Set up your business · Guide 06
Policies
Set your cancellation and no-show policies, your terms and how Barclo checks vaccinations. Clients see them before they book.
A clear policy means nobody is surprised when plans change. Your policies are in Settings › Bookings, in the Policies card ("Clients see these before they book"). Make your changes, then press Save changes.
Cancellation policy
Under Cancellation, pick one. The policy decides the refund Barclo suggests when a paid booking is cancelled.
| Policy | What it means |
|---|---|
| Flexible | Full refund any time before the booking. This is the default. |
| Moderate | Half refund if cancelled 48 hours or more ahead, nothing after that. |
| Strict | No refund once booked. |
| Custom | Write your own wording. Clients see your words; Barclo cannot read a refund from them, so it suggests none and you decide each time. |
Clients see the policy at the last step of booking and tick I've read the cancellation policy before they can send it. They see it again if they ask to cancel.
When a client asks to cancel
Clients cannot cancel a booking on their own. In their client portal they press Ask to cancel (or Ask to stop for a regular booking), see your policy and the refund it suggests, and send the request with an optional reason. You get an email, and the booking shows "Name asked to cancel". Nothing has been cancelled or refunded at that point. You then choose:
- Keep it: the booking goes ahead and the client is told. You can add a note.
- Cancel booking: cancel it in the usual way, below, and decide the money.
Cancelling a booking that has money on it
When you cancel a booking, Barclo shows only the questions that apply to it, starting on what your policy suggests:
- A card hold is released by itself. Nothing was charged.
- Paid by card: choose a full refund to their card, a part refund, or no refund (you keep it as a cancellation fee). Barclo tells you what your policy suggests at this notice.
- Paid another way (cash or bank transfer): Barclo cannot send that money back, but you can record that you have refunded them yourself.
- On a draft invoice: it is taken off the invoice for you.
- On a sent, unpaid invoice: choose Take it off and send a corrected invoice, or Keep charging for it, for example a late cancellation under your policy.
- Nothing paid and not on a sent invoice: you can charge a cancellation fee, which goes on a draft invoice for their next bill.
Only the owner or a manager can refund. Others can still cancel, and the payment is kept until the owner or a manager refunds it from the invoice. The same questions are asked when you cancel several bookings at once or cancel or pause a regular booking.
No-show policy
Under If a client doesn't show up, pick what a no-show costs:
- Waived: no charge.
- Deposit kept: charge the deposit amount on their invoice.
- Full price: charge the full amount on their invoice. This is the default for a new business.
- Custom: write your own wording.
When you choose Mark as no-show on a booking, the charge starts at your policy, and you can enter a different amount or waive it as goodwill. You can also Waive charge afterwards. Any card hold on the booking is released, not taken: a no-show charge is always invoiced.
Terms and conditions
Paste your terms into Terms and conditions. Switch on Clients must accept my terms and clients tick a box to agree before they can book online. It is off to start with.
In Settings › Forms you can publish a Service agreement, which clients sign by name before they book, with a signed copy kept for you. Once it is published, clients sign it instead of ticking the terms box. See Forms.
Vaccinations
This matters most for group walks, day care and boarding, where one pet's health affects others. Under Vaccinations:
- Off: don't check.
- Warn: tell me when a pet's vaccinations are out of date. Today shows a warning for pets booked in the next week. This is the default.
- Block: refuse bookings you or your team make for a pet with an expired vaccination. Clients booking online aren't stopped yet: you're warned on Today and can email the owner a reminder.
See Pets for adding vaccination records.
Questions
Can a client cancel and get a refund without me?
No. A client can only ask to cancel. You decide whether to cancel and what to refund, and Barclo suggests the refund from your policy.
Does Barclo refund bank transfers?
No. Barclo can only refund card payments it took through Stripe. For cash or bank transfers, pay the client back yourself and record it.
Guide: Invoices