Rescheduling and Cancellation Policy

By creavio Team April 10, 2026 1 views

Rescheduling and Cancellation Policy

No-shows and last-minute cancellations cost you money. A clear policy protects your time and sets expectations upfront. creavio lets you define these rules once and enforces them automatically.

Setting Your Policy

  1. Go to Bookings > Settings > Cancellation Policy
  2. Configure these settings:
    • Allow rescheduling: Yes or No
    • Reschedule window: How far in advance a client must reschedule (e.g., 48 hours before the session). After this cutoff, they cannot reschedule online.
    • Allow cancellation: Yes or No
    • Cancellation window: How far in advance a client can cancel (e.g., 7 days). After this, they cannot cancel online.
    • Cancellation fee: A flat amount or percentage charged when a client cancels within the window. Set to $0 for no fee.
    • Deposit refund on cancellation: Full refund, partial refund, or non-refundable.
    • Max reschedules: How many times a client can reschedule the same booking (default: 2).
  3. Write your policy text — this is displayed on the booking page and in confirmation emails
  4. Click Save

How Clients Experience It

The booking confirmation email includes a reschedule/cancel link. When a client clicks it:

  • If they are within the allowed window, they can reschedule to a new date/time or cancel
  • If they are past the cutoff, they see your policy text and a message to contact you directly
  • If cancellation triggers a fee, they are informed before confirming

Policy Text Examples

Strict (weddings):

"Sessions may be rescheduled once up to 30 days before the date at no charge. Cancellations within 30 days forfeit the retainer. Cancellations more than 30 days out receive a 50% refund."

Moderate (portraits):

"Reschedule or cancel up to 48 hours before your session at no charge. Cancellations within 48 hours forfeit the session deposit."

Flexible (minis):

"Reschedule anytime up to 24 hours before. Cancellations receive a full refund minus a $25 admin fee."

Handling Exceptions

Life happens. Clients get sick. Weather interferes. When you need to override your policy:

  1. Open the booking in Bookings > Calendar
  2. Click Reschedule or Cancel
  3. Choose whether to apply the cancellation fee or waive it
  4. Choose whether to refund the deposit (full, partial, or none)

Overrides are logged in the client's activity timeline with a note about who initiated the change.

Weather and Force Majeure

For outdoor photographers, consider adding a weather clause to your policy text. Something like: "If severe weather makes the session unsafe, we will reschedule at no charge." This is a goodwill gesture that prevents disputes.

creavio does not auto-detect weather. You handle weather-related reschedules manually.

Cancellation Fees and Refunds

If a cancellation fee is configured and the client cancels through the online link, creavio charges the fee automatically through Stripe. The fee is recorded as income in your tax center.

Refunds (for deposits) are processed back to the original payment method. Depending on the client's bank, refunds take 5–10 business days to appear.