a Cancellation Charge on Phorest Go?
Currently, this feature is not available on Phorest Go.
Can I charge a client who cancels their own appointment online?
Clients can only cancel their appointment online provided the cancellation adheres to your Cancellation Period. In this case, you will not be able to charge them. If they have paid a deposit, the deposit will be refunded automatically in 5-10 business days.
'Valid Card for this Payment' error.
If you're trying to process a Cancellation Charge and are getting this error, this means there is no stored card on the Client Card, and therefore you cannot process a Cancellation Charge. This happens if you did not choose to save the client's card details when taking the in-house deposit or you have deleted the stored card from the client's Client Card.