Policies protect your business. When a client cancels at the last minute, or doesn't show up at all, a clear policy means everyone knows what to expect and there's no awkward conversation. Barclo shows clients your policy at the point of booking, so there are no surprises later.
To set them: Settings → Policies.
Cancellation policy
This is the most important policy to set. It tells clients what refund they'll get (if anything) if they cancel a booking. Choose one of the ready-made options, or write your own:
- Flexible. Full refund, any time before the booking. Best for new businesses building trust, or where clients tend to have genuine reasons for cancelling.
- Moderate. 50% refund if the client cancels at least 48 hours ahead. No refund within 48 hours. A good middle ground, it covers your costs for short-notice cancellations without feeling punishing.
- Strict. No refund once booked. Suitable if your business has significant upfront costs (e.g. boarding where you turn away other dogs to hold the space) or if late cancellations cause real financial damage.
- Custom. Write your own wording. Use this if you want something more specific, for example, a tiered refund ("100% if 7+ days' notice, 50% if 2 to 7 days, none within 48 hours").
Where clients see it: The cancellation policy is shown on the booking review screen (before they confirm), and again if they try to cancel through the client portal. By the time they book, they've read and accepted it.
No-show policy
A no-show is when a client simply doesn't turn up for their booking without cancelling. You can choose what happens financially:
- Waived. No charge. You absorb the cost. This is the default if you haven't set a policy, and makes sense if no-shows are rare with your client base.
- Deposit forfeited. If the client paid a deposit, you keep it. No additional charge beyond that. Reasonable if you use deposits as standard.
- Full fee charged. Charge the full booking amount as if they'd attended. Use this if no-shows genuinely cost you significantly, for example, a grooming slot you can't fill at short notice, or a boarding place you turned others away from.
- Custom. Define your own wording for your no-show terms.
Terms and conditions
This is a text box where you can paste or type your full business terms, covering things like your liability for animals in your care, what clients should disclose about health or behaviour issues, your payment terms, and so on.
If you tick Require clients to accept these when booking through the portal, clients must tick a checkbox agreeing to your terms before they can complete a booking. This gives you a clear record that they've agreed.
Don't have T&Cs yet? Many pet-care industry bodies offer template terms you can customise. It's worth asking your insurance provider too, they sometimes have requirements about what your T&Cs must include. Even a short, simple set of terms is better than none.
Vaccination requirements
This setting matters most for businesses running group services, group walks, daycare, boarding, where an unvaccinated animal could put others at risk.
Off, Barclo doesn't check vaccination status at all. Suitable if you don't offer group services or if you verify jabs yourself.
Warn, when you try to book a pet whose vaccinations have expired, Barclo shows you a warning. You can still proceed, it's just a flag to make sure you're aware.
Block, Barclo prevents bookings for pets with expired vaccinations. If a client tries to book through the portal, they're prompted to update their pet's vaccination records first. This is the strongest protection for multi-dog environments.
See Pets & vaccinations for how vaccination records are added and tracked.
Once you're happy with all your policies, click Save policies.